Louisville public-relations agent Susan Rostov is considering ditching the dial-up Internet connection that has served her one-person company for more than 10 years and moving up to high-speed broadband service.
"Nothing's ever fast enough for me. I mean, I'm always in a hurry and always impatient," says Rostov, owner of S.R./P.R.
But it's not always simple for small businesses to sort through an array of broadband choices and find the one that matches their need for speed - and their budgets.
The options, which include services such as DSL, cable modems and wireless Internet, range from $50 to several hundred dollars a month - and have different speeds, though all are faster than dial-up. Typically, the faster the service, the more it costs. Choose a connection that's too fast, and you pay for more bandwidth than you really need. Pick one that's too slow and Internet service can bog down under heavy use.
Rostov has put off the switch to broadband partly because she hasn't had time to study the complex issues, she says.
Small companies that use the Internet mainly for Web browsing, e-mail and transmitting text files may do fine with entry-level DSL service costing about $50 a month for a business account, says Eric Wolbach, director of business DSL for BellSouth.
Even companies not thought of as technology-driven may need a fast Internet connection.
J.R.'s Spa & Salon in Louisville moved up from dial-up service to cable about 2½ years ago.
With its cable Internet service, the business can download very large files in minutes, Riley says.
The spa also uses its Internet connection to respond more quickly to customer inquiries and gift-certificate orders from its Web site, www.jrsalon.com , and to make occasional updates to the site.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/BIZ02/511150346/1076/rss01
"Nothing's ever fast enough for me. I mean, I'm always in a hurry and always impatient," says Rostov, owner of S.R./P.R.
But it's not always simple for small businesses to sort through an array of broadband choices and find the one that matches their need for speed - and their budgets.
The options, which include services such as DSL, cable modems and wireless Internet, range from $50 to several hundred dollars a month - and have different speeds, though all are faster than dial-up. Typically, the faster the service, the more it costs. Choose a connection that's too fast, and you pay for more bandwidth than you really need. Pick one that's too slow and Internet service can bog down under heavy use.
Rostov has put off the switch to broadband partly because she hasn't had time to study the complex issues, she says.
Small companies that use the Internet mainly for Web browsing, e-mail and transmitting text files may do fine with entry-level DSL service costing about $50 a month for a business account, says Eric Wolbach, director of business DSL for BellSouth.
Even companies not thought of as technology-driven may need a fast Internet connection.
J.R.'s Spa & Salon in Louisville moved up from dial-up service to cable about 2½ years ago.
With its cable Internet service, the business can download very large files in minutes, Riley says.
The spa also uses its Internet connection to respond more quickly to customer inquiries and gift-certificate orders from its Web site, www.jrsalon.com , and to make occasional updates to the site.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051115/BIZ02/511150346/1076/rss01
