An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a company that provides access to the Internet. ISPs may also offer other services such as Web hosting, Web development and leased lines. These additional services are often referred to as value-added services (VAS).
Before choosing an ISP, it is important to assess your company's business and marketing goals. In other words, you should determine what your organization will be using the Internet for. Once you've determined this, you can contact ISPs that serve your geographic area and ask them about their services.
Internet Connection
The first thing that you should determine is which type of connection will best serve your company's needs. For more information on connection types, visit ebiz.enable's Getting Connected section in our Technology Guide.
Here are some questions that you may wish to ask when choosing an ISP for Internet connection:
General
- What types of connections are available in your geographic area? (dial-up, ADSL, cable, etc...)
- What equipment (hardware) is necessary to establish a connection? (dial-up modem, cable modem, etc...)
- Does the ISP provide installation software?
- What kind of technical support can you expect?
- What additional perks are offered with each package? (Web space, additional e-mail accounts, etc.)
Connection
- Is the dial-up number billed as a local call?
- Does the ISP provide alternate local dial-up numbers? How many?
- Is remote service available? (regional, national, international)
- What type of connection speed can you expect?
- How often can you expect busy signals?
- What is the service's expected uptime?
Cost
- What payment options are available?
- Is there an initial connection fee?
- Can the type of connection be changed without penalty?
- How will your connection time be charged?
- metered
- flat rate
- bandwidth use
- combination of the above
- Are annual subscriptions offered at discounted prices? (as opposed to monthly charges)
- Are there any other possible charges?
Many of these questions can only be answered by trying the service. You may want to request a trial period from an ISP so that you can evaluate its performance before signing on with them.
Web Hosting
Most companies that offer Web hosting services will offer basic packages which can be modified to accommodate your specific needs. Requesting and comparing this information is a good place to start when looking for Web hosting services. The following list outlines some important questions that should be answered before you make a decision:
General
- How much bandwidth is available for upload and download? (data transfer)
- How much storage space is available? Can additional space be added at a later date? (data storage)
- Does the ISP allow for commercial Web sites?
- What is the site's expected uptime? What is the company's policy with regards to this?
- Which operating systems do they support? (Microsoft, Unix, Linux...)
Services
- Does the ISP provide shopping cart and other e-commerce technologies and services?
- Are Web-based tools available for site maintenance and configuration?
- Which Web technologies are supported? (databases, programming environments, etc...)
- What kind of technical support can you expect?
- How many e-mail addresses (aliases) are provided per account?
- Are mailing list services available?
Costs
- What is the cost for domain name registration?
- What will be the total monthly cost of your company's desired Web hosting solution?
- Is there a service fee for adding or removing features?
- What is the cost of each additional feature? (databases, additional e-mail addresses, etc...)
Be wary of relatively low advertised prices when choosing a company to host your Web site. These low prices are usually offset by additional costs for basic services, or are indicative of poor performance. You may also want to visit some sites that are hosted by the company to see how they perform.
Conclusion
As with any purchase, familiarity with a product will help you make a better decision. Find out which ISPs other people are using and ask them why. It should be noted that reluctance, on behalf of a potential ISP, to answer your questions is a negative indicator; the company may be hiding product/service deficiencies.
Make sure that you read the ISP's service contract before you commit to it. That way you'll know what to expect in event of a closure, merger or if the quality of Service (QOS) does not meet your expectations.
Additional Information
Visit ebiz.enable's List of e-Business Suppliers for more information on ISPs in Canada. For additional sources of information on choosing an ISP, see the Resources section.
