Internet capacity

In his letter on April 12, 1997, Mr. Bill Guerin complained about his continuous disconnection from the Internet and that there are too many people using the Internet (according to Telkom).

Mr. Guerin's complaint is only one of the thousands of complaints in this regard in Indonesia. To find an appropriate Internet Service Provider (ISP), my advice would be not to look for the cheapest one! The connecting capacity of your computer to the Internet depends on the capacity of your ISP, or in technical terms, on the bandwidth of your ISP. The bandwidth should be 1.5 Mb to 2 Mb, or more.

There are many ISPs with a higher bandwidth kept as reserves for future operations but at present, they are utilizing only a small portion of it. A higher bandwidth results in a more stable and easier reception of the desired Internet connection. For fast and stable connections, a reasonable ISP should also have at least 150 telephone lines.

My advice is not to go for the cheapest price when looking for an ISP. Cheap ISPs are usually "overloaded" with members. Hence, causing inefficient handling by ISPs of the numerous requests.

JOHN HARUN

Jakarta