Productivity Portfolio

Questions to Consider

For many people the decision of which service to use comes down to speed and money. As simple as that may sound, there are other items you should think about:

1. Are you planning on doing home networking? Some companies are open to this idea and will offer equipment. Others will want to charge you a fee for each connecting machine.

2. Does the company allow you to use your own equipment? Except for the new fiber networks, the equipment you need is common. You can pick up the needed cable or DSL modems at retails stores or eBay. In rare cases, such as full rate ADSL, you will need a splitter, which the phone company installs.

3. Is there an installation or setup fee?

4. Does the provider offer any type of speed guarantee?

5. Is a contract involved and what's the penalty if you terminate? Also ask what happens if you move?

6. Do you need a static IP address? Some applications and services require a static IP address. Most companies do not provide this feature in their basic package or at all.

7. Find out about all your monthly fees. Depending on how the services are bundled, you may still have other fees.

8. Do your research on the vendor. Since speed varies considerably based on location and vendor, it helps to talk to people using the same service in your neighborhood. You might also want to check some of the customer reviews on Broadband Reports. And don't forget to talk to people who are online gaming fans as they often provide useful commentary. Both these resources are good in finding out thin

9. Check the bundle and promo details. In looking through advertisements, we saw offers that had special prices for a period and then the prices would increase. Other promos have some restrictions in opting out of marketing information. Some of these requirements were covered in the Terms of Service (TOS)

Personally, I'm hooked on broadband. I'm not wasting time transferring files and I no longer need a dedicated phone line. But, I still have to remind myself there are plenty of bottlenecks exists. Just because I have a fatter pipe, doesn't mean all the sites I visit load in the same fast fashion.