The Ultimate Source of Information - Internet Access

The Internet--the ultimate source of information, misinformation, and places to hang out and chat with friends or strangers.  It wasnât that long ago that no one had even heard of the Internet, let alone actually used it.  These days the Internet has become central to the daily lives of people throughout the world, using it for news, research, social networking, email, gaming, and more.  There are now more ways than ever to access the Internet, with consumers now able to choose from services ranging from the slow speeds of dial-up to the incredible speeds of fiber optic broadband. 

Dial-Up

When the Internet first became widely available dial-up was the only option.  Data was transmitted as digital bits through the phone line, allowing the user to send or receive content.  Access was through phone lines and the modem had to actually dial an internet service provider in order to access the Internet.  The speed of data transmission was relatively slow, limiting the type of content offered on websites.  Dial-up users also experienced hang-ups, forcing them to reconnect if they wanted to continue their internet use, and of course the serious problem of having a phone line tied up in order to surf the Internet. 

Broadband Services

Although dial-up services still exist, they continue to lose market share to an increasingly greater variety of broadband services which allow for much faster data transmission and therefore a greater variety of available content on the internet. 

Two types of services currently dominate the broadband market.  Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, allows for significantly faster transmission of data over telephone lines without disrupting the use of those lines for normal telephone use.  Individual consumers generally have Asymmetrical DSL, which allows more transmission of data to the user than from the user, but businesses using DSL have access to even faster versions without this limitation.  Cable modems allow internet access using the same cables that are the basis for cable television and have comparable speeds to DSL services.  Together DSL and cable internet are the most common forms of broadband. 

Most options, such as wireless internet access (long distance wireless rather than the wireless internet available within individual buildings) and broadband over power line, have speeds similar to DSL and cable.  Satellite broadband is more expensive but significantly slower than DSL and cable, primarily being used by people in rural areas who have no other broadband option.  The newest and fastest broadband technology uses fiber optic cables, converting the signals that carry data into light, allowing for speeds far greater than any other form of broadband.  Availability of this technology is very limited, however.