What is the next step ?

Based on information I have found and experience with ADSL and Internet Service Providers (ISP's) the following are my personal recommendations:

1. Decide what type of service is required - Home or Business

Most ISP's have two basic product categories - Home and Business. For most people this is an obvious choice, but what if you run a small business from home, or want to tele-work at home a couple of days a week? Well not all ISP's permit this in their terms & conditions. I would recommend finding an ISP that does permit business use in case you get problems, such as the ISP choosing to block ports which would stop VPN connections to your office, and there are ISP's with good reputations that will permit home business use. There is a significant price difference between the 'home' products and the 'business' products (in addition some technical differences)

2. Decide on the type of ADSL service

Historically all the ISP's buy the Broadband service from BT Wholesale, which has limited the range of technical solutions available. A number of other solutions are now becoming available, but I don't know if these will be supported on the Bewdley exchange, so I will limit this section to the BT Wholesale based solutions. Note that you can not buy Broadband directly from BT Wholesale, but only from an ISP. BT have two ISP's, BT OpenWorld and BT Broadband who both resell the BT Wholesale solution, just as do another 20-30 ISP's.

Packages available are:

Home  

 512Kb down / 256Kb up   contention 50:1 (BT IP Stream Home 50:1)

Business

 512Kb down / 256Kb up   contention 20:1 (BT IP Stream Office 512K)
1024Kb down / 256Kb up  contention 20:1 (BT IP Stream Office 1Mbs)
2048Kb down / 256Kb up  contention 20:1 (BT IP Stream Office 2Mbs)

Note that all products are Asymmetric - the products provide a faster down link and a slower uplink. This is good for most people who want to browse web sites and read emails. It may not be so good for users who want to upload large files or run web/mail servers from home. The contention ratio is an indication of how many other users you may be sharing the bandwidth with. The lower the contention ratio the better, but note that the 'Internet' is contended anyway and will only be a major problem if your ISP does not provide sufficient capacity in their connection to the Internet. See the speed tests at www.adslguide.org.uk for real speed tests results from different ISP's.

The availability of services depends on the distance from the exchange that your telephone line travels - not necessarily the shortest route. Up to 3.5 Km all of the products are available. Between 3.5Km and 5.5 Km only the 512kb service is available, and the uplink speed may be slower than 256Kb depending on line noise and condition.

The actual decision on product availability on any specific line can only be determined after BT have run a test on your telephone line, so it is possible to order Broadband, but then find that due the noise levels on your line Broadband can not be supplied. The further you are from the exchange the higher the risk that the line may not be suitable. Because of this I would not recommend buying any hardware until after your line has been tested (which will not happen until after 28/05/2003) unless the supplier will provide a full refund if your line fails.

The other option is either a static or dynamic IP address(s). If you only use a web browser and send/receive email then a dynamic IP address will be all you need. If you want to start setting up VPN's, web servers, mail servers, Microsoft Netmeeting etc. then you may want to consider a static IP address (one or more depending on how your network will be configured).

3. Decide which phone line Broadband be installed on

Generally this is not an issue, but Broadband can only provided on a BT telephone line so if you have a telephone line provided by a cable company or another telecoms operator BT can not enable it for Broadband.

Broadband is not compatible with telephone lines which are used with a number of other services. This will not be an issue for most people, the main problem is likely to be if you have a house/office alarm system which uses the telephone line to allow an alarm company to monitor the system.

Broadband is not compatible with ISDN lines (ISDN2e, Home Highway, Business Highway). It is possible to have the ISDN line downgraded to a normal PSTN line by BT, and then order Broadband from an ISP. This carries a risk that the downgraded line is not suitable for Broadband (line noise, capacitance etc.), in which case the full price for upgrade to ISDN would have to be paid to have ISDN reinstated. The better option is to order Broadband from one of the ISP's that will accept orders for ISDN lines. BT will downgrade the line as part of the Broadband installation, and if the line fails the tests, will reinstate ISDN at no charge. The following ISP's provide the 'managed' ISDN conversion (this may not be a full list):

• C2 Internet Ltd
• Clara.net
• Eclipse
• Internet Central
• Nildram
• Pipex
• Plusnet
• Sniff Out
• UTV Internet
• Virgin
• Vispa Internet Ltd
  

4. Decide on the type of installation service

Most ISP's are now only offering a 'wires only' products. Essentially the ISP's orders Broadband on your phone, and BT enable Broadband at the exchange. There is no visit by an engineer (BT or the ISP) so you are responsible for installing and setting up all the Broadband ADSL equipment.

Some ISP's are still offering an Engineer install option for a fairly large premium. Be aware that the Engineer will convert the master socket, plug in the Broadband ADSL modem and prove that it works using his own laptop. At no point will the engineer touch your computer so for most people this offers little benefit over a 'wires only' product.

As an alternative I will be offering a local installation service if the Broadband ADSL hardware is purchased from Vizisoft Networks, which will include set-up of the Broadband ADSL hardware AND configuration of you computer. The cost for this will be less than the engineer install price.

5. Decide if you need to stay with your existing ISP

The only real reason for staying with your existing ISP is if you have an email address that is supplied by your ISP, and you have to keep the address (such as john.smith@AOL.com) , or if you have business web site hosted by the ISP. The move to Broadband may also be a good time to reconsider the use of alternative web hosting and email providers so that you will be free in future to change ISP's as new technologies become available. ( Also consider virus checking and Spam blocking services)

6. Decide on the type of hardware

In order to use Broadband you will need a broadband 'modem' and possibly one or more filters. The Broadband modem can be implemented in a number of different forms:

• Internal PCI card
  The internal PCI card is the cheapest hardware but also the hardware with potentially most problems. The PCI card fits inside your PC so there has to be a compatible slot free and a suitable software driver has to be installed. If you want to allow more than one PC to access your Broadband connection further software will be required. If you are very experienced with PC hardware and software, and want the best solution for on-line games it may be worth considering this option. I note that most ISP's are not providing this as an option due I suspect to the potential support issues involved. The PCI card does not provide any form of firewall protection - I would strongly recommend a software firewall is used to protect your PC from the Internet. A simple software firewall is included in windows XP, or you can consider products such as ZoneALarm or BlackICE.
  
• USB Modem
  The external USB modem is the option provided by most ISP's as the solution for a single PC connected to Broadband. The PC must have a spare USB port, and be running a recent operating system (Windows 98, ME, Windows 2000 or Windows XP). Software drivers may also available for both MAC and Linux but installation can be a bit more difficult. Again the sharing a broadband connection between multiple computers will require additional software. The USB modem uses resources from the PC (CPU time, memory) so this is not the best solution if you want to play on-line games, and the installation of software drivers can cause conflicts with existing software. The USB Modem does not provide any form of firewall protection - I would strongly recommend a software firewall is used to protect your PC from the Internet. A simple software firewall is included in windows XP, or you can consider products such as ZoneALarm or BlackICE.
  
  
• Single port router/ADSL Modem
  A router is a standalone unit that connects a home network to the Internet. The router can also be configured as a secure firewall offering a high degree of protection from the Internet. The PC will require the installation of an Ethernet network card if support is not already built in, but as Ethernet networks have been around for over 20 years installing this technology into PC's, MACs and other types of devices should not cause any major problems. Multiple PC's can easily share the Broadband connection with one single port router if some form of hub unit is used. Routers also give good results for online gaming.
  
  
• Multi-port router/ADSL Modem
  A multi-port router is the same as a single port router except that a 'switch' is built in to allow multiple computers to be connected without the need for a hub unit.
  
  
• Wireless networks
  Although not strictly related to Broadband, the installation of a wireless network at the same time as Broadband can solve the problem of having the PC in another room to the Broadband connection, or allow the connection of multiple PC's, without the need to make holes all over your house for network cables. Multi-port routers are available with wireless network base stations built in. Well worth considering, particularly if you use a laptop computer and would like to be able to work in different rooms (or even in the garden in summer !)
  
  
• Filters
  In order to be able to use a normal telephone on the same line as a Broadband modem or router, the telephone must be connected through a filter. The number of filters required, and best way of installing the filters will depend on the wiring of your existing telephone extensions. If you do not have any telephones connected to the line being used for Broadband then no filters will be necessary. I have seen reports of problems with fax machines, sky digiboxes and Caller Line Id units with some filters. If you get problems it may be a case of trying an alternative brand or type of filter.

7. Chose the ISP

There are currently 20-30 ISP's offering Broadband. Note that BT Wholesale charge the ISP £14.75 + VAT/month for the IP Stream Home Broadband service, so any ISP offering Broadband for less than this has a very questionable business plan. I would also be concerned about any ISP offering a Broadband service for much less than £20/month as changing Broadband suppliers can take time, and can leave you without any Broadband connection for over a month. Already a couple of suppliers (ISP's) have gone out of business who were offering very cheap packages. There have also been reports of people having difficulty who have signed up to the free Broadband trial with AOL, and then being unable to get AOL to accept the termination and release the line to allow another ISP to provide a service. I suggest to take a look at  www.adslguide.org.uk to:

compare ISP's performance

or

list ISP packages

Also take a look at the forums at adslguide.org.uk to see what other people think of the service they are getting.

If you want to order through Eclipse then consider using the link below which uses my referrer code (this will give me a small discount on a broadband connection which will help to offset the cost of printing the flyers, running the website etc.)

8. Place your order(s) and sit back to wait for Broadband

I will provide a link here with prices &  specifications for hardware and installation services that I will be able to supply through Vizisoft Networks by the end of the week.