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

Locate Illinois business ISPs that offer cable access

ISPs in Illinois 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: Charter Business offers several packages for businesses and features a cable connection with a downstream rate of up to 16 Mbps. Conway is an Illinois 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.

Find ISPs in Illinois that offer DSL service for your business

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: 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 on AT&T's website. Speakeasy offers a range of DSL technologies aimed towards small businesses including ADSL, ADSL2 and SDSL.

Check out the access packages from local ISPs in Illinois

A rural business may have to depend on small, local Internet service providers. Illinois ISPs frequently offer wireless DSL service for these businesses.

I recommend: Mount Vernon Net provides wireless Internet solutions to businesses in southern Illinois and offers web hosting and design services. Cyber Broadcasting in Coal City has its own networks for individuals and small businesses. It also leases lines to larger companies as a dedicated carrier solution.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Check your ISP's terms of service for website size limitation if you plan to have a large website. You will also need to ensure that your ISP permits commercial websites if you wish to have a website for your small business. Most Illinois Internet service providers also offer multiple email addresses so that you can assign a separate one to each employee.
• •  Use an Illinois Internet service provider 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.