One Tip A Day » Broadband

How To Choose Your Broadband Provider

Tony Williams — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:10:09 +0000

Broadband internet has literally revolutionised the way in which communication and business operates on a global level. Over the 8 years since the turn of the millennium, use in English speaking countries rose over 200%, but this figure pales in comparison to the figure for Chinese usage, which grew 700%, or use in the Arab world which increased over 2000%.

Each and every government of the world has realised the potential of the internet for education, communication and business, and broadband technologies like Mobile Broadband and Wi-MAX are currently liberating broadband from the landlines and providing broadband internet services for those in the most isolated areas of the globe. Nearly one and a half billion people access the internet on a daily basis, and as technology advances and prices are lowered this will only continue to rise, creating a truly global community. As a result, it`s important for everyone to think carefully when choosing a broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP) as not only are there many different companies offering broadband internet services, but there are now three main ways in which these services can be connected to the customer, and each one has advantages and disadvantages.

Here are the main considerations to make, and the reasons why using a broadband comparison website is always sensible to make sure that you get the best deal that`s right for you.

Broadband Services and Options

The first consideration you`ll need to make is which of the three main types of broadband you want or are indeed eligible for. The most common broadband connection is ADSL, delivered via the existing copper telephone wire present in most homes and businesses. ADSL services are often the cheapest option, though because of the nature of the technology some rural areas will not be able to receive ADSL broadband as the signal and the speed suffer if the line connecting your property to the local telephone exchange is particularly long.

The second option is cable broadband, which with the introduction of fibre optic services suffers no loss of speed and is capable of up to 50Mbps download compared to the 8Mbps maximum offered by most ADSL connections. However, cable broadband is limited to areas which are covered by a cable network, and usually it is the urban areas where cable lines are most likely to exist.

The final main broadband option at the moment it mobile broadband. Rather than relying on landline connections, mobile broadband uses 3G mobile telephone networks to allow anyone within an area of 3G network coverage to connect to the internet. All of the features of a land line cable or ADSL broadband connection are available through mobile broadband, though speeds are generally lower, between 3.6Mbps and 7.2Mbps. Mobile broadband also suffers from an inconsistent amount of coverage over a given country, and coverage and download speed will depend on the network you choose to sign up with. However, for personal users without a land line in their property or for business users who are out in the field for work a lot, mobile broadband affords a portable and cheap broadband solution that means you never have to stay disconnected for long even if you`re travelling around a lot.

10 Tips To Improve Your Wireless Network

Tony Williams — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:36:20 +0000

Many broadband users now have a wireless router, and have at some point encountered problems with weak wireless signals.

Although most routers can provide a decent enough signal for general browsing, but if you are doing big downloads or transferring files between machines or streaming video to a TV then poor wireless signals can be a real pain. You could even end up with dead spots within your home.

Microsoft, yes Microsoft, have put together a great guide on how you can improve your wireless network. It’s a really well thought and clear guide and well worth reading even if you think your current wireless network is performing adequately.

More: 10 Tips For Improving Your Wireless Network

Free Broadband Speed Test

Tony Williams — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 11:24:43 +0000

All broadband ISPs are not the same, and the speed you can receive from each ISP can fluctuate wildly.

If you want to see your ISP is actually giving you the speed that you are paying for, then check out my new Broadband Speed Test below, which in seconds will allow you to see if you are getting the broadband speed you deserve!

Using The Test

Start the test by clicking the big button in the center of the page. The test first starts by downloading a file and measures how long it takes. After the download is finished the speed checker tries to upload a file and measures your upload speed.

If you want to get accurate results then you should not use your internet connection for any other applications once the speed checker is running, and run the test a few times so that an average speed can be calculated.

The broadband speed is measured in Kbps (kilobits per second). Approximately 1000 Kbps is 1Mb/s.

Broadband Speed Test

Get your own broadband speed checker

Are you happy or sad with your Broadband Speed Test Results? Don’t forget to leave a comment below to share your results so that other readers can see which ISPs are good and which aren’t.

Control Your Internet Addiction

Tony Williams — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 21:54:27 +0000

Could you cope without the internet? What do you do when your broadband connection goes down? I think I would find it impossible to go a whole day without logging on which is quite sad.

If you’re not sure if your internet usage has reached dangerous levels yet, then you should take this test which measures the level of your addiction. Based on your score you can decide whether or not you need to take drastic action quick!

The higher your score (I’ll tell you my score later!), the greater your addiction level:

20 – 49 points: You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.
50 -79 points: You are experiencing occasional or frequent problems because of the Internet. You should consider their full impact on your life
80 – 100 points: Your Internet usage is causing significant problems in your life. You should evaluate the impact of the Internet on your life and address the problems directly caused by your Internet usage.

Don’t forget to share your scores. Don’t worry if it’s embarrassingly high – remember you’re amongst friends here!

Test Your Broadband Speed And Optimize Your Internet Connection In 5 Simple Steps

Tony Williams — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 12:57:29 +0000

You can always have more speed, right? Even with today’s super-fast broadband connections you can still make pages load even faster by making some quick simple changes to your PC.
1. Test Your Current Speed

The first thing you need to do is test your current broadband speed. The best way I’ve found of doing this is to use the following broadband speed test. It’s very simple and the results are nice and clear, showing what speed you acheived and what speed you should have achieved based on the information you provided. Below are my results for my 10Mb broadband connection:

Run the test three times and calculate your average. Hopefully, you should be getting near to what your ISP claims to be selling you. If not, then the first thing you need to do is get on the phone and complain! Some of the tweaks below should help in the meantime. Even if you are getting your quoted speed, implementing the tips below will help.

2. Run TCP/IP Optimizer

TCP/IP Optimizer is a great tool for tweaking your connection settings quickly. To run the tool do the following:

Download and install
Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
Check Optimal Settings then Apply
Reboot (Don’t forget to bookmark this page first or subscribe to the feed so that you can carry out the other steps once you’ve rebooted)

3. Use OpenDNS for your DNS Servers

OpenDNS is a great free service that will speedup your web surfing sessions, as well as providing phishing protection. DNS servers basically tell your PC how to get to particular pages on the internet – like a map. What OpenDNS provide is a huge ‘map’, so that rather than having to ask lots of DNS servers for directions, your PC only has to ask one. This can significantly improve page loading times, regardless of the speed of your connection as pages are found that much faster.

OpenDNS provides free DNS server addresses which you can enter on your home router so that all connected devices can benefit, or within your computer’s network settings. It even works with a smartphone or a PDA.
To setup OpenDNS in XP do the following:

Select “Control Panel” from the Start menu
Click “Network Connections” from the “Control Panel” choices
Choose your connection from the “Network Connections” window
Click “Properties” button
Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click “Properties.”
C. Click the radio button “Use the following DNS server addresses” and type in OpenDNS addresses in the “Preferred DNS server” and “Alternate DNS server” fields
Click “OK”.

To configure other devices and routers then click here and find your make and model.

4. Turn Off File Sharing

Microsoft leaves this on by default, so if you’re not running a home network then turn it off. It will also help to protect you from hackers. To turn it off:

Right click on ‘Network Neighborhood’ and select ‘Properties’
Click on the ‘Configuration’ tab
Click on the ‘File and Print Sharing’ button
Uncheck both checkboxes

5. Install Google Web Accelerator

In Google’s own words, Google Web Accelerator is:

Google Web Accelerator is an application that uses the power of Google’s global computer network to make web pages load faster. Google Web Accelerator is easy to use; all you have to do is download and install it, and from then on many web pages will automatically load faster than before.

There are some webmasters who don’t like users who use Google Web Accelerator, but at the end of the day – it works. To install Google Web Accelerator, then click here.

If you found this guide useful, please share it with your friends. Don’t forget to subscribe to the feed to get my daily tips, or that you can use the search engine to browse through older tips.

Free SkypeOut Calls For 6 Months

Tony Williams — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 13:54:33 +0000

Skype is offering its UK subscribers free calls to UK landlines for the next six months, provided they buy a minimum of £10 Skype Credit. That’s a cracking deal if you already use Skype.The deal is open until 31st December 2006, so you can wait and get your half year of free calls in 2007 if you like.

If you want to have guaranteed call quality then check out Vonage who are doing unlimited UK VoIP calls for only £7.99 a month – great when you consider line rental alone with BT or ntl will set you back a tenner.

More: Skype

Optimize Your Internet Connection

Tony Williams — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 21:21:27 +0000

Remember the days when 512K seemed fast? Even though most of us have connections much faster than this now it is still worthwhile to make sure that your connectedion is optimized.

One of the quickest ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer. To run the tool do the following:

Download and install
Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
Check Optimal Settings then Apply
Reboot

If you are feeling adventurous and want to find more simple ways to speedup your PC then follow the steps in this guide