How to Choose an Internet Service Provider

You have a growing array of ISPs to choose from, offering
a wide range of services and pricing structures. An ISP can
be a commercial business or a local university, state agency,
or nonprofit organization. You can find out about ISPs in
your area through the Internet, from advertisements or
the yellow pages, and from Internet books and guides.
You also will find a list of Internet service providers on the
World Wide Web at http://thelist.internet.com
Factors to consider when evaluating ISPs include:
Price
Some ISPs offer access at a fixed rate per month or year.
Others offer service at an hourly rate or by charging per
megabyte of data transferred or archived. If you’re not certain
what your usage level will be, it makes sense to begin with
a fixed-rate plan and then monitor usage. Generally, campus
budgets can handle a fixed commitment of a known amount
more easily than a variable commitment.
Support
If your campus does not have its own networking staff or is
not supported by a central office staff, extra support from
the ISP is a necessity. Ask the provider about onsite configuration
services, training, startup software supplied with the
service, and whether the provider operates a help desk with
phone or e-mail consultation. In addition, peer assistance
can prove invaluable, and some service providers organize
user meetings and similar gatherings to help their customers
use the Internet more effectively.
Access
If the ISP offers dialup access, be sure to ask about the size
of the modem pool and the number of customers the ISP is
serving. Ask the following questions:
• Does the ISP enforce maximum session times and provide
password-protected access?
• Does the ISP use a single access number or a pool of numbers?
• What connection speeds are available? (For example, make
sure the ISP can connect high-speed analog modems—
33.6 K and 56 K—or ISDN digital modems—128 K—if
you have this service. Also note that as of this writing, standards
for 56-K modems were still not solidified. Make
sure your 56-K technology is compatible with your ISP’s.)


Performance
It is important to know how the service provider is connected
to the Internet. For example, it is not effective to have a
T1 leased-line connection from your campus to an ISP if the
ISP is connected to the Internet via a T1 connection or less,
especially if the ISP supports several customers. Generally,
higher connection speeds allow a service provider to
accommodate many users and operate more efficiently.
Additional Services
Internet connectivity requires ongoing network administration
configuration and maintenance. Your ISP may offer
these services, so be sure to ask.
For dialup users: ask your ISP if maintenance of a user
account and mailbox is offered on your behalf, with ample
mail spool space for the number of users who can receive
e-mail at your address. The spool space is very important
because it determines how much content your mailbox
will hold before rejecting new messages.
For direct access users: ask if your ISP offers registration
of network identifiers, such as Internet domain names and
IP addresses. You will also need an Internet server computer
that performs the following functions:
• Domain Name System (DNS)—Provides translation
from URL addresses (for example, www.cisco.com) to
numerical addresses (for example, 198.92.30.31)
• Electronic mail service—Establishes e-mail accounts and
allows campus users to receive and send e-mail
• USENET news—Maintains a local usenet news
conferencing system
• World Wide Web or Gopher publishing—Allows you
to publish information and make it accessible to the
Internet community
Commercial Internet server packages that run on a variety
of platforms are available, or your ISP can assist with many
of these services (see right—“How to Create Your Own
Web Site”).