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Don't know what you're looking for?
Use our quick reference guide below to find out which connection type is right for you.
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Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
DSL is a technology that delivers high-bandwidth information
to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines. Assuming your home or
small business is close enough to a telephone company central office that offers DSL service,
you may be able to receive data at rates up to 6.1 megabits (millions of bits) per second.
Cable Modem Access
A cable modem allows you to hook up your PC to a local cable TV line and receive data at about
1.5 Mbps. This data rate exceeds that of the prevalent 28.8 and 56 Kbps telephone modems. Cable
modems attach to a coaxial cable line to communicate with a Cable Modem Termination System at
the office of the local cable TV company.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
ISDN allows for digital transmission over ordinary telephone lines. Home and business users who
install ISDN adapters (in place of their modems) can download data very quickly (up to 128 Kbps).
ISDN is generally available from your phone company in most urban areas.
Dialup Internet Access
Dialup Access to the Internet uses an analog modem.
There are many different speeds for these modems, 14.4K (14.4 kilobits per second), 28.8K,
33.6K and 56K. There are different standards in which these modems come, however this is
irrelevant now that the V.90 modem standard has been adopted as the global communications
standard by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), a United Nations agency.
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