Continuing the previous discussion on how to choose the right internet service provider / ISP for your needs, now let’s discuss the media that are generally used in Indonesia today to deliver internet connections to the customer side. Of course, each media has its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses that can be tailored to meet the needs of each customer.
What are the media commonly used in Indonesia today? Here are the most common media used by internet service providers / ISPs today:
1. FIBER OPTIC
There is no doubt that currently optical fiber has become the main choice because of the increasingly broad range of areas that can be served by optical fiber networks and the price is more affordable when compared to a few years ago.
Advantages :
- Able to deliver high speed bandwidth to the customer side
- Relatively more stable than other media
- Increasingly affordable prices
Weakness:
- When compared to other media, fiber optics are still more limited in scope
- It takes relatively longer for troubleshootings, especially in the event of a cable cut
- Relatively more expensive compared to wireless for example
2. WIRELESS
The development of wireless technology is also worth considering in choosing the most appropriate media to meet your needs.
Advantages :
- Able to deliver high speed bandwidth even though its performance in this case is still below the ability of optical fiber
- Very flexible in deployment
- Relatively faster in the process of troubleshootings when trouble occurs
- Cheaper price
Weakness:
- More susceptible to interference, generally interference due to the use of radio waves
- It is prone to lightning strikes, although it can be overcome with a good grounding system
3. VSAT (VERY SMALL APERTURE TERMINAL)
Using satellite technology to deliver bandwidth to the customer’s place. Generally used as a last option because the installation site that can not be served using other media.
Advantages :
- Can be applied in remote locations while entering the satellite service area used
Weakness:
- Generally the costs required are higher, both subscription fees and initial investment costs needed
- Bandwidth obtained by customers is generally not symmetrical (downloads and uploads are not equal)
- Much higher latency compared to other media
To clarify, lets try to illustrate several cases of customers in choosing the right media to meet their needs.
Case example 1
FC Intermilan Company wants to subscribe to the internet in one of its branches. After consulting with several internet service providers, it turns out that the desired branch location can be served using optical fiber with the speed and subscription fees that are in accordance with Intermilan FC’s corporate needs and budget.
Case example 2
As for the head office, Intermilan FC is located in an industrial area. After consulting with several internet service providers, it was found out that linking budgeting using fiber optic media was very expensive due to the fact that in general for the procurement of internet in industrial estates, permits and costs were quite high for the managers of these industrial estates. This resulted in the Intermilan FC company deciding to use wireless media so that the link budgeting could be reduced and the bandwidth requirements of the Intermilan FC company could still be properly met.
Case example 3
As a mining company, Intermilan FC also has internet access needs at one of its mining sites which are located quite remote. Because of its location, the choice of using media to deliver internet access needs is very limited. So the FC Intermilan company decided to use VSAT media for the needs of the site.
Thus the summary of the media commonly used in Indonesia today in delivering internet access to customers. So which one do you choose? Don’t forget to consult your internet access needs to Cyberplus!
–tms-
