Get Ready to Dump Your Modem

Most of you in Southwest Florida are using the Internet for business purposes (65%) and many of you have a website (40%) or will have one in the next year (another 30%). You have a clear understanding of the present and future impact of the Internet to your organizations. Yet, you are almost certainly frustrated by the sluggishness and variable reliability of your typical dial-up connection. Instead of the Worldwide Web, you get the worldwide wait. You have choices beyond dial up modems, but they are not what we expected 18 months ago.

When we took a look at high-speed Internet access in the Fall of 1997, Southwest Florida was ahead of much of the rest of the country in terms of fast, faster and fastest Internet access choices. Surprisingly, the landscape looks very similar in June of 1999 - but larger markets have passed us by.

The enormous cost of building out high speed networks and equipping cable head ends and telephone central offices with leading edge solutions makes the largest markets the most interesting. In fact, you cannot connect more quickly to the Internet today in Southwest Florida than you could in late 1997. That said, some improvements are expected by the end of the year. In addition, ISDN looks much better as an interim choice than it did back then.

The following chart, borrowed from the Media One website, gives you a real-world sense of what high-speed means when you want to grab stuff off the Web. For the moment, of course, you cannot send stuff back over the Web at high speed on the cable connection.

Dial Up Modem

Most home and business users are still using dial up connections that max out at 56k. In practice, users are lucky to see 42-48k. This is a dead-end solution. And, in my opinion, almost every organization that doesn't require a really high-speed connection should move from standard dial up to ISDN.

ISDN

It took a long time, but Sprint finally has its act together. What used to be complicated and expensive is now simple and affordable. Sprint offers 10 working day installation guarantees and all-you-can-use service for $65 per month. In addition, it 's easy to hook 10 LAN users to one ISDN line, using products like 3Com's ISDN LAN Connect. If you want an improved and inexpensive business Internet experience, move to ISDN.

Wireless

PSINet Intersky's, wireless technology (developed by Naples-based, Airdata Wiman) bypasses the local phone company completely and offers speed equivalent to ISDN. It is equally fast in sending and in receiving information.

Although it is not inexpensive, Intersky offers always-on connectivity and a high degree of reliability. This level of service was an important reason that Naples-based Total Recall selected PSINet Intersky for its document retrieval operation. It is a solid network solution today - and will become really interesting by the 3rd quarter, when it quadruples its speed to 512k in both directions. No other two-way business connection will exist at a comparable price to speed ratio.

Cable Modem Connections

A cable connection points clearly to the infinite broadband possibilities of the Internet: High quality video and hair-curling audio; software downloads in minutes instead of hours.

The Media One/Road Runner offering gives an intriguing glimpse into a globally connected future. And the monthly cost is quite reasonable: $34.95 for cable subscribers and $44.95 for non-subscribers.

But there are still a few glitches. Although you can receive data at very high speeds, you must use your current analogy modem to send data and are limited to its speed. This also means you must tie up a telephone line whenever you log on. It will take a year or more for Media One to enable the big infopipe to flow in both directions. Unless you work out of your home or in an exceptional office building, Media One won't be an ideal solution until the middle of 2000. This is one case in which a home-based business has a real advantage.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL/ADSL)

Unfortunately, our business community doesn't have the broad choice of broadband solutions - at reasonable cost - that companies in Boston, Chicago, New York, Atlanta or San Francisco enjoy. The most promising of these are Digital Subscriber Line connections. Using existing copper wire, the telcos are able to reach multi-megabit throughput.

Competition around the country is driving prices down dramatically. For example, U.S. West has just cut prices for DSL to $39/month. Bell Atlantic and AOL will be offering comparable prices by late summer in the Mid-Atlantic States. That's killer speed at just double what an old-fashioned 56k-modem connection costs. Because DSL runs across your existing copper telephone lines, it's equally desirable for business or home use. But, we are unlikely to see it in Southwest Florida for another year or more.

The Bottom Line: ISDN is an appealing and affordable office solution. PSINet Intersky is a terrific wireless alternative that will have the best two-way speeds by fall. Media One/Road Runner is a superb way to get very high speed downloads at home, but is not now a real office player. DSL will be wonderful when it arrives - but don't hold your breath. It's definitely time to dump your old modem connection.