This is another way to say, what is your Internet Service Provider, or ISP. An internet access provider is a company that allows you access to the internet network. Maybe you still don’t understand the role of an internet access provider. As usual, the best way to describe an abstract concept is through the use of a concrete one. Let’s say that you want some information about a certain kind of treasure hunting. The only problem is that this is specialized knowledge. The great thing is that there is a group of folks who gather every month to talk about this exact topic. The problem is that the only way you can get into the group is by a friend of one of the members. You find out that your friend Bob knows someone in the group. Bob agrees to hook you up with their network of friends. Now you can tap into their knowledge at will. So, in this crude analogy, Bob is the internet access provider. He is the bridge to tapping into that larger network. This is kind of like how they function in real life. And in exchange for that access, you pay a monthly bill.

Now, how internet access providers handle all that access can become very complex very quickly. There is a hierarchy of providers out there. Some are closer to the top of that hierarchy. Providers often swap access amongst one another with upstream providers. Now, you’re probably not as interested with this aspect of internet access providers as you are the services that they can provide for you. Let’s hit the main ones:

T1

T1 is provided by your local phone company. Uploading and downloading usually runs in the 1.4 Mbps range. Though this type of technology is highly available, since it uses phone lines, it is very expensive. Typical rates cost between $400-$600/month.

Cable internet

Cable internet is provided by, big surprise, your local cable company. These are companies like Cox, Time Warner, Adelphia, Comcast, etc. Uploading and downloading bandwidth can go up to 6 Mbps/1Mbps. And access costs per month are much, much cheaper than T1. You can expect to pay in the $40-$70/month range for this type of service.

DSL

DSL is a service provided by your local phone company. The uploading and downloading bandwidth is pretty good and can go up to 3 Mbps/1 Mbps. Again, rates are reasonable, and you can expect to pay in the $30-$50/month range.

Dial Up

I am tempted just to skip this option because of the price and availability of the previous options. You can expect to pay from $10-$30/month for this service. And you can get a blazing 56 kbps! So, if you can afford $30/month, please go another route if available.

Satellite

You can also get internet access from your satellite TV provider. The problem with this is the latency. This means that it takes time for the signal to go back and forth. Also, a lot of satellite providers only have unicasting. That means that you can receive downloaded content from the internet via the satellite, but you can not upload data in the same manner. This would require an additional dial up line to accomplish this task. Some satellite providers do however has multiplex or two-way communication. But, again, there is a problem with the speed. Downloading can be very fast, but the issue is with uploading. And the setups can be complex. I personally would stay away from this solution unless you can’t get another type.

FIOS

FIOS is a fiber optic internet access solution. This is a newer option that is not as available as the others. The great thing about FIOS is that it has tremendous bandwidth because it uses fiber optics. You can expect upload/download bandwidth to run in the 50 Mbps/ 5 Mbps range! Of course this type of bandwidth comes at a premium. You can expect to pay in the $50-$150 range for this type of service.

Now, these are big generalizations, but they give you some sort of a framework to understanding what is available for a small business or a home. There are also some upcoming services that will become increasing players, but may not be for you yet. These are mobile internet access provider solutions. I will cover that in another post.

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