California Has a Rich Menu of Broadband Choices

by Lynn Walford

California is the leading state for broadband (high-speed Internet) access, with access available to 96 percent of households, according to the California Broadband Task Force. Broadband offers many advantages: increased productivity, marketing capabilities, collaboration abilities, remote access, and learning opportunities. There is a diverse menu of choices available.

Before reviewing the options, you need to know a few terms. Broadband speeds are expressed in kilobits per second or megabits per second (kbps or Mbps; see "Measuring Speed" below). Speed in general is called bandwidth, and higher speed means greater bandwidth. Wired service means you get your broadband from a telephone line or cable line running all the way to your office (even if you then use a wireless router), and wireless service means you get access from antennas or satellites.

First we'll look at the major categories of service and then factors to consider before making a choice.

Wired Access Options

DSL and Cable
The most common forms of access are DSL and cable. DSL stands for digital subscriber line. DSL service is provided via phone lines, so phone companies offer it, but so do other providers to whom phone companies must grant access. For DSL, download speeds usually range from 738 kbps to 6 Mbps.

Cable Internet service travels over a cable line like your cable television service uses. Download speeds can be anywhere between 5 to 15 Mbps. Unlike DSL, cable access requires that you share the network with others in your neighborhood. That can mean fluctuations in speeds depending on traffic and network structures.

According to J.D. Power, based in Westlake, Calif., the average price for broadband access in the west was $44.09 a month in 2007.

Fiber Optics
Still being installed across California is FiOS (fiber optic service) that transmits light through glass wire at up to 50 Mbps.

T1 Line
Alan Sandler, managing partner of Sandler Partners in Manhattan Beach, Calif., advises clients on the different kinds of access and sometimes recommends a T1 line, a dedicated leased line with a speed of 1.5 Mbps in each direction.

The reasons a company would want T1 Internet access are a lack of other options, a requirement for a static IP address, a need for always-on access, and the peace of mind that comes with a Service Level Agreement (SLA). An SLA usually guarantees speed and what happens if the line goes down. Typically, an SLA will require the service provider to repair problems within four hours. Shared T1 telephone and Internet service is a viable and cost-effective option for business with four to eight employees.

Metro Ethernet
The ultimate wired broadband connection is Metro Ethernet, which is a direct network Ethernet connection with speeds as high as 100 Mbps. Sandler Partners has installed Metro Ethernet for television and movie directors who need to get daily videos and films from the studios to their homes. can run into thousands of dollars per month, but depending on Metro Ethernet can be more cost-effective than T1 lines. These services are usually only available in major metropolitan areas.

Wireless Access Options

In recent years, there has been a wealth of growing new wireless broadband options.

Mobile Wireless Options
Cellular networks offer wireless access using a wireless modem that connects to your laptop. There is coverage in all major cities.

An excellent example of a wireless broadband user on the go is David Shechtman, senior consultant at Fifth Wave Leadership in Los Angeles. He uses broadband wireless access on a notebook computer to send emails in taxi cabs, read reports in limos, and give demonstrations in clients’ offices. “I’m grateful, because the kind of technology access that historically was only available to larger organizations is liberating for a small business professional like myself,” said Shechtmann.

Sandler recommends the use of wireless broadband services as a backup in case a business' wired service goes down.

WISPs
In contrast to mobile wireless access for individual laptops, fixed wireless access is designed for offices. Signals can be hindered in a basement or from thick foliage in trees, therefore fixed wireless service often requires an antenna about the size of a small pizza box to be installed on the building.

“Wireless Internet service providers offer fast access in many areas,” said Patrick Leary, assistant vice president of marketing for Alvarion, a maker of wireless devices based in Mountain View, Calif. You can find a local WISP through the Yellow Pages, by searching the Internet, or via the Wireless Internet Services Association.

LOS and PTP
Sandler notes that there is a powerful wireless option that competes on speed and price with T1 lines, which is called Line of Sight (LOS) or Point to Point wireless. The service provider sends signals to antennas on building tops. These services have SLAs and a lower monthly cost than T1. An added value for this kind of services that it can be installed quickly, while it may take weeks to have a T1 line installed for a business.

Satellite
Unfortunately, nearly 2,000 communities in California don’t have broadband access. Arlene Krebs, director of the Wireless Education & Technology Center at California State University Monterey Bay, satellite service may be the only option in rural areas. She says that often communities can lobby to get more broadband options available in their location.

Factors to Consider in Purchasing

So how then do you decide what kind of access is right for your business? Start off with the basics.

Usage Determines Bandwidth
“For most small businesses that use the Internet for email and web surfing, our local DSL provider with speeds up to 1.5 Mps has been a good economical choice,” said Ben Yorkel, owner of Abacus Computer Support in Santa Cruz.

Bandwidth needs increase for transferring large files, website or network hosting, and multiple employees. Another application that requires more speed is video surveillance. “We upgraded a car wash customer to cable because he needed the speed for video surveillance,” said Yorkel. Cameras record every car that goes through the car wash, which then can viewed via the web. For example, if a customer complains that car was damaged, then the video is retrieved so the company can investigate.

For help understanding what speed you need based on what you want to do, see Broadband Speeds and Applications.

Routers Allow for More Users
Broadband access doesn’t have to be for just one computer. Routers that cost less than $50 allow more than one computer to share one line.

“We couldn’t operate our business without broadband access,” said Josh Levine, CEO of Rebel Industries, a marketing company in Los Angeles. His employees file online reports and also use a graphics-sharing program with clients. When he was looking for a broadband provider, he asked a colleague who recommended a provider that supplied a router along with a self-install kit for a dedicated DSL line. With a dedicated DSL line, Internet access was not over a regular phone line but a separate line that supports only data transmission. He then saved money by switching to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone service, cutting his business telephone costs greatly.

Domains Allow for Easy Changes
Some businesses are concerned about changing broadband providers, because they don’t want to lose their email addresses. Chris Pirillo, tech personality and former TV show host for San Francisco-based Tech TV, recommends that businesses register a domain name so they can keep the same email address no matter what broadband provider they use. Many domain registration services also host email accounts cheaply if you don’t need a domain for hosting a web site.

Consultants Save Time and Money
As a business' broadband needs grow, a consultant can be a valuable resource because they are able to offer special service deals and know the landscape of opportunities. Sandler says you can find a consultant by asking for referrals from telecom installers or IT professionals. (For a list of CSBEF-certified consultants across California, see our service provider listings.)

How to Get Started
As we mentioned, the first step is to determine your desired speed. Then you can start looking for options in your area.

Roderick W. Smith, consultant and author of the book Broadband Internet Connections: A User's Guide to DSL and Cable, suggests checking BroadbandReports.com. This site not only allows you to search for wired and wireless broadband by location, type, speed, or price but also offers reviews of providers.

About the Author
Lynn Walford is a Los Angeles writer who has been writing about technology since 1992. She is currently the executive editor of Wireless and Mobile News. Her credits include ATM Marketplace, ISO & Agent, Investor’s Business Daily, Success, UPI, Business Start-Ups, Compute, The Office, PC Laptop, Work.com, and Income Opportunities. She is the founder of Freelance Writer Now, which provides copy writing for emerging businesses.

Sidebar: Measuring Speed

Computers reduce everything to a one or a zero, which is called a bit. A kilobit is 1,000 bits and is abbreviated kbps. A megabit is 1,000 kilobits and is abbreviated Mbps. The M is capitalized because it stands for mega instead of million.

A megabit is not the same as a megabyte, even though they both measure bits. We won't confuse you with how bytes are measured, but in case you were wondering about the relationship, one megabyte equals eight megabits.

The other major set of terms to know is that speeds differ depending on whether you're sending or receiving data. If you're receiving data, for example, reading a web page or receiving an email, it's called downloading or the downstream direction. If you're sending data, such as sending an email or using your computer as a web server, it's called uploading or the upstream direction. Upstream speeds are always slower because service providers want to discourage people from using their computers as servers to keep network traffic down. Servers are usually hosted at special locations.

So, putting it all together, if your downstream speed is 8 Mbps, you can download a one-megabyte file in one second.

Sidebar: Typical Speeds

The following are typical advertised download speeds for broadband in California. Actual speeds vary significantly depending on many factors. The chart below is intended only as a ballpark comparison.

Source: “The State of Connectivity: Building Innovation Through Broadband," by The California Broadband Task Force, p. 23.