Beat the broadband blues
- — 17 December, 2003 07:41
Hard as it is for dial-up users to believe, for some people on broadband the novelty is wearing off. High-speed Internet access is now just another bill, like electricity or water service. But broadband is different from a traditional utility: there’s more to good broadband service than eliminating the wait for a dial-up connection, or loading your favourite Web sites in less than 30 seconds. Are you surfing at the speed you deserve? Are you taking advantage of extra features your ISP provides? In short, are you getting your money’s worth?
We’ll show you how to test your broadband service to make sure you’re receiving the speed you’re paying for. We’ll tell you how to enjoy the full benefit of the services most commonly available with broadband accounts — from multiple free e-mail in-boxes to Web storage space — that customers rarely or never use. And if you’ve decided you’re fed up with an ISP that can’t resolve a nagging problem, we’ll tell you what questions to ask as you shop for a new broadband provider, as well as what you need to do to make the transition smooth and (relatively) painless.
GET THE MOST OUT OF OUR BROADBAND
Performance issues
Check your speed: most of the time, you should be able to connect at 75 per cent to 80 per cent of the top speed available at your location. A number of factors, however, can affect speed: with DSL, performance drops as distance increases between your modem and the local phone exchange. Cable modem service can slow down as more cable users connect to the Internet in your immediate neighbourhood. During peak usage times (such as after-dinner hours), both kinds of service may seem slower because network congestion can overload both your ISP and the Web site you’re trying to visit.
Most broadband ISPs deliver residential download rates that range from 256Kbps to 1.5Mbps; cable connections are typically faster than DSL. Nearly all ISPs limit the speed at which you can send e-mail or upload files to servers to a greater extent than they restrict download speeds.
If you’re not sure what level of service you pay for, check your bill or call your ISP. Next, measure the actual speed between your ISP and your computer. One method is to use your ISP’s own speed-testing tool, if it has one. Broadband consultant John Navas recommends hand-timing a download test. Use a stopwatch to time how long it takes to download a 3MB or larger file hosted at your ISP. When the download is done, right-click the file, choose Properties to determine its exact size in bytes, and divide that number by how many seconds it took to get the file. Multiply that result by 10 for a rough estimate of your megabit download speed.
Test several times and average the results. If you consistently get less than half the speed you pay for, a traceroute tool — such as Sam Spade (www.samspade.org/ssw), TraceRoute3D (www.autonoc.com/downloads/trace3d.html), or VisualRoute (www.visualware.com/personal/products/visualroute/index.html) — can tell you if the problem originates with your ISP. Traceroute utilities display a bread-crumb trail of the path that data takes from your PC to any other on the Internet, checking how quickly each router responds. If the problem persists, and a traceroute shows a slow router hosted by your ISP, complain to your provider.
Tweak it up: often, you can snap sluggish connections out of their torpor by power-cycling your cable or DSL modem (unplug it for a few seconds, then plug it back in) and your home gateway or router (if you use one). But you shouldn’t have to power-cycle repeatedly to maintain an acceptable level of performance. Slowdowns can also be the result of incorrect networking settings in your operating system. Out of the box, Windows XP usually handles a broadband connection’s high-speed data flow pretty well, but all versions of Windows can benefit from a small tweak to get the best results. Check out the Navas Cable Modem/DSL Tuning Guide (http://cable-dsl.home.att.net) for tips.
Use your extra features
Along with the connection itself, your ISP provides other essential Internet services: bonus e-mail addresses, online file storage, software, and more.
Countdown to switching ISPsChanging from one broadband ISP to another doesn’t have to be a nightmare if you take the right steps. T-minus six weeks: start looking for a new service. Contact your existing ISP for its e-mail and Web site forwarding policies, and what you need to do to disconnect. Your new ADSL provider may offer to handle the whole process of disconnecting from your old service when you sign up for its product. T-minus four to five weeks: order the new service; determine your new e-mail and Web site addresses. T-minus one week: call to confirm that the installer is still planning to show up at the appointed time. Inform frequent e-mail correspondents of your new e-mail and Web site addresses, and the change-over date. T-minus three days: make sure that you have copies of any important files (such as Web pages) that you stored on your current ISP’s servers. T-minus one day: disconnect all wireless or wired networks from the PC that will connect to the new service. B-Day (Broadband Day), before installation: disconnect your current broadband modem, if you have one. B-Day, after installation: plug in the new broadband modem and any networking hardware. Reconfigure your e-mail program to receive mail from your old service, and to send and receive mail using the new service. B-Day plus one: test all Internet applications to make sure they work with the new service. Send a reminder to contacts about your new e-mail address. Upload Web pages or other files to the new ISP’s servers. B-Day plus seven: evaluate your new service’s speed. If you’re switching from a dial-up account and your broadband service is working well, ask your dial-up provider to discontinue service (unless you want to keep it as a backup if your broadband service becomes unavailable) and to forward messages to your new e-mail in-box. |
Make use of multiple mailboxes: you probably have your e-mail situation in hand, but did you know that many broadband ISPs give you several mailboxes? Most services let you create three to five e-mail addresses for a single account. That lets you separate business from pleasure by using a different address for each purpose. You can even offer the extra mailboxes to family members or co-workers (and shut down mail accounts at other ISPs you might be paying for).
Publish or store files online: just about every large broadband ISP gives its customers some server space to host a Web page and to store files. If you’re not using this valuable feature, you should. Do you regularly e-mail photos, or have you sent out an electronic résumé? Instead of sending these files as large attachments, you can post them in your Web storage space or page and then e-mail links to them.
Think dynamic: when you sign up for broadband service, you may be given a choice between a dynamic IP address — which will change occasionally — or an unchanging, static IP address. You might think a static IP address is better, because serious Web-heads want them (static IPs make hosting servers easier, for instance) and ISPs may charge extra for the privilege. In many cases, however, even advanced broadband users can take advantage of the less-expensive dynamic address, with no loss of functionality.
If you run file, game, or Web servers through your broadband connection, for example, you may not need to switch to a service offering a static IP address: sites like DynDNS.org offer services that will let you distribute a single, unchanging domain name to users, who can then find you no matter what your IP address is on a given day.
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE
Know your terms of service: a router creates a network of PCs and can connect them all to the Internet. But even though some broadband service contracts specify that you may connect only one PC at a time to the network, as long as you don’t invite an ISP representative into your home or office, the provider can do little to determine what is installed behind your router.
If you want to throw caution to the wind, many routers offer a useful feature for cloning your MAC interface address, allowing all the PCs within a local area network to appear (to the outside world) as just a single computer.
Use a firewall/router: some residential broadband services provide a modem, an Ethernet cable, and setup instructions — but hardly any information about security. If you don’t have a firewall, your computer is a sitting duck. A router can provide additional protection by preventing unwanted Internet scans from reaching your computer.
HOW TO SHOP FOR BROADBAND
If your broadband service starts to look chintzy compared with what your friends and colleagues are getting, you might decide that you’re throwing your money away. But when it’s time to switch providers, where do you start?
First, know that your choices are limited. Of the many broadband providers doing business in Australia, only a handful is likely to offer service in your neck of the woods. And broadband coverage is certainly not yet universal: sometimes major suburban — or even urban — areas are broadband-bereft. If you reside in a slow-speed zone that lacks both cable and DSL, you may be limited to an expensive satellite-based service or to ISDN.
You can save a lot of time shopping for broadband service by asking friends and neighbours what they use. But don’t rely solely on word of mouth: check the phone book and newspaper ads for local services offering introductory pricing. You can also use Web sites such as www.broadbandchoice.com.au to help you find broadband Internet service in your area.
SELECT YOUR SPEED
If you end up choosing a DSL service, you’ll need to select how much bandwidth you want. Residential DSL almost always comes in a flavour called Asymmetric DSL (or ADSL), which offers several tiers of download speeds, ranging from 256Kbps to 1.5Mbps, coupled with 64Kbps or 128Kbps upload speeds.
If you routinely download hundreds of megabytes of digitised music, video, or software, you’ll see a substantial difference between the slower and faster speeds. If you just surf the Web, use e-mail, and download the occasional streaming video clip, you’ll probably be happy with the lower speed services.
MIND YOUR CONTRACTS
Many ADSL providers require you to sign up for a minimum of six months or one year of service. As long as you don’t have to skip town suddenly, this isn’t usually a problem — after all, you’re switching to what you have determined is currently the best available service you can get in your area. Just be mindful of any early-termination penalties.
Broadband providers seem to have moved into a new phase of battle — fierce competition over prices. As broadband becomes more mainstream, DSL providers in particular are willing to slash prices to grab market share.
In the past, switching ADSL providers was a painful and slow process, but Telstra announced in April that it would implement a new process to make it easier for consumers. Now, the telco says, due to changes on its network, it should only take a matter of hours rather than days (or weeks if there was a queue for access in your area) to make the change to the network.
Check with the ISP you’re considering to see if they are part of the ‘Churn’ or Quick Transfer Program and what fees and charges are involved (typically less than the full establishment fee you would have paid prior to the program’s introduction).
Competition is a market dynamic you can use to your advantage. Knowing how to get the most from your current broadband service, and how to shop for a new one, puts you in the driver’s seat.
