The first thing you need to know and understand about home phone and internet packages are the different types available in the market today. When you say “broadband” this pertains to the general description of internet connections which include satellite, cable, fiber optic service and DSL. Now these are for people who have a great need for speed and who wants to be constantly connected. The dial-up is still around and people up to this day pay for them(believe it or not). You don’t want to go with dial up unless there are no other options available. Otherwise, you may want to take advantage of these various broadband connections:
The Cable Broadband
This type of broadband comes from your cable TV provider. It uses coaxial cable TV wires and has download speeds of about 3Mbps to 100Mbps.
You are at an advantage no matter how far you are from your provider, unlike a DSL. It’s also much faster than satellite or DSL and much accessible than your fiber optic broadband. Now, the bad news is that, more often than not, you share your bandwidth with other subscribers in your neighborhood, so that the more people are watching television at the same time, the slower your internet connection will become. Now, that can really be a bummer for Netflix users.
The DSL Connection
Otherwise known as the Digital Subscriber Line, it operates using regular telephone lines in order to deliver download speeds of about 25 megabits/sec. Under DSL you have two types namely the Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) and the Symmetric DSL (SDSL). The ADSL is less expensive than SDSL. It also has faster download than upload speeds. On the other hand, SDSL gives you the same upload and download speeds that is a main considerations for those who need large back up files to the cloud or VPN users.
The good thing about DSL is it’s much cheaper compared with the other broadband options and you have several providers to choose from, something you don’t get with a single fiber optic or cable provider. They also have very consistent and dedicated speeds from their line. The downside however is that it is distant dependent. If you’re miles away from the central office, you will definitely get slower connections. And DSL is relatively slower compared with other broadband types, though they’re definitely much faster than dial ups.
The FiOS
Otherwise known as fiber optic service, this is the latest among all internet connectivity types. It operates using light. They offer high fiber optic speeds of up to 300 Mbps down and 65 Mbps up.
What you will like about this is that it provides you with the highest speeds available against traditional connections like cable and DSL who are still using copper wire. Good as their high speed capability sounds, they are still available in very limited areas.
The Satellite
As the term suggests, it gives you internet feeds through the satellite dishes installed in the homes of the subscribers. Regardless of your location, it can give you speeds of up to 15Mbps down and 3Mbps up. What subscribers love about this is that it can reach areas that cable, DSL and fiber cannot. For a lot of people in the rural areas, this is their best broadband option. The downside? It’s more expensive than the other broadbands, and considerably slower as well.
Other than types of connections, you must also consider bundling factors. There are lots of home phone and internet packages out there that will give you great value for your money. Here are some suggestions on how you can better compare the best ISPs to suit your budget needs.
Speeds when Downloading and Uploading
Some people don’t care how much they are paying for their internet connection as long as they can be provided with the highest speeds available. So make sure you do a direct comparison. Choose plans that are almost identical when it comes to their upload and download speeds. There are many speed test sites you can choose from to help you make a decision. All you have to do is find your location and scroll down its’ ranking on its ISPs by speed index.
The Availability
All their great features will boil down to nothing if they are not available in your area. So first you must do some careful research on what company do this kind of service in your area. There are many websites out there who let you do this by entering your zip code. You can also look up break downs of different broadband options in DSL reports. They do this by categorization like cheapest broadband, cable providers, residential DSLs cost, ISPs who ranks on top of the list, etc. They also give you the latest peoples’ ratings when it comes to reliability, and cost-effectivity.
So start searching using these sites to make good comparisons as to which ISPs will give you the highest speeds at the lowest price. Then you may want to check out their individual websites to get the nitty gritty details about their packages to further understand the benefits, trade-offs, etc. if you choose to sign up with them.
Check out the Contract and the Price
Compare against a modem you have to rent out or something you will buy for yourself. Some companies will really charge you a fee for installation while other companies willingly do it for free. Some give great discounts when you get bundles of home phone and internet packages. Be careful though, because some only do this for a couple of months and don’t forget to check out the expiration date of the said contract. Others are willing to pay higher so they can avoid contracts that are multi-year. So do some careful thinking first so you can compare wisely.
Their Terms of Service
All providers, no matter how good their offers sound, have certain limitations that you must be aware of. An example of these are data caps which limits you to the monthly data you can consume or maybe you will be prohibited to do certain actions like running a file or web server.
Special and other Value- Added Features
Be careful when looking into these so called “special features”. It seems you’re getting a lot because they’re throwing in a lot of perks and freebies, when actually you’re really paying for them, big time. Some of these are even features you don’t really need, they are simply that- extras.
Internet Reliability
Again, all their other great features will all be for nothing if you cannot get a good connection when you have to. So for starters, you can actually go around asking your neighbors for some feedback. Or test their speeds without having to leave your seat by using the Net index from Speedtest.net.
Great Customer Service
Now, every now and then, sometimes often you encounter problems and you need somebody to confer with to help you troubleshoot connection problems. So see if they really provide good customer support when you need them the most or they’re just interested in making you sign up then leave you hanging in the air afterwards.
So make sure to do your homework first to get the best home phone and internet packages out there. Happy hunting.
About the Author
Yvonne Hart is a tech blogger from Australia. Her knowledge about consumer technology is backed up by 8 years working as a marketing professional in an I.T. distribution company. She now works as a consultant for compare broadband.
Although your average computer or laptop comes with at least 250 gigabytes (GB) of storage space, you might soon find that it proves to be less than you imagined. With the download and sharing of movies and series, you might require space in the ranges of terabytes (TB), rather than gigabytes. If you find yourself continually having to delete old files to make space for new ones, perhaps the time has come to invest in an external hard drive (HDD). With a whole spectrum of options on the market, from feather light USB flash drives that double as key chains to the bulkier desktop models, it can get confusing when deciding on an external HDD for yourself. The most important key to making the decision is to keep in mind what exactly you are planning to use the external HDD for.
Storage capacity
The main deciding factor will be your reason for acquiring an external HDD. If you want to easily transfer small files or documents between your home computer and work, then a USB flash drive will be more than sufficient. But, if you are looking for a device on which to store your family photos or home movies, then you will need a bigger external HDD. Keep in mind that documents and music take up less space than photographs and videos. A 3TB external hard drive can store approximately 960,000 photographs, 50,000 hours of music or 3,000 hours of video. You usually get better value for money the bigger your drive is – they become cheaper per megabyte as they get bigger. Also keep in mind that, even if you don’t have 3,000 hours of movies yet, you never know what will happen in the future. If in doubt – get the external HDD that can store more.
Type of computer
In the old Mac vs. PC debate, the external HDD also factors in. The Mac OS X platform uses a HFS+ file system, where a Windows operating systems works with NTFS file systems. Many externals are Mac- or PC-specific, and if you should buy a PC-specific drive for use on your Mac, you will need to reformat the drive before you can use it. The Mac OS X operating system can read files on the NTFS systems but cannot write them, however software is available for Macs that allow you to use a PC-specific drive on either system. You can download NTFS-3G for free to do this.
Interface
The type of connection that your external HDD has to the computer will also determine the speed at which transfers can take place. At the moment, USB 2.0 is the most widely used interface but it is quickly being taken over by the much faster USB 3.0 ports. Where a USB 2.0 port has transfer rates at a top speed of 480 MB per second, the USB 3.0 connection allows a ten times faster maximum transfer rate at a whopping 5 GB per second. An even more tempting option is the Thunderbolt ports – a common point of connection for the latest Macs, but becoming more common on laptops and desktop computers as well. In a review done by pcworld.com they say that Thunderbolt ports can do transfers op up to 10 Gbps – “speedy enough to transfer a full-length high-definition movie in less than 30 seconds”. The price for this speedy efficiency is still high though, as a 500GB Thunderbolt interface HDD costs roughly the same as a 2TB USB 3.0 interface disk.
Portability
The way that the external HDD connects to the computer is also determined largely by what kind of external you buy. For the heavier desktop versions, it is likely that a secondary power source will be needed, either through a second USB port or a connection to a power outlet. If you are buying a desktop version, make sure it has a built-in fan, as that will extend the life. Desktop versions are less likely to become damaged (as they are hardly ever moved around) and price wise they have a higher capacity for the same amount, but you lose functionality if you need something on-the-go. To protect your data with a portable external HDD, you can look into encryption software, which will prevent your data from being stolen (or in case the disk gets lost) and make sure you have a solid case which can absorb shock and prevent damage if the disk should fall in transit.
Once you’ve narrowed down your choices and you need to make a final decision, always keep in mind that technology is evolving at breakneck speeds. Rather get something with a newer interface, faster speeds or more capacity than the one that might be outdated in a year or two. You won’t regret it.
About the Author
Marilu Snyders is a digital horder with more (legally obtained) movies, music, and TV shows than she can reasonably expect to watch in her lifestime, and still the collecting goes on. Her world might not fall apart if something should happen to one of her external drives, but it's still a comfort to know that there are specialist companies, like Datadetect.com.au, which can restore lost data and keep her addiction to Mad Men fed.