What DSL?

A friend of mine in South Africa asked me what DSL broadband options she should go for. This is my response.

I would recommend that you go with fastest you can afford and a router.

Business v Home is usually the number of people that share a particular piece of equipment in the exchange. Typically it would be 20 for Bus and 50 for Home. At the end of the day, it doesn’t seem to make that much difference as Home users tend to only surf in the evenings, while you guys would be using it during the day. And if there is any noticeable difference it would be really nominal.

Router v USB:
Router = connect any number of PCs to the DSL connection – ie: everyone surfs. MUCH more flexible solution. Your PCs have network cards already, so shouldn’t be any additional expense.
USB = Internet on one PC only, and completely dependant on that PC. P.I.T.A. (pain in the…) Avoid it if you can!
Another bonus of the router is that it has a built in firewall which will protect your PCs from hacking. With a USB modem you have to manage extra software on the PC to secure it.

1024 v 512. Speed. Unless there is a huge price difference, get the fastest you can. I can only get 512 (kilobits per second) at home, but 2 megabits per second (or 2048 kilobits…) is far more common around UK. 8 mbps is available, and they are now starting to sell 24mbps!!!!! (Bring it on!) Rest of Europe has had like 20mbps for ages. If you’re moving big images, then faster is definitely better!

Usage cap. I know that there is a usage cap on some / most / all DSL packages. Ie: you can only download like 2GB a month or something stupid. Whatever you think your usage might be, multiple by 2.5 and take the next biggest limit up from that.
You should read the bit about Bandwidth and Limits: http://www.telkom.co.za/attheoffice/products/dsl/business_faq.html
(Their policies really suck btw)

Bottom line (now that I’ve looked at the pricing): Home 512 + router + 3GB Advanced. If you can, sign up for 24 months and get the free router. Just ask the question though: “How many UTP ports does the supplied modem/router have?” 4 is normal and fine.