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If you are frustrated by the limitations of a 56Kbps modem and a dial-up Internet account it may be time to consider installing a faster, and even perhaps full time, Internet connection. The benefits are countless. Businesses can, on average, cut Internet access and hardware support costs by having their staff share a single, faster connection instead of a bunch of dial-up modems and individual ISP accounts. The more users you have that share the same connection, the more you save! Sounds cool, huh? What's more, a permanent connection means that wait for access is gone and your e-mails arrive and depart immediately. It's also essential if you have a desire to host your own Web site from a server in the corner of your office. In industries with frequent large file transfers, such as graphic design, faster transfers mean major efficiency improvements. In addition, fatter pipes let you take advantage of more sophisticated technologies, such as video conferencing. There are some drawbacks, however. Permanent connections are especially vulnerable to hackers so precautions are recommended. Experience also shows that fast connections mean workers can get away with spending time surfing for their own enjoyment. Going permanent usually involve you upgrading your hardware, software or network to make the most of the extra bandwith, which can increase time and costs spent on system administration, particularly if you install a server. Here are some types of permanent connection you can get today on the market: Permanent 56Kps Connections Most major ISPs now offer permanent modem connections. In effect, this is your own personal hotline to the Internet. With this type of connection, you're practically "royalty" compared to other users for you don't have to compete with them for peak-hour access; you will be able to stay on for as long as you wish. This is ideal for companies that can't afford to take chances with their access, spend a lot of time online and have modest bandwith needs. However, it's certainly not suitable for hosting a Web site. Cable Internet Cable offers small business raw speed, relative ease of use and simplicity. It's more than enough for advanced applications such as videoconferencing. Cable uses a permanent connection but, in Australia, doesn't provide customers with a permanent IP address, so you can't realistically use a cable connection to host a Web site. Right now, Telstra's Big Pond Advanced is Australia's only mainstream cable Net service. It piggybacks on Foxtel's pay TV system, and therein lies the main drawback for small business users: the Foxtel network is mainly geared to residential consumers, so many industrial parks and commercial zones are not yet cable-ready. The other disadvantage is that Telstra's volume pricing model means you pay for every megabyte of data you receive, which can get expensive and makes it hard to control costs. If you want cable connections, the best thing to do is wait. With Optus expected to deliver consumer cable Internet later this year, prices should fall considerably and you will get a much better deal then. ISDN At first sight, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) might not look that attractive to small business. Telstra's barely-faster-than-a-modem 64Kps basic service requires expensive hardware and can cost as much as $5 an hour to use. However, while 56Kps modems rarely deliver their full speed and only offer 33Kbps upstream, ISDN users get the full 64Kps whenever they need it. One useful thing about ISDN is that several 64Kps channels can be "bound" together boosting throughput to 128Kps or 256Kps. Another advantage is that it can be used for voice and data traffic at the same time. And perhaps the most important reason for small businesses to choose ISDN is that it can be used to host a Web site with a permanent IP address. If you need fast access and your neighbourhood isn't on the cable network, then ISDN is probably your best option. Satellite If you just want high-speed Web surfing, then satellite connection is the way to go. The Satnet service beams Web pages to your office at somewhere between 128Kbps and 256Kbps for around $199 a month. This price includes 3Gb of data. You'll need a satellite dish and a conventional modem to be able to have this type of connection. Coming Soon... Digital Subscriber Line is a family of fast Internet access technologies that pushes high volumes of data down the telephone network's existing copper cables. The most promising version for small business is ADSL (asynchronous DSL). In theory at least, ADSL could cost less than other fast access technologies. Overall... Although currently prices are a bit high, but they are sure to fall in the very near future. Added with all the benefits, it would seem that in a year or two, permanent connection would be the way to go online for both homes and businesses. |