Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Broadband Providers : Only For The Fast and Furious

By Ray Lam

Okay so you already have Broadband Internet so why change providers? Well for one thing the chances are that if you've had Broadband for 12-18 months then changing providers can not only save you money but also greatly improve your Broadband speed. To put this into perspective a 1Mb link today cost around the same you paid for just 256k a year ago.

The key benefits of switching broadband providers is to increase speed and / or reduce monthly costs (And if you want to see what a difference increased speed makes why not see Broadband Speed) Not only that, many Broadband suppliers now offer value added services such as free wireless broadband routers to new customers.

A word of warning though. If you just cancel you're existing service and take out a new broadband contract then you'll end up without Broadband for several days at the least. You wouldn't do this with a mobile phone after all would you?

There are many websites available on the Internet that offers great comparisons and shows better results. One should compare each deal deeply so that he or she can enjoy the speed and not the annoyance. On balance, the broadband is here to make our life easier and it should remain the same.

The process of transfering Broadband providers is very similar to that used in the mobile phone industry whereby numbers are 'ported' between mobile phone operators thus meaning no 'downtime'. With Broadband you are given a code that your new Broadband provider will use to transfer you swiftly. This Broadband transfer code is known as a 'Migration Authority Code' (MAC). Once the MAC code has been transferred between your old Broadband provider and your new provider, then your Broadband service should transfer over without any interruption.

DSL has better speed than dial up service also. Several broadband internet service providers offer DSL service. One of the drawbacks of this service is that it is distance sensitive and only works well within three miles of the central office. It is very dependent on the phone lines and any static or disruption will cause disruptions of your service also. Ask neighbors if they have DSL and if they do, what their experience has been with DSL. Word of mouth is the best way to find out the pros and cons of any broadband internet service provider.

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