difference between dsl and broadband

In this article I'm going to discuss a few of the differences between different options for methods to connect to the Internet.

To begin with, let me discuss the two general types of Internet connection before getting more specific about some of the more specific methods within these two general categories.

When when one looks at it as simply as possible there are two commonplace computer terms for types of Internet connection: dialup and "broadband".

Dialup is, of course, the old fashioned way to get on the Internet, where you use a dialup modem. Dialup modems have been around for a lot longer than most people know: I bought my first one around 1986 and they were first invented long before that.

It was a "1200 bps" (bps is a way to measure of speed) modem that I paid around $200 for back then. Dialup modems hit a maximum speed of 56K bps a good ten years or more ago, and now go for less than $10 if you go to the right place.

So that's approximately forty-six times faster, and 20 times cheaper.

Now you might think to yourself "I think I read somewhere that my computer has a 56K modem in it. That must be pretty fast then!"

If you're thinking that, you're mistaken.

Dialup is very outdated technology, and hasn't really been improved on in about a decade, which means it's something like 150 years out of date in relative terms!

The simple way to think of it is, dialup = slow.

Lots of people are trapped in the dark ages of dialup, either because they don't see any reason not to, or they have no choice where they are.

But what I want to tell you is that even if you are still using dialup and are thinking "Good enough, why bother? -- you are making a mistake.

I'll tell you why it's a mistake in a moment.

Before I do, allow me clarify the general alternative to dialup. It's called "broadband", which simply just means "fast Internet".

Broadband is delivered in a number of different types, covering a range of speeds, even the slowest much better than dialup.

Beyond much better, broadband generally doesn't tie up your phone line, so people you know aren't annoyed by busy signals if they call you, and you're able to make phone calls even when you're connected to the Internet.

The two most commonplace varieties of broadband are cable and DSL. Cable internet comes over the same wire as cable TV, and is available from many different companies under various different brand names -- Roadrunner is one example of cable internet.

DSL actually comes in through your phone lines like dialup, but is much quicker and, much like cable Internet, you can place phone calls while you're connected.

You also have less-common varieties such as satellite, which gives you fairly fast connections to the Internet over a satellite dish like satellite TV. It is kind of slow for broadband, but quite a bit faster than dialup. It's mainly used by people out in the boonies who don't have any better option.

What I tend to advise to most computer users is to get DSL, if you can get it where you live. In most cases it's only a little bit more expensive than dialup is, and in many instances it's the same price or even cheaper!

It's not always as speedy as cable Internet, but it is fast enough for most people, and lets you do a lot of things that just aren't possible (or are extremely agonizingly sluggish) on dialup, such as watching videos on YouTube or elsewhere, or downloading large files.

This brings us to one of the main reasons I recommend people stop using dialup and upgrade to some variety of broadband -- downloading big files.

You might make the mistake of thinking that you never do that, but not so fast... Maybe you do (or should be) and don't realize it.

First off, people are distributing big pictures (or several smaller photos), or even videosvia email all the time these days.

Maybe you're using dialup and you've tried checking your email and it never seemed to arrive, or it seemed to take forever to do it, you may have become a victim of this.

So that's one reason.

But there's an much more important one: computers need things called "security updates" or "patches" which are critically important to download. It's important for both Windows or Apple's Macs.

Without these patches, your computer is almost guaranteed to be vulnerable to attacks from viruses, worms, and other threats.

But these security updates (think Windows Update, or OS X's Software Update) sometimes can be very large files.

So big that it can take many hours, or even DAYS to receive. And if you skip downloading them, your computer is very much at risk.

Which leaves you left high and dry if you're stuck using dialup.

So seriously consider about upgrading if you haven't already, and forward this to your friends who haven't. And remember there are a number of good sites out there that offer how to computer training, so make sure you take advantage of them if it will help.

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