You
have how many people dialling-up the Internet ?
For
small companies, with a few people who need Internet access from
their desks, it used to be hard to know what to do other than
give them individual dial-up accounts.
But
now that Broadband is available throughout 90% of the UK, you
can have a fixed link without spending thousands of pounds each
year on a Kilostream line :-
Use
ADSL, if you want to be permanently connected at a low cost.
With
ADSL costing little more than dial-up used to, there is no reason
not to upgrade
How
does it work ?
To
use this service, you need an analogue (ordinary) phone line,
preferrably, not one connected to a switchboard (eg Fax Line).
Your Internet connection, works parasitically on this line,
and so does not affect it's normal use. Your connection is there,
all of the time, once you have been authenticated onto the network,
and it's much quicker then a modem, or even ISDN.
So
how do you do it ?
First
of all, you need to check whether you phone line is within range
of an ADSL equipped Telephone Exchange. To check availability,
click here on CHECK
LINE. NB Not all of BT's offerings are suitable
for connecting a LAN. There are now many ISPs that either offer
their own ADSL services, or resell BT's at different commercial
rates. Please do not order your ADSL services until we have
discussed the options.
Why
would I want a permanent connection?
1 Web browsing is a lot easier, because of the increased speed.
2 eMails are delivered more often when your always on line.
3 Low cost VPNs (Virtual
Private Networks),senable
even small organisations to link their sites.
You
may of course need some help connecting an ADSL router to your
network and in getting your PCs working. It's not always straightforward.
What
about other types of connections ?
On
an ever increasing number of exchanges, BT is offering SDSL, just
like ADSL, but with symetrical high speeds, instead of just high
speed for downloads.
Other
type of connections are available from cable companies, which
may operate in your area, You should check out what's on offer
to your premises, based upon your needs.
www.askntl.com
www.telewest.co.uk
Similarly
a two way satellite links throughout the UK are on offer from
a number of vendors. click
here to search for the latest.
Given
the choice of connections above, why would I want a Kilostream
(fixed) connection ?
Kilostream, should be considered, for example
if the following are important to your business :-
Symmetrical speeds of transmission, because
for example if this is your main site and you want to use
VPNs.
SLAs are available, so you know that if your
link goes down, it will be fixed within the terms of the Service
Level Agreement .
As
a last resort, you could Share a dial-up account.
One
good reason why not, is that most ISPs don't approve, and some
even bar it in their license terms. It is however an incredibly
low cost way of avoiding multiple dial-ups, and with "sensible
use", hard to detect.
How
does it work ?
The
router makes your the connections, from your PC appear as
if they come from one, and at the same time provides basic
protection from the Internet. Connections are made automatically,
when required, and dropped after a period of inactivity.
So
how do you do it ?
All
you need is a low cost Internet dial-up router, costing typically
less than £200, and someone who knows how to configure
it & connect it too your LAN. If you don't have a LAN,
click here on NO-LAN. NB
Dial-up accounts, with 0800 numbers are available from as
little as £14 per month.
Do
I need an ISDN line ?
Not
necessarily, but if you do, the connect time will be almost
zero, and your impression of the system will be much enhanced.
To
sum up, sharing a dial-up account is ideal for a few occasional
users, but is only really useful if you use an ISDN line.
