Not sure which connection type you need? Read Choosing an ISP: Connection Type.

Once you've chosen what kind of connection you need (e.g. dial-up, ADSL, cable etc.), you need to select the best ISP to serve your needs.

General Points

- Decide whether you want to pay monthly or opt for a contract. Ideally, choose a service which allows you to cancel after a month or so if you decide to go elsewhere. If this is not an option, opt for monthly payments for a while, until you are sure that the service meets your requirements.

- Always check out customer reviews before you choose a service. How reliable is the service? What is the standard of the customer support, and will you be charged for calls or emails? How easy will it be for you to set up your connection?

- Read the small-print. How long do special offers last, and what are the terms and conditions of any guarantees or features? What are you and aren't you allowed to do with your internet connection? What responsibilities for your connection do the ISP take?

- Many ISPs offer POP3 email addresses, web space, modems, routers and other freebies as part of the package. In particular, you should consider whether you need email addresses, and how many you will need.

- Compare prices. Don't opt for the cheapest company, but make sure that you are getting a good price for the features you require.

Dial-Up Services

- If you are opting for a dial-up connection, make sure you consider the call charges you will incur. Although 4p/minute sounds inexpensive, that is £2.40/hour, meaning that an eight-hour connection for a day's work will cost nearly £20.

- There are free dial-up services available, but they will overlay banner advertisements into your web browser, and their service may be very unreliable.

- "High-speed" dial-up is a somewhat misleading name; page loading times may be improved (often at the cost of poorer image quality), but file transfer times will usually remain the same as with ordinary dial-up connections.

ADSL and Cable Broadband Services

- Make sure that download and upload speeds will suit your needs. Remember that the advertised speeds are almost always highly optimistic; you will never actually get the advertised speed because of overheads and network traffic. You will also find that at peak times, your connection is slower.

- If you wish to play MMORPGs (massively-multiplayer online role-playing games), use peer-to-peer networks or bitTorrent for up- and down-loading, or if you intend to engage in other high-bandwidth-usage activities, make sure that your chosen ISP permits this sort of usage – some exclude activities of this sort in the terms of their fair usage policies.

- Ensure that the download limit is suitable for your needs. Some providers offer "unlimited" downloads subject to fair usage policies; others have a cap of as little as 1GB/month up to as much as 40GB/month. Ensure that you choose a package which suits your needs, as you may be charged for excess downloads, or your connection may become extremely small when your monthly allowance has been reached.

- If you are looking at cable broadband, you will probably be best off purchasing one of the combined cable internet/television packages, rather than buying cable broadband on its own, which tends to be prohibitively expensive. You may also want to consider VoIP telephone options.

Conclusion

When you're choosing your ISP, make sure you test them out first. You should not compromise on good customer service for the lowest price; ensure that all your requirements will be covered, and that you can rely on your ISP to help you if you have any difficulties.

By Helena Henderson

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