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Dial-up vs. Broadband

     - Sunday, August 31, 2003

Both connect you to the internet and that's it. Here are the basic differences:

Dial-up: Uses your phone line to connect you to the internet by dialing a phone number. The phone line connects directly to your computer. It's functional, but very slow, and you can't use your phone when you're on the internet. Costs from $10 to $22 a month. Often provided by MSN, Earthlink, or AOL.

Broadband: Uses your phone line or cable tv wire to connect you to the internet. The phone or cable wire are connected to a box provided by either the phone or cable company. This box then connects to your computer. Much faster than dial-up. Costs $30 to $50 a month. If you buy a separate wireless base station or dsl/cable router, this type of connetion will work like in most offices, meaning you can just walk up to the computer and be connected to the internet.

If you're using the internet with your dial-up enough that your considering getting an additional phone line, then you need to skip the extra phone line and just get broadband access. I wouldn't ever go back to dial-up. It's just too painfully slow. Maybe it's okay for web pages, but you can't download music, software, or movies without it taking forever.

posted by Kevin Watts |  Permalink |