I purchase quite a bit of computer electronics. To date, I’ve purchased the following products from Belkin:

  • 1 Surge Suppressor Power Strip
  • 2 Backup Power Supplies
  • Several Ethernet Cables
  • 1 Mouse
  • 1 Wireless Access Point
  • 2 Wireless PCMCIA Network Cards

Belkin is proof positive that you get what you pay for.

Cheap Belkin Products

Dear InetDaemon,

Why are customers quoted different prices for 
broadband through an ISP? Why does 128kbps 
Frame Relay cost less than 256kps?
Why are leased lines and private lines so expensive? 
And what is the fee structure like for these kinds 
of services?

Isn't it all the same Internet?

Inquiring IT Manager

InetDaemon’s Answer

Dear InetDaemon,

My Internet provider told me they are the sole seller of Internet bandwidth.
Who really is the sole seller of Internet bandwidth? Where does it come from?

Sincerely,
Confused Internet Consumer

Internet bandwidth doesn’t have a single source or a sole seller.

The whole idea of the Internet is that it is distributed and not centralized, so there is no such thing as a ‘sole source’.   All telephone, cellular, cable and satellite service providers ‘manufacture’ bandwidth when they upgrade the physical equipment in their own network and add more connections between the different pieces of equipment.   These providers then sell other connections to other providers and to their customers.

So, Internet bandwidth is ‘manufactured’ everywhere and nobody has a monopoly on it, so there is no such thing as a sole source. If that’s what you’re provider is telling you, they aren’t honest.  Find someone else to get your Internet from.

-InetDaemon

Time for another e-mail from our readers:

How can I buy static IP addresses and how long does it remain valid?
Do I renew it by subscribing year by year?

The Answer

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