Dear InetDaemon, Why are customers quoted different prices for broadband through an ISP? Why does 128kbps Frame Relay cost less than 256kps?
Why are leased lines and private lines so expensive? And what is the fee structure like for these kinds of services? Isn't it all the same Internet? Inquiring IT Manager
Dear InetDaemon, My Internet provider told me they are the sole seller of Internet bandwidth. Who really is the sole seller of Internet bandwidth? Where does it come from? Sincerely, Confused Internet Consumer
Internet bandwidth doesn’t have a single source or a sole seller.
The whole idea of the Internet is that it is distributed and not centralized, so there is no such thing as a ‘sole source’. All telephone, cellular, cable and satellite service providers ‘manufacture’ bandwidth when they upgrade the physical equipment in their own network and add more connections between the different pieces of equipment. These providers then sell other connections to other providers and to their customers.
So, Internet bandwidth is ‘manufactured’ everywhere and nobody has a monopoly on it, so there is no such thing as a sole source. If that’s what you’re provider is telling you, they aren’t honest. Find someone else to get your Internet from.
-InetDaemon
Time for another e-mail from our readers:
How can I buy static IP addresses and how long does it remain valid? Do I renew it by subscribing year by year?
My Linksys Wireless Router (model WCG200) supports 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. I’ve never had problems with it. I currently use it exclusively for wireless access around the house with a WPC54G Linksys wireless adapter plugged into the PCMCIA slot on my laptop. I’ve tried a Belkin wireless access point and it just didn’t work–with anything. I’ve tried a Netgear wireless router (WGR614) which is faster in terms of total throughput, but the Linksys router is by far the easiest to configure and manage.