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Dial Up Access

by Seth Miller

Dial-up access may seem outdated, but it hasn't lost its usefulness. It remains one of the most convenient, affordable and versatile Internet access to date. In fact, more than 250 million Internet users use dial-up - that's more than four times the number of DSL, cable and ISDN subscribers.

Dial-up is a very simple form of Internet access, whereby the user ‘dials' through a regular telephone line to the Internet service provider's (ISP) server, using a modem. A modem is an apparatus that is capable of converting data into sounds, and sounds back into data. Once the ISP's Point-to-Point Protocol or TCP/IP protocol and the user's computer ‘shake hands' and set up a modem-to-modem connection, the user can access the Internet.

This simplicity is perhaps what makes dial-up connections indispensable even though faster connections are available. With dial-up, users don't need any special equipment. This is why it is very popular with travelers, and people in less progressive areas, where newer technologies like broadband are either unavailable or very expensive. Dial-up access is a cheap way to connect to the web, but it is rather slow. Dial-up modems can theoretically go to 56 kbps, but the average ‘real' speed rate is even lower than that - about 32 kbps, due to overhead and line noise. And, because dial-ups have ‘high latency,' online gaming or videoconferencing can be very difficult, if not impossible.

Remember that it takes a lot of time to set up a telephone connection between the computer and the Internet service provider. In places where telephone connections are charged by the minute, using dial-up can get expensive too. Dial-up access is certainly not for everybody, but it is still the best option for people who have limited budgets and only use the Internet for basic emailing and searching.

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