Dial-up versus DSL

Dial-up is a primitive Internet connection that allows you to connect to the Internet over your land line phone. This is the slowest Internet connect, known as "narrowband", as opposed to "broadband" that is faster types of Internet. For example, broadband is connections like cable and wifi.

The best things about dial-up is that it doesn't cost much and is available anywhere. Most people, unless they have to buy a dial-up modem, will not have to pay anything extra to get started and then it only costs under 20 dollars, sometimes as little as 7 dollars a month for the internet service. You do have to have a land line phone, so if you want to figure that into your costs you can. However, since most people still use their land line phone, they consider dial-up pretty cheap.

Another reason dial-up is good is because you can get it anywhere in the country. As long as you can get phone service, you can get dial-up. A lot of people who use dial-up can't get broadband in their area without pay a lot of money, so they get dial-up.

DSL is a type of broadband connection that also goes through your phone line. Some types of DSL do not require a phone line, but check with your DSL company if you do not know which one they offer. Even though DSL usually goes through the phone line, this doesn't mean that you can't make phone calls on your telephone while you are connected. While this is true for dial-up, DSL is different. It uses a digital connection that runs on a higher frequency so you can't hear it and it doesn't bother you when you're making phone calls. All you need is filters on the phone line so it filters out the DSL signal. The signal goes completely to the DSL modem so your computer can get an Internet connection.

DSL is much faster than dial-up because of how it works. It sends and recieves data digitally, requiring no analog transfers like dial-up does. Depending on how close you are to the phone company, you can get anywhere from 10-100 times faster connection than dial-up. The price is usually between 20 and 50 dollars or more depending on what speed you want. Sometimes you can get it for less, but that means it'll usually be pretty slow or the price will go up after some time.

Dial-up is good for people who can't get anything better and don't have very much money to spend on Internet service. DSL is good for people who need to get online a lot and need a faster connection, and are willing to pay more money to get it.