On Line All the Time
While not everyone in
Charlotte County is waiting for the new, high speed Internet access
methods to arrive, many small businesses and
offices are. One reason the new digital subscriber lines (DSLs) and
cable modems are in high regard with small businesses beside speed is
they are "always on." A business, a home office, or even
your kids can have a 2417 Web site without the expense of dedicated,
leased high-speed trunk access. It won't be a "dot.com"
type of operation, but it will be online all the time.
Any
personal computer running Windows 98 can be a server by using the
Personal Web Server program which is included, but not automatically
instal1ed, on every Windows 98 CD/ROM. There are even free server
programs, such as Apache, and the Back Office or other NT packages
from Microsoft, for a fee.
There
are pitfalls, such as the lack of "firewalls," which must
be addressed if a PC is to be used in this manner. If you don't take
security precautions, your PC will be guaranteed a visit from the
dark side of the Web. You will be the target of someone you don't
want on your hard drives if you don't take precautions. That is a
given.
While being "on the
air" with your Web site is a new realm for most small
businesses, it can be a valuable sales or operating tool. One 24/7
method is called DSL. Digital Subscriber Lines,
DSL, is a whole family of digital access methods that can use your
already installed telephone lines. Sprint DSL is already available in
certain parts of Punta Gorda.
Sprint's FastConnect
service will come in one of two offerings: first
is 512Kbps/128Kbps for $52.99, or the second at 1.5Mbps/384Kbps for
$109.99. The first number is the download speed and the second
number is the upload speed. It is an asymmetrical service, unequal
transmit and receive speeds, hence the acronym ADSL. Also available
in the future in Charlotte County will be Earthlink's DSL, which is a
partnership with Sprint. As with Sprint, there is a $200 dollar
charge for the attaching equipment and a one-time installation fee of
$130.00. Go to
http://csb.sprint.com/servet/DslRouter/dsl_launch?State=Florida
to see if your telephone can handle DSL.
If
it's not listed, call 1-877-6GO-DATA, press 2, then 1, ask to have
your line measured for DSL (Sprint).
If you
plan on using the telephone on the same number as the DSL service, a
filter must also be installed for the telephone. The recent weekend
business supplement in the Miami paper had no less than four
competitive ads for DSL service from different vendors, an offering
competitive sign up packages and rates.
However, I live in what
we call ''Westport,'' between Murdock and North
Port. We won't get any DSL for at least six more months. Keep the tin
cans and wax strings taught, folks, they're not here yet.
George
Mindling © 2000
