Speed Bumps

Smart shopping for internet access

You may be surprised to learn how many choices you have for your internet access. Beyond the big cable and phone companies, there are scores of smaller providers. Here are some guidelines:

• DSL access uses your phone line. In general, it provides a more consistent speed than cable, although that rate of speed is determined by many factors, including how far your house is from the switching station, and on the condition of the wires.
• Cable is usually faster than DSL for bursts of raw download speed, but it is also more variable. You will usually share a cable connection with your neighbours, so your speed may drop if everybody is online at the same time.
• If you are the kind of person who uses a CD tray as a cup holder, you might benefit from hands-on attention from a smaller ISP. Canadian ISP.com has a large listing of alternative ISPs across the country, along with reviews.
• Check your computer. Your speed could be slow because of viruses or spyware.
• Check your wiring. If you have DSL, replacing the phone cord from your computer to your demarcation point (that's the spot dividing your own wires from the ones the local phone company is responsible for) can mean a big improvement in speeds. Make sure you have filters on all of your phones.
• If you use an online speed test, remember that your ISP can manage traffic flow. You may get a quicker connection to the test site than to anything else, which could make you think your overall speed is faster than it is.
• Remember that your speed could be fast to your provider and slow down at the next hop on the internet. Much of the internet is outside your provider's control.
• Ask your provider what its "contention ratio" is. Some providers can oversubscribe lines in certain neighbourhoods, and this can slow you down.
• If you have a bundle, ask if it's really saving you money. Can you buy a modem instead of renting one?

Posted on November 21, 2007
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