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| Low Income Networking and Communications | |
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| Low Income Networking and Communications | |
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IS IT WORTH IT? The past five years have seen major changes in the available options for Internet access. More and more people are finding that high-speed access (also known as broadband) through DSL or cables is available in their area, and are wondering if it's really worth it. Although there isn't a clear-cut answer to that question, this article aims to highlight questions to consider when thinking about high-speed access, as well as some of the pitfalls that come with having an "always-on" connection to the Internet.  WEEL's high speed Internet access allows their members to impact policy on local, state, regional and national levels DSL and Cable Internet Access: DSL is a new technology that offers inexpensive, fast Internet access over existing, ordinary phone lines. DSL (short for "Digital Subscriber Line") is now widely available in most major urban areas, and is rapidly becoming the technology of choice for connecting a small office to the Internet. Cable offers a similar technology except that it can sometimes offer higher speeds, and it operates over the same cable line that provides your TV with all those channels. Why is high-speed access better than a regular dialup connection? DSL is better than a 56k dialup (even a shared 56k dialup) in three important ways: 1) Speed. It's fast and convenient. And that means you'll use it. And using the Internet regularly is the first step towards harnessing its power to advance your work. This is crucial to a group like Working for Equality and Economic Liberation (WEEL) in Montana whose use of the Internet has enabled them to coordinate the Western Regional Welfare Activist Network Ð a coalition of groups operating in seven states in the Northwest. 2) Permanency. Unlike an ordinary dialup connection, Cable and DSL are literally always on. No dialing up, no waiting for an answer, no busy signals. You're a fixed point on the Internet, which makes using the Internet as convenient as firing up your word processor or picking up the telephone. For the technically inclined, it's possible to host Web and email servers on these type of connections - just like Miami Workers Center, which host its email on a computer in its office. 3) Cheap. The costs are about $50/month. And it frees up a phone line for other uses. Depending on how much you're currently paying for dialup access and a phone line, it could even save you money. For example, Community Voices Heard in New York realized that their costs for dial-up accounts and phone charges were well over the cost of a high-speed connection . But even if it's slightly more than you're paying now, the increase in quality-of-service is HUGE, and well worth the small monthly cost.  MWC uses their high speed connection to enable LIFFT Members to communicate with other low-income leaders around the country. How fast are they? Most DSL providers offer 256kbps speeds and higher. 256kbps is approximately 10 times faster than a 28.8kbps modem. Cable providers tend to offer download speeds between 1 and 3 mbps, and between 256 to 500 kbps upload. This can make cable an attractive choice. The drawback of cable is that while it offers higher speeds for lower prices, cable speeds can actually be significantly slower than DSL at high usage times. How much does this cost? DSL service consists of two parts: DSL service on your phone line--usually from Qwest or Verizon--and the Internet connection itself--from the Internet Service Provider of your choice. Qwest's monthly charge for 640k downstream/256k upstream DSL service is now (as of December, 2002) about $30 per month. The Internet access part of the connection generally costs around $20 per month, bringing the total for DSL service to roughly $50 per month . Cable prices vary quite a bit around the country, but generally, they are also in the $50 per month range . There can also be a charge for the initial installation, depending on the provider and type of service. This may seem to be more expensive than what you're currently paying for dial-up, and it might be. However, most dial-up plans cost around $20 dollars per month, and depending on your phone plan, you may be paying for every call you make, in which case you may already be spending more than what you'd spend on high speed access Where is DSL available? DSL and cable services are rapidly expanding throughout the country. At present, virtually all major cities and their suburbs have DSL and/or cable access, and a surprising number of smaller towns as well. The best way to find out about the current availability of DSL or cable in your neck of the woods is to use DSL Reports (www.dslreports.com), which brings together a huge amount of availability, pricing and customer feedback information on DSL and cable providers across the nation. What if I can't get DSL or cable in my area? DSL is available only in major urban/suburban areas, and requires that you be within about 5 miles of the phone company's switchbox. DSL is slowly becoming available in more rural areas but it's unlikely to be available if you have substandard phone services. Cable is theoretically available anywhere you can get cable, but many cable providers in rural areas aren't providing cable internet access at this time. However, there are now other high-speed Internet access technologies that may be available in places where DSL is not. While it's not quite as fast and cheap as DSL or cable modem, ISDN digital phone lines are an "old standby" technology than can offer speeds up to 128k, and are available in many areas where DSL/cable are not. ISDN services are generally provided by your local phone company; check with them for more information.  CVH has saved money by utilizing cable internet access, providing them with more resources for implementing movement building strategies.
What do I need to get DSL or cable? Getting DSL service requires a couple of infrastructure pieces in your office, namely a functioning local area network (LAN) if you want to share the DSL connection with other computers in your office. If you can already share files and printers between the computers in your office, then you should have almost everything you need. You'll probably need to purchase a small "DSL router" to share your DSL connection with your entire LAN. The router also serves as a firewall to protect your network from unwanted intruders. Firewalls function by using a set of rules to determine what kind of Internet traffic is allowed into (and in some cases out of) your network. By doing so, it acts to protect your network from mean people on the `net. DSL routers are inexpensive; a recommended model is the NetGear RT311/314 cable/DSL router ($90-130). Another option is to use an old pc as a dedicated firewall. There are a number of open-source programs available that will convert your old pc into a dedicated firewall. Though this option is a little bit more difficult than buying a DSL or cable router, it's definitely cheaper, and can provide more options, especially where connecting multiple offices or locations is concerned. Recently, we've been using a product called Smoothwall (www.smoothwall.org), which is freely available and very easy to install and configure. So what's the downside? The biggest downside of using broadband Internet is that you need to be very aware of the security issue associated with having a high speed, always-on connection. Any connection to the Internet brings some degree of danger with it. Although it's not common, it is possible to get hacked when you're connected via dialup, but a high-speed connection just makes it easier . A firewall is not an optional accessory, it's an absolute must , and although we hate to say this, using a firewall will mean that there's one more thing that someone needs to maintain. Maintenance of firewalls is generally fairly easy, and only requires periodically updating your firewall's software to ensure that you're properly protected. There is, however, another downside of using a high-speed connection. As we said earlier, high-speed access is more convenient, so it's used more, and this means that you're more vulnerable to viruses and other internet related nasties. So, to be sure that you're protected, you need to be vigilant about applying any anti-virus and operating system updates as soon as they are released. References: " Fast, cheap and out of control: DSL Internet access" by ONE Northwest at |
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