Internet Connectivity Options

Which is best for your business?

An increasing number of businesses in the UK are looking at the way they connect to the Internet. There are a variety of options to choose from:

Modem
All new computers come with a modem fitted. It is an inexpensive, slow, yet safe way of connecting to the Internet.
A modem dials over a 'phone line and is billed per minute. Generally a company will use one modem per computer in the office and so can quickly run up a large 'phone bill. Modern modems can theoretically connect at speeds up to 56kbps (kilobytes per second), but beacause of noise on the 'phone line the speed is often limited to 33.6kbps.

ISDN
The next step up is ISDN. This is a proven technology that operates at either 64K or 128K. 128K increases the 'phone bill at twice the rate because it uses two channels (two 'phone calls) at the same time. ISDN is a digital connection so dial-up time is reduced as there is no need for computer handshaking. The digital nature of ISDN means that the problem of noise present on analogue lines is reduced.

ADSL
This system is asymmetric in its speed with downloads being faster than uploads. Bandwidth has a contention ratio of up to 50:1 meaning that at times, up to 50 other users share the bandwidth, making the connection slower than a modem. ADSL is less safe than modem or ISDN access because the computer is tended to be left connected to the Internet for extended periods of time, even when it is not in use. This difficulty can be resolved using firewalls as would be found on leased lines.

Leased Line
Leased lines have been in existence for several years and are now a proven technology. They are a direct line between you and your ISP that can carry data at very high speeds to and from the Internet. A router is needed at each end of the line to convert Local Area Network (LAN) packets of information to the Wide Area Network (WAN) packets that travel over the leased line. A firewall is often put in place at the customer's end of the line to provide security from hackers who try to enter the system from the Internet.
This system is very secure for large corporations that need to have a leased line for their company's sole use.

A business centre has different needs, to find out how to meet these, see 100 Percent Connected.