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Top 10 Things to look for when choosing an Internet Service Provider

When it comes to choosing an Internet service provider there are a multitude of options – both for the provider you choose, as well as the type of service. Before signing up with an ISP, take a close look at what each one has to offer, in order to be sure you get the services you need at a price you can afford.

10 Steps to Follow:

Determine your budget. The faster your internet speeds, the higher the cost. Those on a tight budget have the more economical options of dial up or even a light version of DSL. Also, phone companies often give discounts for bundled internet and phone services.
Look for ISPs with good ratings in your specific area. A number of ISPs may have great ratings in one area of the country but fail miserably in yours. A good idea is to talk with your neighbors or local businesses to find out how they feel about their ISP.
Once you’ve begun narrowing your list down to the ISPs within your budget and with positive reviews in your area, check to see which of those offer special deals on bundled services. Most cable and phone companies offer bundled deals when you purchase phone, TV, and Internet services together, and give incentives for signing up for specific times, or contract lengths. But, as always, buyer beware – typically once that year is up you’ll find yourself paying regular price, which can be almost double.
Next, take a look at customer support. Is it offered 24/7; how are they rated? Remember that a computer isn’t limited to breaking down from 9am to 5pm, and even the best and most expensive connections can experience technical issues or downtime. Know whether you will receive live support and/or email, and if they charge a fee.
Decide the speed you need. Most ISPs offer plans with prices based on download speeds. Slower DSL (also known as DSL light) or cable speeds are the most cost-efficient for those only wanting to browse the web and utilize email. That being said, if you’re looking to play online games, transmit data or stream movies and TV, you’ll definitely want a faster Internet.
Subsequently, see if they offer a free email account. Most ISPs offer at least one free email address. Others may provide more or charge a small fee for additional email addresses.
Then, see which ISPs provide anti-virus email protection. Many viruses sneak onto a computer via email, and having it scanned before reaching your inbox offers an added level of security.
Don’t automatically omit dial-up. With all the new advances in Internet services, dial-up has been given a bad reputation for quite some time. The truth is, there are still many parts of the country where dial-up is the only option, particularly rural areas. Aside from dial-up, satellite is a good – but expensive – alternative.
Avoid usage caps. Occasionally ISPs will limit the amount of time you can use the Internet. Although not all ISPs have this, make sure to read each policy carefully to avoid any inconveniences.
Look for a company that has an online bill payment option. Most large Internet providers do, while smaller providers, especially dial-up services, do not. Paying online is quick, saves paper, and just makes life a lot simpler.

Posted in Checklist, DIA, Dedicated, ISP, Internet T1, Internet T3, Local, MPLS, Private Line, Tips, VPN, voip | No Comments »

NewEdge MPLS

If you’re a growing business that relies heavily on Internet and network services, then you know there’s nothing worse than the massive slowdown of your network’s traffic speed. New Edge offers a solution for all your network woes with its multi protocol label switching (MPLS) network service. With up to five Classes of Service (CoS) you can optimize your bandwidth usage and get the most out of your network. It also helps you connect with other access points and end-users by optimizing the method of how data packets are sent throughout the wide area network (WAN).

New Edge offers more than managed IP network solutions; they offer a flexible, customer-centric approach. Their protocol-based high-speed network solution will benefit your current infrastructure in a variety of ways. MPLS is hands-down the most efficient system you can adopt for your WAN. It helps boost your business productivity by improving end-to-end connection and data transfer without sacrificing the overall health of your network’s bandwidth.

How it works

New Edge’s MPLS service combines a variety of traffic over one network while ensuring your bandwidth is never compromised. How does it do that? Simple: by keeping a close watch on the flow of data and identifying the various classes of traffic. The protocol then prioritizes heavy traffic that requires more attention, and allocates more resources to that data packet.

The system also makes it easier for the user to generate new access points throughout the network if necessary, and the rerouting system of the MPLS protocol makes it easier to reroute traffic should the network be compromised.

New Edge has tailored their service to work with DSL or T-1 connection speeds and using a variety of protocols such as frame relay and ATM. And thanks to the exclusive Class of Service traffic prioritization feature provided by New Edge MPLS networks, your network can be one of the many businesses that have benefited from a purely MPLS network.

Benefits

As you consider adopting MPLS, it is important to understand the benefits of MPLS in comparison to your existing network infrastructure as well as how service and support vary across MPLS providers.

Because MPLS is highly scalable and less complex than its predecessors, businesses gain more flexibility, less overhead and improved control over network costs. MPLS makes it easy to reroute traffic priorities on the fly, or add new locations to the network whenever you need to.

Prioritize/optimize voice, video and data applications
Fit MPLS in your budget with T1 and/or DSL
Reduce transit delays and transaction times
Divert traffic around link failures and network congestion
Add new locations quickly
Enhance security and simplify disaster recovery
Streamline network implementation and management
Share a network-based Internet access port without provisioning separate access circuits

Features

Nationwide coverage
Secure, private Cisco Powered network
Five Classes of Service (CoS) over T1 and DSL
CoS honored edge-to-edge over T1 and DSL
Managed Cisco CPE option
Multiple routing protocols supported
Industry-leading SLAs based on CoS
Free online network management portal
Dedicated project management
Enable and prioritize realtime applications
Lower total cost of ownership

What to expect

Using a combination of frame relay (Layer 2) and IP-VPN (Layer 3) protocols, New Edge’s system is both a functional and secure network with a flexible bandwidth designed specifically to help you run mission-priority objectives without suffering from external and internal noise from end-to-end. The system is also masked from the rest of the public network, which means that your data is safe from any IP security threats.

You also have the choice of setting up a main network and a backup network should your main system fail. In the event of a system malfunction, you can seamlessly switch from your T-1 system (main) to your DSL network (backup) in order to retain the continuous transfer of data with minimal losses.

An Industry First:

New Edge is the first provider to bring together Class of Service traffic management with high-speed, low-cost DSL access, which puts the performance gain of MPLS networks within reach of more businesses.

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Sprint MPLS

The Sprint multi protocol label switching (MPLS) service is a collective business tool that is geared towards helping you increase your network visibility on the web. Sprint’s VPN lets you set up a virtual private network designed to help you send a combination of voice, data, and video packets through a dedicated infrastructure that is guaranteed to maintain the quality of information you send out throughout your network.

This network is tailor-made for wide area commercial demands because Sprint ensures that you can channel a variety of traffic from end-to-end, with limited loss in the data’s structural integrity. What this means is that if you need to transmit bandwidth-critical data, you will have a network backbone that will help you do so efficiently.

What can Sprint do for You?

Sprint’s VPN eliminates your need for large-scale system administration, even if you have to work with a complicated network. This is due to several factors; first – and foremost – the technology’s overhead is relatively cheap. It takes very little capital to develop and maintain a MPLS network, both for you and for Sprint. Secondly, the maintenance of the system is handled by Sprint’s very own team of outsourced professionals who take care of the day-to-day tweaking and systems analysis of the equipment required to keep the network running smoothly.

Sprint’s MPLS is also one of the most flexible networks in the industry today. It provides you with the opportunity to allow multiple local access support and systems routing if necessary. And the best part is, the rate of transfer throughout all of these access points is real-time and carried out through an isolated protocol. This means that your data is protected from – and invisible to – the rest of the public Internet, except where you need it to be visible.

The service is cost-effective as well; you can choose from a bare-bones package or select from a series of services designed to increase the integrity and efficiency of your network. Such examples of these are Sprint’s very own network-based firewall, a user-defined remote access service, and the creation of wireless access points. The consistent performance of the Sprint system is backed up by service level agreements, at no extra charge.

The Sprint quality of service

All data transferred throughout Sprint’s network set-up is segmented and passes through a series of routers using the MPLS protocol. The data is private and masked; guaranteeing all of the data you send through these lines is safe from unauthorized entities.

You are also warranted flexible speeds from traditional dial-up 64kbps to 1000Mbps, with a quality of service assurance that your network detects and prioritizes without interfering with functions of a lesser priority such as e-mail services and standard web browsing.

Working with an international WAN? No problem: Sprint’s service supports up to four multiple routing protocols and utilizes a simplified migration path that can reach off-net locales. And should anything go wrong in any of your off-shore access points, Sprint provides internal technical support in more than thirty countries.

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MPLS by NewEdge

A growing business that relies heavily on Internet and network services needs the kind of service that emphasizes quality and safeguards against the massive slowdown of network traffic speeds. New Edge has a solution for all your network woes. With its multi protocol label switching (MPLS) network service, New Edge brings to your business a protocol-based high-speed network solution that will benefit your current infrastructure in a variety of ways.

MPLS is the most efficient system you can adopt for your wide area network (WAN). It functions in a way that facilitates the flow of data around your network, and it can help you boost your business productivity by improving end-to-end connection and data transfer. This system conducts information throughout your network without sacrificing the overall health of your network’s bandwidth. It helps you connect throughout your network – as well as to your end-users – by optimizing the method of how your data packets are sent throughout the WAN.

How it works

New Edge’s MPLS service sends a variety of traffic over one network without compromising your bandwidth. How does it do that? It keeps a close watch on the traffic through your network, observing the flow of data and identifying the various classes of traffic. It then tags the different data packets, segregating heavy-bandwidth data such as video and audio conferencing from light bandwidth data like e-mail and web browsing. Once it has done all that, the protocol then prioritizes heavy traffic that requires a significantly heavier bandwidth, and allocates more resources to that data packet.

The system also makes it easier for the user to generate new access points throughout the network if necessary, making it easier for you to connect newer components in your business. Arguably the biggest benefit of New Edge’s service is that the rerouting system of the MPLS protocol makes it easier for you keep the network up when one sector undergoes system maintenance.

New Edge has tailored their service to work with DSL or T-1 connection speeds that use a variety of protocols aside from MPLS, such as frame relay and ATM. Thanks to the class of service traffic prioritization – an exclusive feature provided by New Edge MPLS networks – your WAN can be one of the many businesses that can benefit from a purely MPLS-oriented network.

What to expect

Since New Edge uses a combination of frame relay (Layer 2) and IP-VPN (Layer 3) protocols, their system is a functional, secure network with flexible bandwidth designed specifically to help you run mission-priority objectives without suffering from external and internal noise. This is also a system that runs on a completely secure line, masked from the rest of the public network, which means that your data is safe from any IP security threats.

Users also have the choice of setting up a main network and a backup network. The latter is a failsafe should your main system experience some trouble. In the event of a system malfunction, you can seamlessly switch from your T-1 system (main) to your DSL network (backup) in order to retain the continuous transfer of data with minimal losses in fidelity and structural integrity.

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MPLS for your Business

Multi-protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is the newest technology used by large area and wide area networks for transferring data in an efficient manner. This system is an improvement from other formats such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and frame relay, and is designed to increase the performance of your network by prioritizing traffic types such as voice and video applications over e-mail and web surfing. At the rate it’s going, MPLS will soon be responsible for how the majority of the world’s network systems work due to it’s efficient AND cost-effective way of moving traffic across your network.

How does MPLS work?

The easiest way to explain how MPLS works is to use a queue as an example. Your data is transferred in packets along this queue, and as it travels down the line, the protocol decides where each packet goes. In the older formats (ATM being the most prominent), the way these packets are treated is similar to a first come, first served basis. No matter what the content of each packet, all forms of data are treated equally, meaning that bulkier data packets such as voice and video transfers will be treated in the same way as the network treats e-mail requests and casual browsing.

If your network is responsible for moving large amounts of data at any given time, this can be a problem. When your queue tries to squeeze a large data packet with a bunch of lighter data packets through the wire, the quality of your data will be compromised. This can result in video and audio transfers of less-than-desired quality. If you’re holding a video conference, the loss of quality audio and video is unproductive and unprofessional.

What MPLS does is identify and differentiate between the various packets coming in through the wire. The protocol then prioritizes large data packets over those with a lighter load, helping you facilitate the seamless transfer of data without clogging your lines. This means that the speed of transmission throughout your network is increased without putting too much of a strain on your network’s infrastructure.

What can MPLS do for you?

When you require your network to handle large volumes of data transfer without sacrificing the quality, using an infrastructure with the MPLS protocol is your ideal solution. MPLS will ensure that your wide area network is free-flowing and unclogged, helping you move important data with no significant lag in terms of speed and quality, and requiring very little attention and supervision to ensure its continuous function.

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AT&T MPLS Service

AT&T’s multi protocol label switching service (MPLS) gives you a flexible service that gravitates between a scalable IP-based network and highly-secure private network. This Private Network Transport (PNT) service is an advanced IP VPN service that will ensure your network connects from point-to-point efficiently, effectively, and with very little trouble throughout the connection. This is achieved through the union of a dynamic network that sports the security of a private network, combining reliability and flexibility into one diverse virtual private network.

AT&T’s PNT service will let you link your entire network to one IP. This service upgrades your traditional packet-based network into a highly efficient network-based VPN designed to facilitate the free and seamless flow of heavy data.

A flexible network solution

The PNT solution will work with you in order to get your media available to a wide network. Whether you’re hosting large packets of data or streaming long hours of voice and video, AT&T assures the lossless transfer of data. The unique classes of service (CoS) feature keeps the line clean and free from irregularities by marking the various kinds of traffic going through your network and prioritizing heavy packets of data over those with a lighter load, such as e-mail hosting and browsing.

Other features that make your network even more efficient include: support for either private or public LAN addressing, static or border gateway routing protocols, and the ability to manage your own network or let AT&T manage it for you.

Visibility in performance

AT&T lets you review the performance of your PNT network via a series of network management tools available for network owners. Your administrators can also manage the ticketing system of the CoS traffic control and review the prior months of billing. A web-based portal that chronicles reports on the integrity and performance of your system is also made available to you.

The service will also adapt to your network needs. If you need to attach new sites and applications to your network, you can easily do so without disrupting the flow of data throughout your network. And the unique MPLS framework ensures the integrity of your data is never compromised.

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