Washington DC high-speed 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 its ISP. Washington DC businesses with high-traffic sites may require a large national company that can provide mirroring and redundant connections for their websites.

The first consideration when making a comparison of ISPs in Washington DC is to determine 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 Washington, DC 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. Washington, DC broadband providers have the fastest connections small business owners in Washington, D.C. can generally afford. Internet services in Washington, D.C. also offer high-speed cable Internet access.

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

Locate ISPs in Washington, D.C. that offers cable access to small businesses

ISPs in Washington, D.C. 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: Cox's business division offers Internet service solutions for businesses of all sizes and allows you to customize your service with many additional options. Optimum offers a range of packages for businesses of different sizes and provides web hosting and ecommerce services.

Find a Washington DC broadband ISP that offers DSL service

You can frequently obtain DSL packages for business owners from a broadband ISP. Washington DC businesses can bundle multiple services together, such as Internet and web hosting, to get a better deal from the ISP.

I recommend: EarthLink offers a range of services for businesses of different sizes and features symmetrical DSL, which allows you to upload as fast as you can download. Qwest offers DSL connections along with many other Internet services for small businesses.

Check out the access packages from local Washington DC ISPs

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

I recommend: Free Flow provides full, fractional and burstable T1 connections to businesses in the DC area. DC Access serves homes and offices in Washington, DC with connections speeds up to 1.5 Mbps.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Use Washington, DC ISPs 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.