Say Hi to Broadband
Till recently, being Internet savvy was frustrating for people like me. But now frustration is a thing of past. ‘Broadband’ is the buzzword in the town. Now with a broadband at rupees 250 a month, the rules of the game are changing. It’s emerging as a powerful cost and service tool. So, time has come to dump the dial-up and opt for broadband.
Broadband basically is a high-speed Internet connectivity. In other words its a superior way to access connectivity. It is sensible to shift to broadband, if a person uses dial-up at home to spend more than eight hours a month. With plans starting from as little as rupees 250 a month, 256 kbps, 400 MB of free data transfer, one can expect freedom from mounted cost, repeated log off and frustration.
Guidelines to the shoppers of broadband
Internet Service Providers are offering net connectivity plans at 64-256 kbps and for those who are into uses where speed matters, it is advisable not to opt anything less than 128 kbps.
ISPs have two kinds of plans, at a basic level. The first is ‘unlimited usage’ plan, which is usually for home users. Under this, the user is charged with a fix amount regardless of browsing time, upload or download. The second type of plan allows the user free usage upto a certain point, beyond that one has to pay charges. In the entry-level plan of BSNL (Rs. 250), to exhaust the free monthly quota of 400 MB, it will take about 8000 page views.
There are basically two mediums through which ISPs give the broadband access: Digital Subscriber Lines (over telephone) and through cable. DSL is said to be the more efficient in terms of speed. The impact of overcrowding is minimal in DSL as compared to cable.
If the user is in market for a landline and internet, it would be sensible to take the two from the same service provider.