Some roads to broadband Internet access are smooth. Because of this, they are the roads most traveled in the quest for ever more streaming video and a Web and e-mail experience without an overture of modem beeps.

Take DSL, if it's available in your area. Sign up for it, get a self-install kit, and after you've plugged in a few filters and installed the hardware and software you need, you're online. It's not as easy as installing AOL software, perhaps, but about the same price and a lot faster.

	Don't take this the wrong way, but American broadband service is really a bit of a joke.

Or take cable. If you happen to have a cable outlet in the room where you'll be computing (or the one you're using for a wireless access point), you do another self-install. If you don't have a convenient outlet, you pay Comcast 50 bucks to come out, drag wire into your computer room, and sign on the line that commits you to paying about $45 per month. Assuming you can tolerate the other kind of "broad band" (the extrawide time slot needed to allocate to a visit from the cable guy), it's that simple.

But just because these two types of Internet access are the most common and the smoothest to install, don't assume they're your only choice. In a few regions, there are two other ways to get online. If they were available in my area, I'd be all over them.

These two alternative broadband technologies are consumer-grade fiber-optic access (spearheaded by Verizon's FiOS) and municipal wireless, such as the newly available service in Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania.

High-fiber diatribe
Don't take this the wrong way, but American broadband service is really a bit of a joke. Entry-level DSL provides 768Kbps for downloads and only 128Kbps upstream--less than a tenth of what passes for broadband in Asia. Even cable access, with access rates around 6Mbps (and 385Kbps upstream) are not much more than half the rates you can get in Japan and Korea.

If you're lucky enough to be in the catchment area for Verizon's FiOS, give it some serious thought. It's a tiered fiber-optic service that has impressive download rates but probably more impressive upstream rates, which will really pay dividends if you want to do conference calls using Skype or some other Internet telephony tech. The problem: FiOS has been rolled out in only 15 or so states, and the coverage is spotty. One of my colleagues who lives 10 miles from me can get FiOS, but I can't. And I'd consider renting his basement to tap into it.

One of my colleagues who lives 10 miles from me can get FiOS, but I can't. And I'd consider renting his basement to tap into it.

The three tiers of FiOS start from $35 to $40 for 5Mbps download and 2Mbps upload, then they jump to an impressive 15Mbps/2Mbps service for $45 to $50 per month. That second level provides the biggest bang for the buck: to double its rates, you need to pay up to $200 per month for the top-tier service.

However, getting this service involves a little more than making a phone call. In fact, it takes at least two visits from Verizon. The first involves dragging a fiber-optic line from a pole on the street to a convenient point outside your house. This involves drilling and, hence, pleading for the installer not to leave loose wire flapping against your vinyl siding.

The next phase, which includes getting the fiber-optic signal into your home, can take a whole day to complete. The first step is to install an Optical Network Terminal (ONT) box at the building, usually located next to your electric meters. This placement works on the assumption that one more box on the exterior won't make it much worse of an eyesore. But some people prefer to put the box on the inside.

	Why would anybody go through all this aggravation? Two reasons, really: 15Mbps downstream and 2Mbps upstream. That's a 100MB download completed in a minute.

In this case, the installer hooks the fiber-optic cable to the ONT, then he or she will switch your phone lines from any copper wire you use to the fiber-optic line Verizon wants you to use. For broadband access, a standard Ethernet cable gets dragged out of the ONT and into your house. How this gets to your network, wireless access point, or computer depends on your domestic layout. This is merely one of the steps that eats a big chunk out of your day; the other time sink is configuring your computer to work with this setup.

Why would anybody go through all this aggravation? Two reasons, really: 15Mbps downstream and 2Mbps upstream. That's a 100MB download completed in a minute and the digital images from your vacation uploaded to Shutterfly before you get over the jet lag. I'm prepared to bet that it will improve the resale value of your house, too, but don't quote me on that. Besides, if FiOS is good enough for spreadsheet pioneer Dan Bricklin, it's good enough for me.

BreezeAccess not a breeze to set up
On the more ethereal side of the equation, we have municipal wireless service. Don't get this confused with Wi-Fi--it's a different beast altogether, much swifter and with far greater reach. This alternative, of course, has less coverage than FiOS, because it's designed to service a community, such as the 13 square miles of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, that goes by the name of Upper Dublin.

This latest entrant into the municipal wireless arena uses Alvarion's BreezeAccess transceivers installed on municipal buildings to blanket the area with radio-based access on the 900MHz and 5.3GHz bands. This service was set up for the area's schools, libraries, and emergency services, but since it provided plenty of capacity, the service was also opened to the community.

Of course, to pick up the BreezeAccess signals and turn them into Internet access, Upper Dublin residents need to install their own Alvarion hardware and subscribe to the service. The municipality is floating a reasonable price for entry, too: a scant $12 per month for the "broad-ish band" of 3Mbps and closer to $50 for the beefier 12Mbps. Even with this modest pricing, in a few years Upper Dublin hopes to break even on the cost of implementing its municipal network and actually begin to generate revenue.

Roads less traveled
So there are two other ways to zoom onto the Internet. For now, sadly, they're available only in a few communities. FiOS will most likely spread faster than municipal wireless, but who knows which service will land in your community first.

So here's a question for you: If you had the choice between FiOS, BreezeAccess, or the DSL/cable route, which would you take?

Should Matt Lake assemble some more facts before he goes off on his tangents? Is the feed between the real world, his brain, and this column tragically limited in bandwidth? Let him have it in the feedback section below.