A Wisconsin Internet service provider, or ISP, connects subscribers to the Internet in exchange for a fee. A national ISP will allow access to customers in much of the nation while a local ISP limits its customers 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 WI Internet service provider. 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 ISPs in Wisconsin to use is the type of access you want:

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

2. Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, access is available through the phone in most areas. DSL is faster than a dial-up connection and usually allows dedicated access.

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

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

Locate a Wisconsin ISP that offers cable access to small businesses

ISPs in Wisconsin 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. Comcast is a Wisconsin high-speed Internet provider that has a cable access package specifically designed for small businesses.

Find Wisconsin ISP providers 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. Sprint Nextel offers a range of DSL technologies aimed towards small businesses, including ADSL, ADSL2 and SDSL.

Check out the access packages from a local Internet service provider in Wisconsin

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

I recommend: Wisconsin Wireless in Lake Geneva has commercial packages with a variety of options for businesses that do not have access to DSL or cable. Techware in Germantown provides affordable Internet solutions for businesses of all sizes in Wisconsin.

Tips & Tactics

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. An ISP in Wisconsin also offers multiple email addresses so that you can assign a separate one to each employee.
• •  Use a Wisconsin business ISP with a Tier 3 rating or better. 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.