Jack The Pug's
Non-Nerd's Guide to Bandwidth
Or, How come the net is so slow???

Definitions: Baudrate and Bandwidth means basically how speedy your connection to the Internet is. How do you know? Usually you can position your cursor (the little arrow) over the picture of the two little computers in the bottom right hand side of your task bar (grey bar on the bottom of your screen). It should say "### bytes sent, ### bytes received, @ ##,### bps". The important part of this is everything after the @ symbol. BPS, by the way, is Bytes Per Second or how fast your connection is sending info back and forth.

Bytes Sent: Every time you send e-mail or fill out a form, this moves. This also siginifies commands you send, like when you click on a link and you tell the computer to move you to a new page.

Bytes Received: The info that is being sent to your machine, like incoming e-mail but also every picture/graphic/animation because it is actually being downloaded or saved to your computer for a little while so you can see the image or picture. This also includes any cookies that are being sent, but that's another chapter altogether.

Now, if you have a Dial Up Connection via your Phone Line, which means you have a modem that dials an ISP using a telephone line, then you are at the bottom of the broadband barrel. This does not mean you have to change, but it means that your connection is effected by the quality of the phone lines, the speed of your modem (for example, 56K, V.90, etc) and the speed of the modems at your ISP. This is the tricky part: When looking for an ISP (Internet Service Provider) you should ask them what the speed of their modems is. I made a mistake in joining up with an ISP that actually had 33.6K modems, which means I couldn't connect to the net any faster than 33,600 bps on a good day. The bigger the number of bps the better the speed/connection, and I can tell you from experience, 33,600 bps is NOT enough to handle today's great graphic web pages.

DirectPC: This is a new service and as far as I know, Direct TV are the only ones offering it. First, you buy a special satelite dish, then you point it southwest on top of your roof, then you connect it to your computer. I don't think you need a fancy new modem, but you do need the special cable line that goes from the dish to your computer and no fear of heights to position the thing. I've heard it's fast, but it can be subject to lots of down time based on weather and capacity (how many people signed up versus how few they were expecting to sign up for this service). In some places, DirectPC is often slower than phone lines, but I bet that will improve soon or someone else will start offering the same kind of service. The other bad part about DirectPC is that in most places, they only offer downloading so you still need to use another ISP. That means you can recieve e-mail but they don't have the technology to let you send any out just yet. Because this is new, I don't have any idea of reliability, security or cost just yet.

So, when it comes to phone lines, pick an ISP that has 56K or V.90 modems. You'll appreciate it, believe me. Average monthly cost: around $20 per month.

CABLE: Cable internet connections are a whole other ball of wax. For starters, you have to have a cable modem, although the local cable ISP is usually more than happy to rent you one for the rest of your life. Buying one these days is a little expensive (currently starting at $300 as far as I know). Then you have to pay for installation, unless you are guru enough to handle it yourself. This can run you over $100 depending on where you live. This doesn't include the monthly charge.
Security is getting better, but still not as good on Cable as it is on dial up. With Cable, you are connected to the Internet all the time, 24/7. This means while you're out walking the dog, someone could access your machine. So invest in some firewall protection like Zone Alarm, and ask the Cable company what they recommend.
Speedy is the way to describe Cable. It is much faster (often twice as fast) as telephone lines and it seems to be up or on more than the telephone ISP does (depending on where you live). Average monthly cost: From $40 to $80 per month, more for businesses.

DSL: Which stands for Digital Sattelite Link. I confess, they don't offer this service in the middle of nowhere where I live, but almost everywhere else, it's been around for a few years. This internet connection goes through a large line, bigger than the average phone line, from your ISP to you. It needs a special modem (just like cable) and it has the same security problems as cable because it is also on 24/7. As for up time (you know when you can't get on the net? that's because your ISP is down so up time means how much it is up or active or lets you get on the net) I can't tell you how well DSL does because nobody loves me and will bring it to my backyard. But the signal comes from a satelite dish into your ISP, so I would think it would be up a lot. AS far as speed goes, I've heard it can be faster than cable, depending on where you live. Cost: No idea until we get it here but check in your area.

Wireless: This is the new thing. Instead of phone lines or cable lines or any lines, now you put a receiver on your roof, kind of like a satelite dish. But you can buy little receivers for your computer, lap top, etc and even use your cell phone or palm pilot because the signal comes from one of those ugly radio towers that so many towns are trying to ban from being put on the beautiful hills of our country. There, I've put my two cents in about beauty. But, to be honest, the wireless is really fast an seems to be catching on. This just started in my neck of the woods and it is pricy, so I haven't joined up yet but in six months or so, it might be a different story. Cost per month: $89 where I live and I hear that's cheap. More for businesses.

So, the next time the net is slow or doesn't work, think about what kind of connection you have before you call tech support. Maybe you need to spend a little and upgrade to a speedier ISP. If all you ever do is check your e-mail and you don't spend more than an hour a day online, it might not be worth it, so instead send those extra pennies to the Jack Wants Faster Net Speed Foundation so Jack can afford all those high priced, fancy connections.