 | Chris Owen
is President and founder of Hubris Communications. Until the opening of Hubris' Wichita office, Mr. Owen was the sole network technician and systems administrator of the company. Hubris Communications is a provider of premium Dial-Up, ADSL, SDSL, Wireless, and dedicated Internet Services. Founded in Garden City, Kansas and doing business since July 1995, Hubris Communications, Inc. serves over 3,200 customers in south central and southwestern Kansas. Chris can be reach at (316) 858-3000 or owenc@hubris.net |
Computers & Software
2001-12-01 16:44:00
DSL or dial-up... which is really less expensive?
Question: The other day my wife and I were at my son's house and watched him log on to the Internet. It was so fast. We have had a dial-up account for several years. He said he was on DSL. Is this expensive?
Answer: DSL may be slightly more expensive than traditional "dial-up" Internet access using a modem. The cost difference between the two however may only be around $5 monthly when you consider all of the expenses involved. An additional $5 a month for 25 times the speed isn't too bad of a trade off.Take for example a household where a second phone line has been installed expressly for dial-up Internet access. The access fee paid to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) may only be $20-22. The cost for the additional phone line will be nearly $30 after all options, fees and taxes (and at least $35 for a business line). That makes the cost of the dial-up service at least $50. This is nearly as much as a basic DSL connection. With DSL service the second phone line would not be necessary.Even if you don't have a phone line dedicated to Internet access, there are other costs associated with dial-up when you share your existing voice or fax line for Internet access. When you are using that phone line for Internet access no one else can call in or out on the line. This can lead to lost calls and faxes or just frustration on the part of those trying to call in or out on the line. With DSL service, you can continue to use your voice line normally even though you are on the Internet.For a business, DSL service will most often actually save money compared to dial-up access. This is because many businesses will have multiple phone lines dedicated to dialing up to multiple ISP accounts. Since DSL is so much faster, it can easily be shared between multiple computers. This can mean considerable savings if multiple phone lines and ISP accounts can all be consolidated into one DSL account.Ultimately though, comparing dial-up service and DSL by cost alone isn't a fair comparison. As you mention, DSL is so much faster than dial-up service... what your Internet access dollar buys you with DSL is a much better value. The average dial-up connection speed is somewhere between 26 Kbps and 50 Kbps (kilobits per second). Basic DSL download speeds are up to 1,500 Kbps, and advanced DSL service going up to 6,000 Kbps. In addition to increased speeds, DSL is an "always on" service which means you are always connected to the Internet and don't have to wait to log on each time you want to us it.The productivity increases and frustration decreases that DSL speeds bring can't always be measured in dollars and cents, but anyone who has made the switch to DSL will tell you they are definitely real. How much that means to you will depend on how much you use the Internet, but even casual users report that their Internet experience is definitely better when using DSL.By Chris Owen
