Buyers Guide Part 11 – Internet connections Part 2

Posted Tuesday, June 1, 2004

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Wireless broadband is actually quite an affordable option. Prices start at £1 per day, plus an installation charge of £99. This is only slightly more expensive to run than standard ADSL. The website www.northernirelandbroadband.com will help you decide and show you coverage areas. Speed starts at 512kb download/upload and the higher range service is 1024kb download/upload, this service does offer higher upload speeds than ADSL, which is commonly half the download speed, if not less.

 

1024kb = 1mb

 

Satellite broadband in the other hand is very expensive; searching the UK was quite difficult to find providers, and the cheapest monthly charge I could find was £75. (This was a 512kb download/upload rate). This service seems aimed at businesses, not the home user, it can be affected by adverse weather, and may require a licence to be used.

 

Looking at these two services I would advise users to wait it out as ADSL is expanding next year with the introduction of new technology to the BT exchanges. This will increase coverage to over 90% of the UK population (Presently at 60%). Remember though if you don’t have broadband in your area register your interest on BT’s website, the more people that do it, the quicker ADSL will arrive.

Next week we will begin our new series, “Outside your Computer”, this will look at the hardware that is essential to computer use, and will help explain what to look for when buying.