Internet connections in the US

[Taz]

One of my clients has a small office in the US and they want to setup a VPN with the main office here in London. They are thinking of increasing the speed of their broadband lines to accommodate this. I know what speed grades of ADSL/SDSL are available in the UK and what price you would expect, but haven't a clue what's available in the US

The office is located in Minneapolis and they currently pay $70 per month for a 1.5Mbps line. That sounds expensive and slow to me Is that the going rate or are they being ripped off?

What kind of price would an 8Mbps line be and what would the upload speed be. Is SDSL available and what kind of price would you expect to pay for it?

I really just need ball park figures so I can advise their US office what to do

[Fluff]

That price seems reasonable to me if it is static IP.

http://smallbusiness.verizon.com/products/internet/hsi.aspx

http://smallbusiness.verizon.com/products/internet/fios.aspx

Would be a good place to start.

[Taz]

Thanks but those links require a Verizon Business telephone number to be able to check availability, I've no idea if their telephone provider is Verizon or someone else.

[WxDude]

The local telephone provider is Qwest. Here is their business internet page:

http://www.qwest.com/smallbusiness/internet/index.html

Depending on the type of service/distance to central office, $70/mth for 1.5 Mbps doesn't
seem out of line. If this is for a dynamic IP address service, then it should be lower.

Comcast is the cable TV provider for the city of Minneapolis. Here are their business class
plans:

http://business.comcast.com/internet/plans.aspx

They offer a 6/1 Mbps service plan for 59.95. A static IP would cost more. I would expect that
for a VPN service, they would need a static IP.

Pricing for internet service or the level of service for a price is very variable in the US because
there is no national provider in all areas and the cost for the bandwidth used by the provider
varies by location (i.e. cost for bandwidth in Iowa is a lot more expensive than in New Jersey).

Hope this helps!

- Wx

[Taz]

Thanks for that, will check out those links