Learning how to choose a reliable web host for your web hosting needs is an important and difficult decision. Make sure that you prepare a detailed list of your web hosting requirements before you start searching to find the most suitable web host. Here are few 'verification' points to make sure that your web host is reliable.
* Past performance: Go through the web site of the host to find out details like how long the host has been around, up time commitment (I will come to this later), any awards that the web host has won, any well known sites that are being hosted by this provider (normally a list of clients can be found on the host's site or you may find testimonials). These should provide you with a sufficient amount of confidence in the first place to deal with this specific web host.
* Up time:This is a very important feature. Web sites hosted on the servers of a particular web hosting provider are subject to technical problems and things can happen and servers crash. This means that during this period if a web surfer comes to see your site, they will be unable to view it. Normally represented as a percentage, this value gives you the idea of the time the sites hosted by the particular host are up and working fine. A value above 98% is good. Nowadays many web hosts guarantee a certain percentage of up-time like 99.8%. This is exceptional.
* Flexibility: A flexible web hosting plan is useful because you can start with a minimum plan and later upgrade to another hosting plan when your needs grows. Web Hosts who provide only one kind of plan are always not useful for everyone.
* Cost and features: Compare the features and costs of a few web hosting providers. See if the features match your need. Also make sure that all basic requirements are covered and also check out the availability of latest technologies on the hosting feature list. Even if you don't need them, this can show the reliability of the provider.
* Payment plans: Check out very carefully the payment plans of the web hosting provider. A monthly payment plan is always good even if it costs you a few dollars more. You always have the choice to change providers at any time you want. Most web hosts now provide a 30 day money back guarantee period.
* Support: This is something you will need the most. What kind of support the web hosting company provides the clients such as telephone support, email, FAQ sections, etc... Maybe a dedicated discussion board or forum will help as well. Also check on the delay in responses especially for the email support service. A web hosting provider who supports clients 24-7 is an excellent feature.
* Backup: Last but not least. Recently we have been hearing a lot about sites with tons and tons of pages disappearing. Why, because of some technical problems on the servers and no backups. No one likes to see their years of hard work disappear within a few seconds. Now, many reliable web hosting service providers have a daily automatic backup feature.
Learning how to choose a reliable web host for your web hosting needs is really about what is important to you and your needs!
Russell Blanc is an expert in the web hosting industry manages an information-rich web site at http://www.iWebHostingPlans.com about Web Hosting and writes on the features, benefits and reviews of web hosting providers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Russell_Blanc
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Comparing Satellite Internet Services
Before you sign up for satellite internet service you will first want to compare satellite internet services that are available in your area. The first thing that you will want to look at is the type of internet connection that is utilized by the service provider. For example do they offer a one-way multicast connection, a one-way connection with a terrestrial return, or do they offer a two-way satellite internet connection. The second thing that you will want to look at is the connection speeds that they offer. Providers may charge you more for service packages that offer faster connection speeds. Keep this in mind when you are comparing service packages. The final thing that you will want to look at is whether or not you will need to use a supplemental service like dial up in order to use the service.
The first of the internet service providers to be looked at is hughesnet. They offer a two way satellite internet service that doesn’t require a dial up system back up. However, if you regularly participate in time sensitive activities online where a 1 second delay would impair your ability to continue with this activity then you can add a dial up option to your hughesnet package for about $15 per month. The fastest connection speeds offered by this provider is up to 500kbps for uploads and up to 2 mbps for downloads. These speeds are associated with this provider’s business internet package.
In order to compare satellite internet services you will need to look at more than one provider. The second provider in this comparison is StarBand. Star Band has had financial difficulties in the past, but they seem to be gaining strength with their new owner. StarBand is a two-way system that is offered in the U.S. They utilize the VSAT system technology in order to deliver quality service to consumers. Their top connection speed is 1000 Kbits for downloads. This two way system typically doesn’t require a dial up service.
In the market for a satellite internet provider? Nationwide Satellite Solutions is your provider of HughesNet internet services as well a great resource that will answer any questions you have. Find out if it available in your area. For more on satellite technology visit the online resource directory.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Freeland
The first of the internet service providers to be looked at is hughesnet. They offer a two way satellite internet service that doesn’t require a dial up system back up. However, if you regularly participate in time sensitive activities online where a 1 second delay would impair your ability to continue with this activity then you can add a dial up option to your hughesnet package for about $15 per month. The fastest connection speeds offered by this provider is up to 500kbps for uploads and up to 2 mbps for downloads. These speeds are associated with this provider’s business internet package.
In order to compare satellite internet services you will need to look at more than one provider. The second provider in this comparison is StarBand. Star Band has had financial difficulties in the past, but they seem to be gaining strength with their new owner. StarBand is a two-way system that is offered in the U.S. They utilize the VSAT system technology in order to deliver quality service to consumers. Their top connection speed is 1000 Kbits for downloads. This two way system typically doesn’t require a dial up service.
In the market for a satellite internet provider? Nationwide Satellite Solutions is your provider of HughesNet internet services as well a great resource that will answer any questions you have. Find out if it available in your area. For more on satellite technology visit the online resource directory.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Freeland
Friday, November 2, 2007
10 Tips on How to Make a Successful Internet Business Selling
So you want to make money with an internet business? That's wonderful! After much thought and consideration, you chose to make a successful internet business by selling. Well lucky for you, I have listed here ten tips for you to use so you can profit from your business idea.
In no particular order...
1) This may seem quite obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people ignore this: have a clear goal in mind for your business, and work toward that goal so it becomes a reality.
2) Before you start your internet business, make sure you have at least some sort of plan of action.
3) Consider how much time you are able to commit to your business, and balance that out with everything else in your life.
4) Research what is selling and what isn't selling. That way you can decide on what to sell. Also when deciding what to sell, think about your own expertise and knowledge about that kind of product.
5) Plan on your advertising budget and how much you can afford without going overboard. Do you have a budget for paid advertising or are you going to rely on free advertising?
6) Know your target market like the back of your hand, and focus all your efforts on them and them alone.
7) Consider how exactly will you get the product to the customer. Will you use a dropshipper, or will you store your own inventory and package and send it yourself?
8) Have you considered alternatives to your standard online shop? You have options such as affiliate marketing, in which you sell other people's products for a commission, or creating your own product and marketing it yourself. Keep these in mind.
9) Look for a legitimate, reputable wholesaler when buying your inventory. Wholesale scams are very real.
10) Try to do something everyday to benefit your business, even if it's as simple as writing an article or posting in a forum about your business.
While these tips will definitely help you out to make a successful internet business selling, I can't tell you everything there is to know. The only one that can make your successful internet business is yourself.
http://www.articlepeak.com/Article/10-Tips-on-How-to-Make-a-Successful-Internet-Business-Selling/55024
In no particular order...
1) This may seem quite obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people ignore this: have a clear goal in mind for your business, and work toward that goal so it becomes a reality.
2) Before you start your internet business, make sure you have at least some sort of plan of action.
3) Consider how much time you are able to commit to your business, and balance that out with everything else in your life.
4) Research what is selling and what isn't selling. That way you can decide on what to sell. Also when deciding what to sell, think about your own expertise and knowledge about that kind of product.
5) Plan on your advertising budget and how much you can afford without going overboard. Do you have a budget for paid advertising or are you going to rely on free advertising?
6) Know your target market like the back of your hand, and focus all your efforts on them and them alone.
7) Consider how exactly will you get the product to the customer. Will you use a dropshipper, or will you store your own inventory and package and send it yourself?
8) Have you considered alternatives to your standard online shop? You have options such as affiliate marketing, in which you sell other people's products for a commission, or creating your own product and marketing it yourself. Keep these in mind.
9) Look for a legitimate, reputable wholesaler when buying your inventory. Wholesale scams are very real.
10) Try to do something everyday to benefit your business, even if it's as simple as writing an article or posting in a forum about your business.
While these tips will definitely help you out to make a successful internet business selling, I can't tell you everything there is to know. The only one that can make your successful internet business is yourself.
http://www.articlepeak.com/Article/10-Tips-on-How-to-Make-a-Successful-Internet-Business-Selling/55024
5 Easy Ways to Make Money With Your Computer
Everyone could use a little extra money. Maybe you want to buy a new computer, a new car, or something else. However you simply can not afford to spend money for those. Maybe you don’t make enough money with your current job, or you don’t have a job at all. If you’re similar to me, you spend a lot of time on the computer and the internet. Why not use some of that spare time to make some extra money?
Here’s 5 ways you can make money with your computer:
1) Join an affiliate program, promote their products/services, and make commissions when make a sale through your affiliate link. This is a very common way of making money online. Many affiliate programs are free to join. A few ways you can promote your affiliate link are through article marketing, setting up a landing page or e-mail marketing.
2) Start a blog about a particular topic. Pick a topic that your visitors would find interesting, and give them useful information on a regular basis. Keep your blog focused on your topic, and update with new information and articles on a regular schedule. On your blog, you can promote and review affiliate products and/or make money with a program such as Google Adsense. You can start a blog for free with a service such as Blogspot.
3) You can make money solely on Google Adsense, or another related program. You can set up a site with useful content about a certain subject, and drive traffic to your site. Place Adsense ads on each page of your site. Be sure to follow their terms of service. When people click on those ads you make money, so a lot of traffic is key.
4) Another way you can make money with your computer is through internet auctions, such as eBay. Millions of people search eBay every day looking for any kind of product you could imagine, and there are millions of items being sold through eBay every day. There are people who make fortunes just from selling on eBay. A way to make money is to buy items at wholesale price and sell them at a higher price on eBay. However there is much, much more to learn in order to make money from internet auctions.
5) Creating your own informational product and selling it online is yet another way to make money with your computer. Information is probably the most common form of product sold on the internet. Write an ebook on a subject that people would be willing to pay for and sell it, keeping all the profits for yourself. Perhaps you know information on something that a lot of people do not, and people are willing to pay for that kind of information. A similar method is to obtain the master resell rights for a product, and sell the product for yourself.
These are only a few ways to make money with your computer. There are many more ways that you can explore and research. Find something that suits you best, and something you are willing to commit to.
http://www.articlepeak.com/Article/5-Easy-Ways-to-Make-Money-With-Your-Computer/55019
Here’s 5 ways you can make money with your computer:
1) Join an affiliate program, promote their products/services, and make commissions when make a sale through your affiliate link. This is a very common way of making money online. Many affiliate programs are free to join. A few ways you can promote your affiliate link are through article marketing, setting up a landing page or e-mail marketing.
2) Start a blog about a particular topic. Pick a topic that your visitors would find interesting, and give them useful information on a regular basis. Keep your blog focused on your topic, and update with new information and articles on a regular schedule. On your blog, you can promote and review affiliate products and/or make money with a program such as Google Adsense. You can start a blog for free with a service such as Blogspot.
3) You can make money solely on Google Adsense, or another related program. You can set up a site with useful content about a certain subject, and drive traffic to your site. Place Adsense ads on each page of your site. Be sure to follow their terms of service. When people click on those ads you make money, so a lot of traffic is key.
4) Another way you can make money with your computer is through internet auctions, such as eBay. Millions of people search eBay every day looking for any kind of product you could imagine, and there are millions of items being sold through eBay every day. There are people who make fortunes just from selling on eBay. A way to make money is to buy items at wholesale price and sell them at a higher price on eBay. However there is much, much more to learn in order to make money from internet auctions.
5) Creating your own informational product and selling it online is yet another way to make money with your computer. Information is probably the most common form of product sold on the internet. Write an ebook on a subject that people would be willing to pay for and sell it, keeping all the profits for yourself. Perhaps you know information on something that a lot of people do not, and people are willing to pay for that kind of information. A similar method is to obtain the master resell rights for a product, and sell the product for yourself.
These are only a few ways to make money with your computer. There are many more ways that you can explore and research. Find something that suits you best, and something you are willing to commit to.
http://www.articlepeak.com/Article/5-Easy-Ways-to-Make-Money-With-Your-Computer/55019
The Real Deal
The American Dream sure isn’t what it used to be. What once was defined by a career and a pension no longer involves a commute, a necktie or even a boss. The dream – wealth, freedom and a new Beamer – has gone global. All it requires these days is an internet connection and a killer idea.
Ask any search engine about on-line business opportunities and it’ll spit back hundreds of get-rich-now, quit-your-day-job sites, each begging the cynic’s question: if this works so well, why are they selling it instead of doing it? Some picture yachts and cars and ridiculously huge estates next to ridiculously happy people. But rarely is the nature of the business defined, and after coughing up $49.95, the “opportunity” is usually a pass-through website built and advertised out of your pocket, or worse, a plan that requires you to recruit distant cousins and old classmates to your downline.
One frustrated nine-to-fiver from Wolverhampton, England decided he’d had enough. Satish Sandle had spent years in the on-line money hunt, and, he estimates, about $25,000 of his own cash. But the Big Idea never surfaced; that is, until he took matters into his own hands. Sandle decided to find an on-line need and fill it with a completely new concept, something that required only that you work smarter, not harder. A tall order, but his new business model just might become the gold standard of on-line moneymaking.
His system was brilliantly simple: find on-line sellers of legitimate products who were relying on advertising and referrals, and match them with other sellers who already had qualified mailing lists within a complimentary category, and arrange a transaction between them. In essence, to act as a broker of qualified leads, connecting buyers and providers from around the planet who would never otherwise find each other.
Of course, that same cynic might ask how this is done, and Satish Sandle has an answer. In fact, he as the entire training program. And at www.sandleenterprise.com, anyone can have it, too.
Satish Sandle’s on-line business opportunity is unique in that it reveals exactly what the business involves from square one. The deliverable is a training booklet and a video – that’s it, nothing else to buy, no revenue sharing going forward, no website to build – with point-by-point techniques and specific contact information, even the word-for-word emails used in the process. “And the best part,” Sandle says, “is that once a deal is brokered, the revenue keeps coming in, sometimes actually growing, as you move on to other deals.”
The on-line business dream will never die, but as consumers become more
hardened to the empty pitches of network marketing schemes and contrived middle-man retail product sites, e-commerce pioneers like Satish Sandle and genuinely innovative business models like his will emerge as the next generation of on-line opportunity, the realization of a dream for people who know the real deal when they see it.
Visit www.sandleenterprise.com
http://www.articlepeak.com/Article/The-Real-Deal/54994
Ask any search engine about on-line business opportunities and it’ll spit back hundreds of get-rich-now, quit-your-day-job sites, each begging the cynic’s question: if this works so well, why are they selling it instead of doing it? Some picture yachts and cars and ridiculously huge estates next to ridiculously happy people. But rarely is the nature of the business defined, and after coughing up $49.95, the “opportunity” is usually a pass-through website built and advertised out of your pocket, or worse, a plan that requires you to recruit distant cousins and old classmates to your downline.
One frustrated nine-to-fiver from Wolverhampton, England decided he’d had enough. Satish Sandle had spent years in the on-line money hunt, and, he estimates, about $25,000 of his own cash. But the Big Idea never surfaced; that is, until he took matters into his own hands. Sandle decided to find an on-line need and fill it with a completely new concept, something that required only that you work smarter, not harder. A tall order, but his new business model just might become the gold standard of on-line moneymaking.
His system was brilliantly simple: find on-line sellers of legitimate products who were relying on advertising and referrals, and match them with other sellers who already had qualified mailing lists within a complimentary category, and arrange a transaction between them. In essence, to act as a broker of qualified leads, connecting buyers and providers from around the planet who would never otherwise find each other.
Of course, that same cynic might ask how this is done, and Satish Sandle has an answer. In fact, he as the entire training program. And at www.sandleenterprise.com, anyone can have it, too.
Satish Sandle’s on-line business opportunity is unique in that it reveals exactly what the business involves from square one. The deliverable is a training booklet and a video – that’s it, nothing else to buy, no revenue sharing going forward, no website to build – with point-by-point techniques and specific contact information, even the word-for-word emails used in the process. “And the best part,” Sandle says, “is that once a deal is brokered, the revenue keeps coming in, sometimes actually growing, as you move on to other deals.”
The on-line business dream will never die, but as consumers become more
hardened to the empty pitches of network marketing schemes and contrived middle-man retail product sites, e-commerce pioneers like Satish Sandle and genuinely innovative business models like his will emerge as the next generation of on-line opportunity, the realization of a dream for people who know the real deal when they see it.
Visit www.sandleenterprise.com
http://www.articlepeak.com/Article/The-Real-Deal/54994
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Website Basics for Internet Beginners
Starting an Internet business doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. There are a few basics that are absolutes. Registering a business or company name and acquiring an address for the business to operate at are required. The Internet business website can start with just a page or two and grow as needed.
Web Domains and Internet Business Hosting
In order to be successful in Internet marketing, you'll need to establish a business name and invest in a web domain. For those new to online business, the simplest way to begin is to get both name and host at the same place. Sometimes names are cheaper at one website while hosting is less expensive somewhere else.
If name and domain (Internet address) are purchased separately, the name must be pointed in the direction of the address. This requires changing settings inside the account.
While it isn’t difficult to do so with many name providers, there are a few who make the process a nightmare. It can also take a few days, meaning a delay in getting the business online.
Keeping name and address at one place means there are no changes to make and no extended delay. Billing issues are also confined to the one place. There’s less worry about keeping up with name renewal or hosting renewal.
Internet Names are usually paid for on a yearly basis. Billing for Internet hosting depends on the web hosts. Some allow monthly payments, while others won’t accept anything less than a year at a time. If budget is a consideration, choose a web hosting provider who accepts monthly payments. The payment frequency can always be changed once the business is producing income.
Internet Business Website Design
There are basically two ways to design an Internet business website. Self-design or design by someone else. Free website templates abound on the web. Some web hosting companies provide web design software and tools in addition to hosting.
Consider the tools offered by the web hosting company. If the tool is difficult to use or does not provide any templates that appear relevant to the intended site, consider using a downloaded template or having a website designed.
In order to design a website, an HTML editor or other software is needed. Some programs such as Microsoft Office contain a website designer built in. There are free HTML editors available online for downloading.
There is a learning curve to web design. If time is an issue, it may be necessary to find even a low-cost website template that requires little change. While few Internet business websites remain the same from day one, it is important to have the best design possible.
Visitors judge Internet business websites by appearance, provided information and functionality. If the page takes too long to load, visitors don’t wait. If the page is ugly, too crowded or full of spelling errors, visitors leave. If links result in error messages instead of completed pages, visitors leave.
Internet Business Website Basics
Basic website contents include business name, contact information, legal disclaimer and privacy policy, email list signup box, copyright notice and products or services.
Standard Internet business website disclaimers and other basic legal materials are available free for download. It’s always wise to consult legal counsel for the creation of policies and procedures.
Some hosting services provide email signup boxes and autoresponders (software to manage email). There are also free and paid providers.
Contact information and legal information is important. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has strict policies regarding websites. It’s wise to obey them. The policies can be found online. There are also software programs that help businesses ensure that websites are legal.
The business name should be prominent and easy to read.
The first things a business needs to operate online are a registered name and a website address. A basic website can start simple and grow as needed. Adhering to FTC requirements is a must.
Nicolas Gremion is the CEO of Paradise Publishers Inc - http://www.ParadisePublishers.com - which operates http://www.Free-eBooks.net – a site which provides readers thousands of digital books free of charge and helps authors expose their works to a massive audience. Nic is also the editor of the http://www.Site-Reference.com newsletter which helps f web owners succeed in the online world.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicolas_Gremion
Web Domains and Internet Business Hosting
In order to be successful in Internet marketing, you'll need to establish a business name and invest in a web domain. For those new to online business, the simplest way to begin is to get both name and host at the same place. Sometimes names are cheaper at one website while hosting is less expensive somewhere else.
If name and domain (Internet address) are purchased separately, the name must be pointed in the direction of the address. This requires changing settings inside the account.
While it isn’t difficult to do so with many name providers, there are a few who make the process a nightmare. It can also take a few days, meaning a delay in getting the business online.
Keeping name and address at one place means there are no changes to make and no extended delay. Billing issues are also confined to the one place. There’s less worry about keeping up with name renewal or hosting renewal.
Internet Names are usually paid for on a yearly basis. Billing for Internet hosting depends on the web hosts. Some allow monthly payments, while others won’t accept anything less than a year at a time. If budget is a consideration, choose a web hosting provider who accepts monthly payments. The payment frequency can always be changed once the business is producing income.
Internet Business Website Design
There are basically two ways to design an Internet business website. Self-design or design by someone else. Free website templates abound on the web. Some web hosting companies provide web design software and tools in addition to hosting.
Consider the tools offered by the web hosting company. If the tool is difficult to use or does not provide any templates that appear relevant to the intended site, consider using a downloaded template or having a website designed.
In order to design a website, an HTML editor or other software is needed. Some programs such as Microsoft Office contain a website designer built in. There are free HTML editors available online for downloading.
There is a learning curve to web design. If time is an issue, it may be necessary to find even a low-cost website template that requires little change. While few Internet business websites remain the same from day one, it is important to have the best design possible.
Visitors judge Internet business websites by appearance, provided information and functionality. If the page takes too long to load, visitors don’t wait. If the page is ugly, too crowded or full of spelling errors, visitors leave. If links result in error messages instead of completed pages, visitors leave.
Internet Business Website Basics
Basic website contents include business name, contact information, legal disclaimer and privacy policy, email list signup box, copyright notice and products or services.
Standard Internet business website disclaimers and other basic legal materials are available free for download. It’s always wise to consult legal counsel for the creation of policies and procedures.
Some hosting services provide email signup boxes and autoresponders (software to manage email). There are also free and paid providers.
Contact information and legal information is important. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has strict policies regarding websites. It’s wise to obey them. The policies can be found online. There are also software programs that help businesses ensure that websites are legal.
The business name should be prominent and easy to read.
The first things a business needs to operate online are a registered name and a website address. A basic website can start simple and grow as needed. Adhering to FTC requirements is a must.
Nicolas Gremion is the CEO of Paradise Publishers Inc - http://www.ParadisePublishers.com - which operates http://www.Free-eBooks.net – a site which provides readers thousands of digital books free of charge and helps authors expose their works to a massive audience. Nic is also the editor of the http://www.Site-Reference.com newsletter which helps f web owners succeed in the online world.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicolas_Gremion
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Getting Started On The Internet
You’ve mastered windows, got to grips with games and put paid to your word processor problems. The next challenge is the internet. It’s one giant leap for mankind, one small step for you.
How Does it Work?
The internet is a massive world wide collection of computers, connected together in a huge network. Any type of computer can be connected to the network, as long as it speaks the universal internet language, TCP/IP.
Using a home computer like an Apple Mac or a PC, you can become a temporary part of this network by signing up with an internet service provider (ISP). An ISP is a company that has fast, direct internet connections, and which can act as a gateway for you. In return for a monthly or yearly fee, the ISP enables you to use a modem attached to your computer to dial up and connect to its computers, which in turn connect you to the internet. As a result you can access the world wide web, send messages to newsgroups, and get an email address that enables you to exchange email with other users.
Choosing an Internet Service Provider
There are more than 150 internet service providers (ISP’s) to choose between, from local one man band outfits to global services run by the likes of UUnet. It’s probably best not to opt for a small, local ISP. Internet access is a cut throat business and the pundits are saying that the small guys are going to have their work cut out to avoid going under.
You’re also more likely to get better software, better services and better technical support from a large service provider. The major ISP’s have massive connections to the internet, which means they can support a very large number of simultaneous users without grinding to a halt. Smaller ISP’s may be cheaper, but they actually have to lease space from the big providers themselves, and don’t have nearly as much capacity to share around. This means they’re more likely to have problems during busy periods, and they’ll almost certainly have fewer modems, meaning more engaged signals when you dial in at peak times: a low user-to-modem ratio is vital.
The large service providers can also afford to maintain bigger, faster computers to handle email, usenet discussion groups, and so on, while small firms might have problems in this area. Finally, there’s support. A good ISP will supply you with all the necessary software to get online. This software should be easy to setup and use, backed up by 24 hour help lines if you have a problem. Again, some smaller ISP’s just can’t afford this sort of overhead. Setup software might be scarce or non-existent and there’s unlikely to be any sort of dedicated support line. And if an ISP doesn’t offer internet access on a local phone number, forget it. In addition to all this, a decent ISP might offer free web space, multiple email addresses, and other goodies like automatic filtering of junk email. On the whole, you get what you pay for. Modems Explained.
There used to be a time when buying a modem was fraught with worry and technical difficulty. Nowadays, it’s hard to buy a PC, without a modem already fitted. What a modem does is enable your PC to exchange data with other computers – whether it’s your mate’s down the road or a machine on the internet – over the phone line. But as we all know, the data your PC produces is digital bits and bytes, and only analogue signals can be transmitted over the phone line. This means that for the data to get out of your machine and onto the internet, it needs to be converted from digital to analogue and then back again. And that’s what a modem does. It modulates the outgoing digital signals produced by your PC, turning them into analogue ones, then demodulates the incoming analogue signals to turn them back into a digital one.
Now you know, roughly, how a modem works, you can forget about it, just as you probably don’t care how your AWE 64 sound card produces that 3D surround sound effect. Same deal with modems. They plug in, they work, they let you connect to the internet, play multi player games, and run up a phone bill the size of Oliver Reed’s drinks tab.
Buying a Modem
There are still a few decisions to make when you get to your local modem store. The fastest modems on the market for home users promise download speeds of up to 56Kbps. Did you notice the ‘up to’ because that’s the speed achieved by these modems under impossible-to-achieve-in-the-real-world laboratory conditions. In reality, when line noise, signal quality and the phase of the lunar cycle all take their toll, the maximum realistic download speed you can expect to achieve is 41-44Kbps. Oh, and the other thing is that because of the smart way they work, 56Kbps modems can only download data at the faster speed, they still have to upload at the slower, but respectable speed of 33Kbps.
If you don’t know which brand name to choose, just toss a coin, or go for the cheapest, or the one that offers the best after sales support, or the longest lead, or the prettiest plug, or the best advert.
Sandra Prior runs her own Computer Hardware Classifieds website. http://usacomputers.rr.nu
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Prior
How Does it Work?
The internet is a massive world wide collection of computers, connected together in a huge network. Any type of computer can be connected to the network, as long as it speaks the universal internet language, TCP/IP.
Using a home computer like an Apple Mac or a PC, you can become a temporary part of this network by signing up with an internet service provider (ISP). An ISP is a company that has fast, direct internet connections, and which can act as a gateway for you. In return for a monthly or yearly fee, the ISP enables you to use a modem attached to your computer to dial up and connect to its computers, which in turn connect you to the internet. As a result you can access the world wide web, send messages to newsgroups, and get an email address that enables you to exchange email with other users.
Choosing an Internet Service Provider
There are more than 150 internet service providers (ISP’s) to choose between, from local one man band outfits to global services run by the likes of UUnet. It’s probably best not to opt for a small, local ISP. Internet access is a cut throat business and the pundits are saying that the small guys are going to have their work cut out to avoid going under.
You’re also more likely to get better software, better services and better technical support from a large service provider. The major ISP’s have massive connections to the internet, which means they can support a very large number of simultaneous users without grinding to a halt. Smaller ISP’s may be cheaper, but they actually have to lease space from the big providers themselves, and don’t have nearly as much capacity to share around. This means they’re more likely to have problems during busy periods, and they’ll almost certainly have fewer modems, meaning more engaged signals when you dial in at peak times: a low user-to-modem ratio is vital.
The large service providers can also afford to maintain bigger, faster computers to handle email, usenet discussion groups, and so on, while small firms might have problems in this area. Finally, there’s support. A good ISP will supply you with all the necessary software to get online. This software should be easy to setup and use, backed up by 24 hour help lines if you have a problem. Again, some smaller ISP’s just can’t afford this sort of overhead. Setup software might be scarce or non-existent and there’s unlikely to be any sort of dedicated support line. And if an ISP doesn’t offer internet access on a local phone number, forget it. In addition to all this, a decent ISP might offer free web space, multiple email addresses, and other goodies like automatic filtering of junk email. On the whole, you get what you pay for. Modems Explained.
There used to be a time when buying a modem was fraught with worry and technical difficulty. Nowadays, it’s hard to buy a PC, without a modem already fitted. What a modem does is enable your PC to exchange data with other computers – whether it’s your mate’s down the road or a machine on the internet – over the phone line. But as we all know, the data your PC produces is digital bits and bytes, and only analogue signals can be transmitted over the phone line. This means that for the data to get out of your machine and onto the internet, it needs to be converted from digital to analogue and then back again. And that’s what a modem does. It modulates the outgoing digital signals produced by your PC, turning them into analogue ones, then demodulates the incoming analogue signals to turn them back into a digital one.
Now you know, roughly, how a modem works, you can forget about it, just as you probably don’t care how your AWE 64 sound card produces that 3D surround sound effect. Same deal with modems. They plug in, they work, they let you connect to the internet, play multi player games, and run up a phone bill the size of Oliver Reed’s drinks tab.
Buying a Modem
There are still a few decisions to make when you get to your local modem store. The fastest modems on the market for home users promise download speeds of up to 56Kbps. Did you notice the ‘up to’ because that’s the speed achieved by these modems under impossible-to-achieve-in-the-real-world laboratory conditions. In reality, when line noise, signal quality and the phase of the lunar cycle all take their toll, the maximum realistic download speed you can expect to achieve is 41-44Kbps. Oh, and the other thing is that because of the smart way they work, 56Kbps modems can only download data at the faster speed, they still have to upload at the slower, but respectable speed of 33Kbps.
If you don’t know which brand name to choose, just toss a coin, or go for the cheapest, or the one that offers the best after sales support, or the longest lead, or the prettiest plug, or the best advert.
Sandra Prior runs her own Computer Hardware Classifieds website. http://usacomputers.rr.nu
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Prior
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