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Connecting to the Internet

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You probably will want to connect your computer to the Internet.  You have four main choices: cable, DSL, ISDN, and dial-up, all of which require some kind of modem. A modem is a device that turns data from a digital format into analog signals in order to transmit it to and from your computer. None of these services, other than dial-up, is available everywhere (dial-up can be found wherever there are phone lines).

If you choose DSL or cable, the hardware you get from your service provider will affect the choices you make when buying networking hardware. We'll cover those choices in a separate article.

Cable
It's called cable because it's delivered through the same kind of cable that cable TV comes through. You need a cable modem and a network card. You also need a cable outlet somewhere near a computer.

The great thing about cable modems is their speed: you can often get up to 3.5 Mbps. However, cable connections share a node in each neighborhood. This means that if all your neighbors are online and downloading clips during the Academy Awards®, your service could slow to a crawl, and this could happen any time. Your experience can vary, but cable Internet service is still a good product for the money.

Often, cable Internet service is provided by the same companies that provide cable television, locally either Comcast or Time Warner. It's not available everywhere.

DSL
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology operates through your phone lines and can sometimes match cable's top speed of 3.5 Mbps. DSL doesn't interfere with your phone conversations, even when voice and data are on the same line at the same time. DSL providers typically provide small hardware devices called filters that make this possible. You simply plug the filter into the phone jack and then plug the phone into the filter. You can easily obtain filters for wall-mounted phones as well, and none of these devices is very large. All of them can be tucked away invisibly behind a phone.

You'll need a DSL modem and an Ethernet® card to install your DSL service. The modem plugs into an ordinary phone jack and into your Ethernet card. You can choose how much speed you want to pay for, and when you buy symmetric DSL (SDSL), it's yours—your line is dedicated to your Internet use, so you won't experience rush-hour traffic jams on the Internet, like you might with cable service. The lower-priced asymmetric DSL (ADSL) will slow down during peak hours. Ask your provider what's available, and decide whether having your own personal always-on, always-fast connection is worth the cost.

The catch? DSL service is not as widely available as other services. Quite often, you have to live within 3 or 3 ½ miles of your company's facility. DSL tends to be a bit slower and less expensive than cable, although 1.5 Mbps is now standard with many DSL providers.

Locally, DSL service is provided by Qwest and other phone companies. You'll also need an Internet service provider (ISP), unless your phone company provides ISP services as well.

ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) lines also often come from the phone company. ISDN data speed is 128 Kbps, and comes through the phone lines. It's not as fast as DSL, but the latency is lower, so downloads start sooner but take longer. When you're communicating heavily online (such as playing an Internet game), low latency is an advantage since every request your computer makes for data gets a quicker answer. It's a tricky concept—downloads are actually slower for large files—but the fast response still makes ISDN viable for things like gaming. ISDN has been widely available to the public longer than either cable or DSL technology, and still has some appeal.

You'll need an ISP.

Dial-up
The "standard-equipment" modems that come with a new computer are called dial-up modems. Dial-up modems take over your phone line when you connect to the Internet, because the technology they use literally dials a phone number, just as if you were placing a call from your phone. It's similar to the technology of a fax machine. It's also relatively slow, but very reasonably priced. You can run dial-up as soon as you have an account with an ISP, as long as your phone service is hooked up. Just run a phone line from your computer to a phone jack. You don't have to call anyone to install hardware or set up an Internet connection.

Tens of millions of people still have dial-up connections to the Internet, though millions of others have chosen broadband connections. Broadband is the collective name for DSL and cable connections. The formal term for Internet speed is bandwidth—the broader the band, the higher the speed. With all the music, video, and other complex data files available through the Web today, broadband has become very popular, but dial-up connections won't disappear anytime soon.

You'll need an ISP, such as AOL, EarthLink, NetZero, or USFamilyNet. Dial-up service is available anywhere phone service is available.

Some Internet services also require your computer to have a network card—also called a network interface card (NIC) or a network adapter—which acts as an intermediary between your computer and the wires or cables through which the data is transmitted. Many newer computers come with a network card installed. You can check your documentation to see whether your computer has one; if you're computer shopping, plan on getting network-equipped computers. NICs are also called Ethernet cards. Ethernet is also a type of network, but no matter which kind of network you install, you may need an Ethernet card for your Internet connection.

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