Georgia Internet service providers, or ISPs, connect their customers to the Internet in exchange for a fee. A national ISP will grant access to subscribers in much of the nation while a local ISP will limit users to a specific geographic region.

A small business should consider a separate web hosting company to maintain its website instead of using the web space from the Internet providers in Georgia. Businesses with high-traffic sites may require a large national company that can provide mirroring and redundant connections for their websites.

The first consideration in deciding which of the ISPs in Georgia to use is the type of access you want:

1. Dial-up access uses a telephone line and is the slowest connection. You must dial in to the Georgia ISP and you'll frequently have a limit on your connection time.

2. Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, access also is available through the phone in most areas. However, DSL is much faster than a dial-up connection and normally provides dedicated access.

3. Georgia broadband providers have the fastest connections small business owners in Georgia can generally afford. Internet services in Georgia also offer high-speed cable Internet access.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Locate an ISP in Georgia that offers cable access to small businesses

ISPs in Georgia that provide an always-on cable connection are frequently the best deal for small businesses. Some national ISPs offer packages tailored to the size of your business.

I recommend: Conway is a Georgia high-speed Internet provider that provides a premium business Internet package using cable. It also sells additional IP addresses, email address and web space separately. Charter Business offers several packages for businesses and features a cable connection with a downstream rate of up to 16 Mbps.

Find Georgia ISPs that offer DSL service

Many ISPs design DSL packages for business owners throughout much of the nation. Businesses can bundle multiple services together, such as Internet and web hosting, to get a better deal from the ISP.

I recommend: Speakeasy offers a range of DSL technologies aimed at small businesses, including ADSL, ADSL2 and SDSL. AT&T offers a package that combines DSL, VoIP, web hosting, networking and wireless Internet. You can determine if your specific location is in a service area by providing the telephone number of your business.

Check out the access packages from a local Georgia Internet service provider

A rural business may have to depend on a small, local GA Internet service provider. ISPs in Georgia frequently offer wireless DSL service for these businesses.

I recommend: Netlink IP Communications offers a business class DSL package, including commercial web space to businesses in southeast Georgia. Brightlan.net is in Dalton and provides businesses with a download and upload rate that is typically more than 3Mb/sec.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Use Internet service providers in Georgia with a Tier 3 rating or better, especially if you are running a small business. The tier rating establishes the ISP's proximity to the Internet and generally how fast its access will be, all other things being equal. Tier 1 ISPs are linked directly to the Internet; Tier 2 ISPs lease their connections from Tier 1 ISPs and so on.