9.1. Broadband Connections (Cable Modems and DSL): All VersionsA growing fraction of the world's Internet citizens get online over broadband connectionsthat is, high-speed connections like cable modems and DSL boxes. These contraptions offer gigantic advantages over dial-up modems. For example:
Virtually all cable TV companies offer cable modem service, and most phone companies offer DSL (depending on how far you live from the central office). It's also worth noting that cable modems and DSL modems aren't always blazing fast; for example, DSL modems may be slower the farther away you are from the telephone company. Even so, these devices are always faster than a dial-up modem. Tip: Technically, neither cable modems nor DSL modems are modems , since they don't mo dulate or dem odulate anything. (That's where the term modems comes from: they convert data into bursts of sound.) But most people call them modems anyway. So how do you get online once you've got one of these services? You don'tyou're already online, always and forever (except when the service goes out). Just open up your Web browser, email program, chat program, or whateverand it just works. |