For most businesses and homes, Internet success is crucial. With the development of this technological era, the Internet has become a tool via which we earn money and use other utilities. Most businesses need the Internet for customer communication, employee communication, credit card processing, etc. And without it, a lot of them can’t operate. In addition to the business needs, a lot of people started using the Internet as their primary source of earning money and entertainment. The purpose of this article is to guide you through some of the best practices and provide you with tips on how to choose a safe Internet provider. And enjoy your browsing experience!
Availability
This is the highest determining factor, especially in rural areas, just like the Internet speed. A fiber connection or high-speed cable is not sufficient for your business or homeowner’s needs. One of the best options you can go with is a satellite Internet and choose a 4G-LTE network which can be good with the right plan and equipment. You can start to compare broadband plans afterwards, to match the level of service you’d be getting with the actual price.
Speed
Internet speed is crucial if you want to run your daily tasks smoothly. To some customers, the determining factor when choosing a deal is speed. They want the fastest Internet they can get in the area and this is based on the location. For example, not everyone can get the same Internet package and type of Internet speed. Some rural areas do not support such speeds, so it’s always a good idea to check with your provider. Bandwidth is the volume of information that is being transmitted per unit of time. To make sure you are safe with your deal and you got the kind of speed you were told, you can check with the neighbouring homes and businesses to see what type of speed they have. And then you can make the comparison and decide whether you’ll go with that provider.
Choose an ISP That Respects Your Privacy
If privacy is your concern, you can choose an ISP that will respect yours. There were rules recommended to the congress to preserve the FCC’s Broadband Privacy and vote down plans to abolish them. If these rules are repealed, a lot of Internet Service Providers will be spying on their customers and will be selling their data. If there was a free, healthier, and more transparent market, Internet services would be at higher levels. Small ISPs face structural obstacles like monopoly or duopoly on the wireline side or consolidation on the cellular market where there is a dominant provider. Here are some of the features that every Internet Service Provider should respect and be compliant with the safest rules and regulations.
1. Supercookies and ISP Tracking
Back in 2014, Verizon was caught injecting cookies into the web traffic of its users. This allowed third-party networks and websites to build profiles for these users, without users’ consent. Following the FCC action, Verizon was stopped and customers were given the choice to stay or opt-out. Thankfully, today users have the chance to decide whether they will participate in this service. You can check your settings and see if your ISP allows you to opt-out tracking. You can either find it under privacy, ads settings, or marketing.
2. HTTPS
There is a browser extension called EFF that allows the users to connect to a service by using an encryption method. If a service or a website offers a secure connection, the ISP is not able to see what you are doing on the site and service. However, the ISP will still be able to see on which website you are connecting.
For example, if you visit https://:w3chools.com/introduction/javascript, the ISP cannot exactly see you are on the introduction page of this website, however, they can see that you are connecting to the main domain of the page. While there are some limitations to HTTPS when it comes to privacy, it’s a valuable tool if you don’t want your Internet Service Provider to have such information about you. And if you use a site that doesn’t have HTTPS or HyperText Transfer Protocol, you can use some of the tools that will provide you privacy.
3. VPN
Virtual Private Network protects your privacy and allows you to stay away from risks. When you use a VPN, you make the Internet traffic pass through the VPN’s provider’s servers before it reaches the destination on the Internet. Some ISPs can recommend the best VPN products you could use so you have peace of mind.
Important Factors to Consider
If you try to find the right service provider it can be overwhelming. Without a reliable connection, you will end up frustrated and feel scammed. You need to consider a few things so you can choose the safest option.
The type of connection is crucial and can make a big difference. A satellite connection is slow, but it can have respectable download speeds. While the signal travels around 22,000 miles out to space, the satellite orbit contacts the network centre so it can find the needed site. The information is sent to the satellite orbit and back to you. If you add an extra second for each action, it can be particularly slow. Fiber connection, on the other hand, is at much lower latency and probably a better choice.
As we mentioned previously, reliability is important. If you are in an industry where you can’t risk Internet outages, you might want to consider an ISP that will offer SLA – Service Level Agreement. With this agreement, you will have information on how reliable the connection should be. And regardless of the connection, there’s always something that can go wrong. Whether it’s hardware dying or a line has been damaged physically, one can’t predict such unpredictable circumstances. However, at least to have a quality level of service and safe and secure ISP.
