Faster, Affordable, Wireless Internet - Easier Than You Think

By Drew Vics

I don't know how I ever did without broadband internet service. The amount of information I have access to is incredible. Any time, anywhere in my home, at the click of a button. I'm talking about downloading good quality Freevideo productions about science and nature, and several other categories, right on my computer. Free audio podcasts, and music, on my computer. I surf the web on my laptop from any room in my house. I recommend this freedom to anyone! So, how can you get broadband and even wireless internet connections in your house? It's easy, and you do not have to spend a fortune.

AOL has it's benefits, but one thing is for sure, it does not have SPEED. Any promise of faster AOL service is merely caching of frequently viewed pages, which simply means once a page has loaded AOL saves it for the next time you visit. This will make loading regular graphics and information faster, but new data and new advertisements will still take just as long, and it will not increase the download speed of video and audio content.

I lived with AOL for a few years and finally discovered how I could surf faster for even less money. I think AOL's basic rate is still around $20 or $25 per month. My broadband service, through Verizon, costs about $17 or $18 per month (after taxes and USF fee,keep reading) and is 10 times faster. I've timed it. In my area, using existing phone lines, I can download 6 or 7 mb (that 6 or 7,000,000 bytes) in about one minute. Which means it takes me about 5-7 minutes to download a 5 or 6 minute video production, or 2-3 minutes for a one hour audio only podcast.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I hate seeing people spend too much money on internet services that don't offer the speed and quality that is available elsewhere. AOL can continue to charge that higher rate because AOL customers are willing to pay it, mostly because they don't understand how it all works, and that something else available, faster and cheaper. AOL is convenient and has a lot of great features, all presented nicely in a simple interface. That's what you're paying for. But if you know where to go online (for example... GOOGLE.com) you can find all of the information and news you need with a simple search. Haven't you heard? Google rules!

Anyway, back to what I was talking about, wireless high speed internet for your computer. My wife and I decided to upgrade to Verizon DSL for $14.99 per month (with a one year contract, big deal), plus taxes and an additional fee (Universal Service Fund, a federal program that helps subsidize rural telephone service and provide Internet access to schools and libraries.) which brings it up to about $17 or $18. After weighing the options and benefits we thought it was worth it, and it has been. Check in your local area, I'm sure you can find a DSL service offering a similar plan, or check Verizon.

To take it one step further I installed a wireless router with ports for my old, ethernet-bound computers. Now my wife and I have 4 computer networked in our own home, and can take our laptops anywhere in the house, even outside in the back yard, and surf the web 10 times faster than we could before. Actually more than 10 times faster.

Average download speeds with our AOL service were around 4 to 5 KB per second (that's 4 or 5 thousand bytes ber second). Even if they advertised higher, the rate most home owners were likely to get was much less due to the quality of phone lines in their home and around town. Sometimes if the wind blew hard enough we'd notice a lag in our connectivity with AOL. I'm not kidding.

Now, for less than what our AOL service cost, we're downloading at speeds anywhere from 70,000 bytes to 90,000 bytes per second. That's about twenty times faster than before! The number advertised by Verizon for our DSL plan is 768kbps. Notice the small b, that's bits. That means 768,000 bits per second, which is (768 ÷ 8) 96,000 Bytes per second. Of course, like dial up, DSL uses our phone lines so that rate will vary, but it will always be much faster than dial-up.

Sure we could have upgraded to cable broadband, but for that we would have had to upgrade our cable service (I'll explain in a minute) and pay about $40 per month on top of that for cable internet speeds.

Yes, highest cable internet speeds dwarf our DLS speeds but I ask you, does a microwave cook fast enough? I hear people complaining at work who have to wait 2 minutes for their food to heat up. Give me a break! Sure, faster is better, but at what cost? Patience is relative.

I mentioned upgrading our cable TV service. My wife and I don't watch too much TV, and we don't need the premium channels. We learned that "antenna service" is available from our local cable company for about $12 per month. They don't advertise that too loudly do they? Of course not, they want as many people as possible to pay $50 per month for full cable programming. I think it may even be more than that in some areas.

In order for us to get cable modem we would have to upgrade first to full cable, for $50 or so, then pay an additional $30 or so on top of that for cable modem. Let's see, right now we pay $12 plus, say, $18 for our TV and internet services, that's about $30 we spend each month for internet and TV. We have faster internet, and no extra channels we'll never watch. Cable service would cost us $80 to $90! I can't justify that expense.

Sure, when I visit my friend and connect to his wireless network with my laptop I can download stuff in the blink of an eye, maybe 10 mb (10,000,000) in the same amount of time it takes me to download 1 mb, and I get jealous. But we just can't afford that right now, that's why I'm sharing this with you.

If you would like to increase the speed at which you can access new information, new technology, videos, music and movies (yeah, I download movies sometimes - click download and walk away for a few hours, but I'm talking a FULL LENGTH MOVIE), but don't want to spend too much, I'm here to tell you that it is possible.

if you are willing to save money, get faster internet speeds, and recharge some dormant brain cells getting used to the new technology and services online, then you can cut loose from overpriced dial-up service and switch to broadband. It can be done.

Oh, and if you want to save money on TV, consider this... Check with your local cable provider about antenna service, pay under $20 per month for basic TV channels (clean picture), and download iTunes (Free) because you can download a lot of TV shows -- a growing collection from a number of networks -- for only $3 each. To tell you the truth, I'd rather pay $3 for a TV episode I want to see, than pay $40 per month for shows I'll never see.

And the future is here now! Consider Apple Computer, Inc, the wonderful company with a huge influence on society, and developer of iTunes, the software you can own for free to download music, podcasts, vidcasts, and those TV shows I told you about. Apple just released AppleTV, which will allow you to watch all of that iTunes content right on your television. Right now the unit runs about $300 (one time purchase price), but I guarantee you a year or two down the road, when you're ready to tackle it, the price will be more affordable.

I also mentioned that my wife and I have wireless internet right in our home. It is definitely affordable, and you don't need to be an IT specialist to hook it all up! It comes with instructions and a CD-ROM set-up disc that will walk you through it all. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

I bought a Wireless-G router from Linksys, but many brands are available. My father-in-law opted for the one that ships for a nominal fee (I think it may have even been free) with his Verizon DSL service. He can plug in 2 or 3 computers, plus multiple wireless laptop computers. He and my mother-in-law actually have two of the flat-screen iMacs that don't even have to plug into anything but the power outlet. They are connected wirelessly to the internet.

Bottom line... Don't be afraid of technology. Take your time, explore your options, and talk to someone who has done it. Anyone can enjoy the countless benefits of broadband internet service and a wireless network. Come on now, we're in the 21st century you know! Buck Rogers was zipping around in his jet pack right around now, wasn't he? Boy, how things change!

Technology grows exponentially, and becomes more affordable as the years pass. Mohr's law at work. That's all for now folks. See you on the flip side!

Drew Vics is an artist, musician and writer from Norther New Jersey. His artwork has been featured in local newspapers, and he writes articles and sometimes humorous commentaries for various websites. Drew released a CD of his original music called No More Waiting, in 2003. You can find his music on iTunes and other music download sites.

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