Dialup Internet Access

Available since the early nineties, dialup access to the Internet requires the use of an analog modem over a phone line.

The telephone line is used to download and to upload to the internet. Downloads and uploads work at more or less the same speed: up to 56Kbps, or 5 Kbytes per second.

• Pros: Cheap (under $20/month).
• Pros: Painfully slow, busy signals, long distance charges may apply, takes up the phone line, must have access to a phone line.

Cable High Speed Internet Access

Cable companies offer high speed Internet access in select areas. This service can offer downloads speeds of up to 50Mbps (about 5Mbytes per second) and uploads speeds of up to 1Mbps (about 100 Kbytes per second).

• Pros: Extremely fast (most of the time), always online (24hr/day connection), affordable (around $50/month), does not tie up your phone line.
• Pros: You must subscribe to cable television in order to get a reasonable rate, speeds and availability depend on your location, speeds will vary depending on the time of the day (based on network usage), download quotas are imposed in certain areas.

ADSL High Speed Internet Access

If you live in the city, ADSL may be your best solution for high speed Internet, but ADSL availability is limited. Telephone companies and independent internet service providers offer ADSL. For residential customers, this service offers download speeds of up to 5Mbps (500Kbytes per second) and upload speeds of up to 1Mbps (100Kbytes per second). For business users, higher speeds may be available.

• Pros: Extremely fast, constant speeds throughout the day, always online (24hr/day connection), affordable (around $50/month), does not tie up your phone line.
• Pros: Limited availability (depends on your location).

Wireless High Speed Internet Access

If Cable or ADSL is not available, Wireless high speed Internet access may offer the best form of access in your area. Companies such as Xplornet offer Wireless high speed Internet access in select rural communities. This service usually consists of a leased line connected to a local transmitter, mounted on a water tower or a location visible from most locations in the community.

• Pros: Fast (up to 1Mbps in some areas), always online (24hr/day connection), affordable (around $50/month), does not tie up your phone line.
• Pros: Limited availability (depends on your location).

Leased Line Internet Access

If you live outside of a zone where Cable, ADSL or Wireless is available, you may still be able to get better than dialup speeds through a leased line from your local telco. Leased lines can offer guaranteed speeds from 128kbps up to 1544kbps and more.

• Pros: Synchronous speeds (same upload & download speeds), constant speeds throughout the day, always online (24hr/day connection).
• Pros: Limited availability (depends on your location), can be extremely expensive (around $1,500/mth in a rural area for a T1).

Two-way high speed internet via Satellite

If you live outside of DSL, Cable or Wireless coverage areas HughesNet Internet via Satellite is for you!

• If you run a business
• If you work from home
• If you are an executive on retreat at the cottage

Two-way high speed internet via satellite is the best solution for fast, reliable and always on internet access.

Download speeds range from 400Kbps to 5Mbps and upload speed range between 50Kbps and 500kbps based on your service level.

• Pros: Very fast, reliable, works anywhere (all you need is electricity), always on (24hr/day connection).
• Pros: More expensive than Cable, ADSL or wireless, bursty*, higher ping times, not optimized for UDP or encrypted traffic (VoIP, VPN, etc.)

*: Unless you are on a platform with dedicated speeds, such as our iDirect platform, downloads and uploads on the Telesat Ka, HughesNet Ku and HughesNet Ka (Spaceway) platforms are done in burst mode. This does not affect the overall performance of your system, but it may not be compatible with some applications (such as VoIP, VPN, etc.).