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Internet and Broadband

Tools and support services for beginners and intermediate

There are two or three services you need, which may or may not come from the same Internet Service Provider (ISP). Recommendations are given below for:

• Internet access, broadband or dial up
• security.htm (separate page)
• Email services

And if you have a website:

• File upload software
• Webhosting service.

Internet Access

Broadband

Most ISPs now offer broadband. For a focused short list report based on your exchange, please see Broadband Checker. Broadband Offers are similar but not as location specific, and Broadband.co.uk is relatively basic.

For a comprehensive cost of ownership chart see broadbandchoices.co.uk, whilst the comparisons on Uswitch.com also include customer satisfaction ratings.

ThinkBroadband.com offers introductory material and user ratings. Also, ISP Review gives a comprehensive list and their current recommendations.

My Recommendations

Which is best depends on whether you want a bundled telephone (voice) service with the broadband.

It is less risky to stick with your current voice supplier and upgrade to their broadband offer.

My Short List

• Eclipse, initially chosen by me because it has a monthly contract option,
• Zen Internet has good ratings.
• The Phone Co-op has reduced its prices and is now competitive, with a good reputation.

Be very careful about minimum sign up periods: many have 12 months, and then make it very difficult to unsubscribe even if you move house. I had particular problems with Demon and Tiscali in this respect.

Industry Consolidation

• Freeserve was taken over by Orange, in turn taken over by the French based Wanadoo!
• One-Tel has been taken over by TalkTalk.
• Pipex had better reviews than TalkTalk, but has now been taken over by Tiscali (though it still appears to be trading separately, January 2008).

Avoid

Avoid AOL, Yahoo, Virgin and Freeserve (Orange), which want to take over your computer with undesirable content and have a history of non-standard software.

Tiscali looks good, but I have ethical reservations about them.

Also avoid BT (Yahoo), Demon Internet (Thus PLC) and NTL (if they cover your area).

Dial-up via your phone line:

Most of the above also offer dial up Internet access via your phone line.

 Email Services

You are recommended to have several email accounts, one for private and personal, one for work or business plus a disposable one for logging onto web sites and shopping.

There are also benefits in having the personal account separate from your Internet or broadband service provider, so that if you move house or change supplier then you can continue with the same email address.

File Upload Software

This is normally done using FTP file transfer protocol, handled by a specialised software running on your PC. The two main contenders are:

• CuteFTP, Home version from $39.99, free trial
• WS_FTP, Home version 20, free for 30 days.

I chose CuteFTP for improved directory handling, but WS_FTP may have caught up now and both will meet nearly all users' needs.

Update Cycle

Webhosting Service

For an amateur "Home" site you will need an ISP (see above) that includes "free" web and domain hosting as part of the package.

But if you are in business, even as a sole practitioner, you are recommended to invest in a specialised domain name and website hosting service. This would probably be from a different service provider to your Internet access ISP, since it is a different market.

There are lots to choose from, eg:

Web hosting specialists

• WebFusion(I have used them OK; part of Pipex)
• Fasthosts.co.uk
• 1and1.co.uk

Business ISPs

• Claranet (used by me for Ellipse)
• EliteUKServe (used by me for all my other sites)
• Netcetera
• Redstation

Avoid:

• AOL
• Yahoo
• Tiscali
• "Free" services
• FreeParking and similar

Features to look for are:

• User control panel
• No adverts
• Multiple email forwarding
• I prefer UNIX to WIndows based servers
• Forms support (much more effective and professional than mailto:)
• Site statistics reports

Desirable, may be extra charge

• Multiple POP accounts
• php support
• MySQL support

Ellipse Services

In addition we offer tailored services covering:

1. Broadband and Internet Setup
2. Website and Domain Name Hosting