In the UK today we are lucky enough to have a wealth of choice when it comes to internet access options and technologies. Sadly not everyone is lucky enough to be able to choose from the whole range, in fact some are unlikely to ever get the chance to experience broadband access at a reasonable cost. However for those lucky individuals who are lucky enough here is a page to explain the different technologies you can choose from, I also outline some typical costs, problems and possible suppliers. So off we go... Please note this is a work in progress...
Lets start with a brief look at the options on the market, then we'll look at each in turn in more detail.
| Name | Download Speeds | Upload Speeds | Cost | Availability | Providers |
| Dial Up Access | Up to 56K | Up to 33.6Kb (V90, X2, K56flex but NOT V92) |
Monthly fee or per minute charges | Anywhere with a normal phone line. | Freeserve, BT, V21, Totalise |
| ISDN | 64k or 128k | ISDN is synchronous, so the same as the upload speed | Monthly fee or per minute charges | Need to have a special ISDN line, which means higher line rental compared to a normal phone line. Also need a special ISDN modem better known as a "Terminal adaptor". | Freeserve, BT, V21, GIO Internet |
| Asymetric DSL(ADSL & RADSL) | Currently up to 2Mb(Theorectially up to 8Mb) | 256kb | Monthly fee | Need to have a suitable phone line, usually means living within 3km of an upgraded BT phone exchange. | BT, Easynet, Bulldog, various resellers |
| Cable Modems | Up to 2Mb(Theoretically up to 27Mb) | Typically 256kb(Usually between 30% and 50% of the download speed) | Monthly fee | Need to be in a cable TV area and have a cable link into your home. | NTL, Telewest |
| Leased Lines | Anything from 64Kb upwards | Same as upload speed as leased lines are synchronous | Monthly fee | Usually need to be in at least a large town. | BT, UUNet, Globix |
| Satelite | Currently up to 2Mb | Currently up to 320Kb | Monthly fee | Available almost everywhere. | BT, Aramiska, SatWeb |
| Mesh Radio | Up to 25Mb. | Same as download speed as Mesh access is synchronous. | ? | ? | BT |
| GSM | Up to 9.6kb | ? | Monthly line rental and per minute charges. | Available anywhere you use a mobile phone. | Orange, Vodafone, T-mobile, O2 |
| HSCSD | Up to 28.8K | ? | Monthly line rental and per minute charges. | Available anywhere you use a mobile phone. | Orange |
| GPRS/2.5G | Up to 114Kb | ? | Monthly fee or per Mb charge, or a mixture of both. | Available most places you can use a mobile phone. | Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, 02 |
| Ethernet | Up to 1000Mb | Same as the download speed, as ethernet is usually synchronous. | Monthly fee | Need to be in a large city. | Easynet, Clara, BT |
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