Home Networking - High Speed Internet

Back to Home Networking

High speed Internet access, often called broadband, is one of the first technologies to consider when thinking about a home network.  High speed Internet access refers to greater connection speeds than you can get with your modem and dial-up line. Modems limit you to 56Kbs. In order to get faster speeds, and make the Internet more enjoyable, you might consider looking into high speed Internet access.  Availability of these services has grown rapidly in the last few years.

You might be asking "how is high speed internet access related to home networking?". Well, it's really not. But, it's an application that will make networking your home worthwhile. Here are a couple good reasons to consider getting high speed internet access:

• You have more than one Internet Service Provider

• You have a dedicated telephone line for your computers to use for the Internet

• You need to be on the Internet on more than one computer at a time

• You are frustrated by the amount of time web sites take to download

• You want to play network games or download music, pictures and video

The bottom line is EVERYBODY wants broadband access. A couple reasons not to get high speed access can be:

• It's too expensive. It can be costly. However, if you have more than one phone line, and more than one ISP, you might actually save money by getting high speed access.

• It's not available in your area .

Once you decide that high speed Internet access is something you want to pursue, then you need to review your options. High speed Internet access isn't new. Businesses have had T1 (1.5Mbps - megabits per second) dedicated access for many years. High speed Internet access is recently becoming available and affordable for the home. The two most common forms of high speed access are: Cable and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line). There are other forms of high speed access, such as Satellite and ISDN, but they are more costly and not available to a wide audience. You might consider them if you are unable to get Cable or DSL access. For the purposes of this site, we'll focus mainly on Cable and DSL access.

How to choose between Cable or DSL

The choice between cable or DSL might be an easy one. You might not be able to get one or the other at your home, so you should choose the one you CAN!  OK - that was probably too easy.

Can I get cable Internet service?

Since cable access in the Raleigh / Durham area is offered only by Time-Warner's RoadRunner service, checking availability is easy. To determine if your home is eligible, visit the RoadRunner web site: http://www.timewarnercable.com/nc/products/roadrunner/default.html
Time Warner also gives you a choice of ISP including AOL, Earthlink and Road Runner.

Can I get DSL Internet service?

Determining if you can get DSL service is a bit more confusing. There are many potential service providers for DSL. BellSouth and Sprint offer DSL;  Some ISPs like Earthlink also offer DSL.  You also need to know that just because you can get DSL, doesn't mean you want it. Availability of DSL is mostly determined by how far your home is from the BellSouth or Sprint central office (CO). The quickest way to check to see if you can get DSL service is to access the DSL lookup service your phone company's page, .  

If BellSouth is your local phone service provider, go to:   http://www.fastaccess.com
If Sprint is your local phone service provider, go to:  http://local.sprint.com/home/local/dsl/DSL_home.html
 

Which is better?

This is a hard questions!  Both cable and DSL are used by Cary Academy families with good results and good quality of service.  If both are available to you, then you have to choose.  You can flip a coin or possibly consider the following.  If you live close (within 3 miles - determined by where the cable is buried in the ground) to your BellSouth or Sprint central office, DSL may be your better choice. The big reason is that your connection to BellSouth or Sprint is dedicated to your home only, like a private telephone line. Time-Warner Roadrunner access is a shared medium, like a party line. During periods of peak use in your area, your connection to Time-Warner may slow down. Take a look at the chart below of advantages and disadvantages of the two technologies: 

...  A tough choice but no matter which you choose, it is significantly faster than dial-up and you will enjoy the speed.

The Technology Behind Cable and DSL

Cable Modems – Cable Modem Access works using the same lines that deliver Cable TV signals.  This technology lets cable providers deliver transmission speeds as fast as 10 Mbps.  The typical speeds however are closer to 1-2 Mbps.

DSL – Digital Subscriber Line (or DSL) technology uses the existing copper telephone line to transmit data to homes.  DSL does not interfere with the voice traffic on these lines and allows simultaneous two-way transmission of both voice and data.  It allows data transmission speeds of up to 8-10 Mbps (i.e., 50 – 1000 times faster than traditional dial up connection). And as with Cable, your actual typical speeds will be less.

Sharing Internet Access

Now that you have high speed Internet access, you will want the share it with all of you computers.  This is one of the main benefits of building your home network. You'll pay $30-$85 per month for your connection, and it provides you plenty of speed for 2 or more computers.

To learn about building the network, go to Building a Network