Many Internet users still continue to struggle with the complicated lines of prose contained within the FAQs section (located inside the ‘Help’ tab) of virtually every Internet Service Provider’s webpage. And the reasons behind this (often overwhelming) state of acquired confusion are plenty. Since most ISPs are motivated by a profit-maximizing desire to increase their conversions (i.e. the number of leads that, through being skillfully handled along the sales/marketing journey by a professional commercial enterprise, actually become transacting customers), they understandably aim to promote their services through bold headlines and promotional gimmicks. Most of this ‘loudly’ advertised content, however, comes invariably attached with one or more service disclaimers (read: caveats of subscription that allude to how the service is to be utilized in daily practice). For many internet subscribers, this facet of the marketing drives of various Internet Service Companies can culminate into a big ‘downer’; as far as their overall end-user experiences are concerned.
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Wired & Wireless Services
If you were to conduct a cursory analysis on the different varieties of Internet Subscriptions available in the consumer-market today; chances are that you wouldn’t reach far past the traditional wired (cable) and wireless (satellite) subscription offerings. This duo of service categories is nowadays understood to be something like the going standard within the ISP industry; so widespread and popularly available is their sprawling network of connection linkages. With cable internet, you have the advantage of getting uninterrupted and blazing-fast connections that work well (simultaneously) with all of your home devices.
Data Caps
Such subscription packages can often come without any restricting data caps, which are monthly surfing limitations that immediately come into effect when package payments are not made on time. When an in-built data cap becomes functional, it completely severs the network linkage until the required payment is made. In service plans devoid of this curtailing feature, the opposite process takes place: internet connections aren’t cut off, but rather; significant decrements to their bandwidth speeds are made (until the start of the next monthly subscription cycle).
Cabled/Satellite Services & Bandwidth Speeds
In terms of downloading & uploading speeds, wired services have consistently triumphed over their wireless counterparts. Hardware experts assert that this operational peculiarity can be explained by the build-up of different kinds of signals-impeding weather conditions in concerned areas. The presence of dense cloud covers over the horizon (the southern sky, in particular) has often been linked with deteriorating satellite transmissions – manifested in the case of lackluster internet bandwidth speeds. Satellite connections, however, manage to definitively trump wired linkages in the domain of service coverages. In the U.S, many areas in the South and the Midwest suffer from grave infrastructural shortcomings due to their difficult and often rugged terrains. In such locations, providing wired Customer services becomes a huge topographical challenge. Since satellite signals can be practically broadcasted to any spatial setting on earth, they provide the obvious ‘connectivity’ solution to offset this problem.
The Contemporary Cost Dynamic
High speed internet prices may vary (as of October 2017) from $10/month to $150/month, depending on your bandwidth requirement and the exact area you live in – so you need to weigh your options carefully, and budget accordingly.
