YouTube

Think about it, no more YouTube. You may say that you don't normally visit YouTube but many people do and it has become something that everybody knows and talks about. Without YouTube we would go back to waiting for programs and content we want and most likely never have the range of content YouTube has supplied. No more random people's video blogs to laugh at! Would you miss it?

Internet Shopping

Think about before you shopped for your stuff online, there was limited choice and not remotely as much range of goods as the internet has given us. What makes it even worse is before internet shopping you would find yourself in a crowded shop full of stuff you really don't need while getting elbowed in the rips by some random OAP in the process. To really see how you would miss internet shopping , take a look around your room and locate all the objects that where bought online, for me that is most of my room.

Email

Think about it, without the internet we would be left with letters and phone calls to communicate with family, friends and co-workers. Just imagine it, instead of email newsletters we would get some underpaid overworked telemarketer stating all the latest deals in a monotone voice. Perhaps we would get a letter with latest deals that would already be outdated making it completely pointless. Email has provided us with the power of sending a letter but that can be sent across the globe in seconds and all for free! Could you live without this vital service?

MSN Messenger

Without MSN we would have to use SMS to send quick messages to friends who you may not be able to or not want to speak to them face to face. This would make phone companies rich but make us poor. Imagine when having a conversation on MSN or any other chat program, every time you send a reply it costs you 10p, if that was the case for me I would be getting a very large phone bill. MSN has become something you just can't live without for the younger generation and has been saving parents lots of 10p texts.

Online banking

For those of you who use online banking, I'm sure you would miss it if it was gone. Without the internet online banking would be a pipe dream and we would have to go back to using ATM cash machines, while looking over our shoulder for any dodgy looking people while inspecting the machine for any card stealing gadgets. All of those while having a large queue of people behind you giving you funny looks. Would you miss online banking?

That is just a few of the things I believe people would miss if there internet was to randomly disappear and I'm sure there are so many more things that I people would miss. Did you think you would miss the internet this much? You could always try disconnecting your internet for a week?

1. Bandwidth

   Bandwidth is the amount of data that is downloaded by you using the connection. So if you have a 10GB download limit, you can only download 10GBs of data before facing the risk of being charged for extra bandwidth allowance. Now you may ask, what has this got to do with getting a better internet connection? Well if you keep going over your download limit it will not only cost you more money due to the bandwidth charges but also may mean that the ISP (Internet service provider) may limit your connecting giving you slower speeds and a worse internet connection. So now you may ask, how much bandwidth will I use?
   
   This is a hard question to answer as different people use their internet connection for different tasks. If you are only visiting web pages as well as one or two videos you would be fine with a download limit such as 2GB. But if you are a demanding user and regularly download large files and stream videos you may require much more download allowance. Be careful of unlimited download limits, these normally have fair usage policy which states a usage they consider fair.

2. Download Speed

   This is a key area to look for when looking for an ISP (Internet service provider). The first thing that you should understand is that the speed of the internet connection that you can get depends on where you live. If you live in a more remote location you are a lot less likely to be able to get the highest speeds available. Internet providers will normally use an “up to” speed when stating the download speed. This means that it may not get to the speed stated. To check the download speed your connection is able to get, there is normally a phone number checker which checks the speed that your phone line is likely to achieve.
   
   When considering a new internet provider you have to consider what you use your connection for to understand what download speed you require. To browse web pages and check emails you will really need a download speed not any higher than 512 kbps, but if you download large files and stream high definition video you will need at least a 2Mbit connection. If you are sharing your connection with other users you should also consider a higher download speed so that the connection can cope with the data from all the users.

3. Contracts

   With most internet providers there is some kind of contract that requires you to use their service for a set period of time (usually 12 months). Some providers offer a 1 month contract which is useful as you can cancel the service if you're not happy with it. The details of minimum contract terms as well as important information about the service you will get is stated in the terms and conditions so take time to read them! The terms and conditions will be stated on the internet providers website and you are asked to agree to them when you sign up to a provider.

4. Freebies

   One of my top tips is to not be tempted by internet providers who offer some freebies if you use their service. This will normally end with a large minimum contract period as well as a poor and unreliable service. You may ask, just because they are giving me a free stuff why does that make them bad? If the internet service provider has to give people stuff for them to use their broadband they must not be providing a good service as they need to almost bribe people with free stuff. This doesn't mean that any internet provider that offers free stuff is rubbish, it just means that you should take care and don't be dragged in to a internet provider just because of the free stuff they offer.

5. Customer reviews

   I believe that this is the most important advice for people looking for a new internet provider. My advice is to read customer reviews. These customer reviews will provide you with an insight to what the customers of the internet provider think of their service and if they had any problems. What is also important to remember is to not trust just one review, if there is one bad customer review it doesn't meant the internet provider is bad but if there are a large number of bad reviews it is more likely that the ISP is not good.

I hope that these 5 great tips will help you get away from the bad internet service providers so you can have a better internet connection.

Location, Location, Location

A factor which may affect your website is the location of the web host. If you are a UK based website for best performance you would be best looking for a UK web host or even a European web hosting provider. The distance you or your main target audiences are from where the server is hosting, the more the speed of the website will be affected. If you are unsure of where the web hosting providers servers are located check out there network page or contact the web hosting provider's sales team.

Bandwidth and web space

This next factor is very dependent on the nature of your website. Firstly bandwidth is how much network usage you are allowed. If you have a 1mb website and you get 1000 visitors a month that would roughly use 1 GB of traffic, although people may not view the entire 1mb website making the amount of bandwidth required less. If you require an unmetered bandwidth service you should watch out on what the connection speed is as this can limit how many visitors witch can physically see your website at one time.

Web space is the amount of file space you have on the server. If your website is 100 mb in size you would only require around 100mb web space. Most web hosting providers offer bucket loads more web space then you will ever require so try not to pay extra money for more web space that you will not need.

Shared? VPS? Dedicated?

When looking for web hosting you will be faced with a choice over three different types of hosting. If you are completely new to web hosting and your website is not likely to require a lot of computer power or a custom server set up, shared web hosting is for you. This is also normally the cheapest and easiest to set up and use. A virtual private server (VPS) gives you a lot more control over the server. You will get root access making it possible to edit system files to your needs. A VPS is not a standalone server but a server on a server and normally there will be a few other people sharing the host machine your VPS is based on. A Dedicated server is a whole standalone server dedicated to your website. The benefits of this are you have FULL control over the server. This also means a lot more things can go wrong so if you are new to how servers work I would suggest getting shared hosting or going for a managed service where the hosting company look after the server for you.

Uptime

This factor is an important to having a website that is hosted well. Uptime is how much percent your website is likely to be available for viewing. Most hosting companies quote 99% uptime but this is not always the case. When the hosting providers quote the 99% uptime they back themselves up by stating that it doesn't include outages that can not be helped. The best way to check the true uptime of a web hosting provider is by asking existing customers or look for reviews on popular web hosting directories

Domains?

Having a domain name for your website can give your website a more professional look. Most website hosting providers require you to either already have a domain name or that will make you order a new domain. Domains consist of two main parts. Firstly your website name, for example "mywebsite". The next part of the domain is the top level domain (TLD) this can be .com, .net, .org and many more. There is a small fee to have access for the domain for a year. After the year you are required to renew the domain or face losing the domain name.

A few tips.

So now you should be more knowledgeable on what to look for when shopping for web hosting. Remember to check out the company's reputation by looking for reviews or recommendations. Also don't be forced onto buying a year of hosting up front. Ask for a trail month or order a month to try the hosting and lastly don't forget to shop around so you can get the best web hosting provider for your needs.