A common phrase that u will hear when shopping for an Internet Service Provider(ISP) is up to, as in a connection speed up to 56K. This reminds me of the weekly car ads that I get in the mail which say that I qualify for up to$1, 000 off a brand new car, which in reality is saying that I qualify for$0 to$1, 000 off the list price & anything over$1, 000 is out of the question. Keep this in mind when u are shopping around.
There are several methods available to connect ur home computer to the Internet. These range in cost from installing a simple modem in ur computer for$25-30 to spending tens of thousands of dollars on optical fiber cable & the associated hardware. As with most other things, the more it costs usually the better(faster in this case) it is. The thing that u need to ask urself is, is it worth spending$10, 000 per month for a fast Internet connection to surf the web for recipes & do e-mail or can I get by with a$15 per month service that only provides a 56K connection.
Modems
A modem(modulator/demodulator) connects ur computer to the Internet by modulating the digital signal from the computer to a carrier signal(audio). This audio signal is then sent(via the modem) over ur existing telephone line to your ISP. Ur ISP will have a modem that ur modem is dialed in to that demodulates the signal back to digital, giving ur computer the ability to connect to the Internet. The data transfer rate of a modem is limited by the telephone company’s bandwidth which is about 3, 000 Hz.
If u upgraded from a 33.6 Kbps modem to 1 of the new 56 Kbps modems when they 1st became available, u seen a rather modest increase in ur dialup connection speed at best. Theoretically, the maximum modem speed connection over a standard analog telephone line is approximately 35 Kbps, so a 33.6 Kbps modem connected about as fast as the telephone line would allow.
ISDN
Like modems, Integrated Services Digital Network(ISDN) use twisted pair cable for the Internet connection. Where the modem uses ur current analog telephone line, the telephone company will need to install a new digital line for ISDN. Typically the ISDN service is allocated in 64 Kbps channels, 1 channel gives you a 64 Kbps connection, 2 channels gives you a 128 Kbps connection.
(Note: For more info on 56K Modems & ISDN, read my review on’128K Vs. 56K Modems’ Titled’I Gave the Info, U make the CHOICE’)
DSL
DSL refers to Digital Subscriber Line & is a relatively new technology for home Internet access. DSL uses ur existing telephone line, but is able to significantly increase the bandwidth over the lines between ur home & the telephone company. This is 1 of the more attractive alternatives to using a modem, especially if u have 2 phone lines with 1 line just for computer use. DSL gives u 24 hour access to the Internet & does not interfere with incoming & outgoing telephone calls. In other words, ur computer is connected to the Internet 24-hours per day, u can still use ur telephone anytime u wish, & u only need 1 telephone line! There is a drawback to DSL however, u need to live less than 3 miles from the phone company’s main office & the closer u are to the main office, the faster the data transfer rate. Data transfer rates range from 128 Kbps to 8.5 Mbps.
Depending on the type of service that ur telephone company supports, there are several options for DSL, which include Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line(ADSL), Consumer Digital Subscriber Line(CDSL), EtherLoop, High Bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line(HDSL), ISDN based DSL(IDSL), Rate Adaptive Digital Subscriber Line(RADSL), Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line(SDSL), & Very High Bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line(VDSL).
Cable Modems
If u have cable TV & ur cable company supports it, a cable modem may be an option for u. A cable modem uses ur existing cable TV cable by allowing u to connect ur computer(using a network interface card) to the set-top box that connects ur TV to the cable. The upstream data transfer rate for a cable modem is 27 Mbps & around 2.5 Mbps downstream, but this depends on the cable company’s connection to the Internet.
Wireless
The technology to connect a computer to the Internet via a wireless connection is fairly new. Some of the wireless connections available include General Packet Radio System(GPRS) which has connections speeds raging from 56 Kbps to 114 Kbps, Satellite which has a connection speed of 400 Kbps, Enhanced Data GSM Environment(EDGE) which has a connection speed of 384 Kbps, & the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service(UMTS) which has a connection speed up to 2 Mbps. The problems with wireless connections are interference, noise problems, & bandwidth limitations.