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1)
Internet or ISP connections.
There
are 3 basic Types of ISP that can help you get
a connection to the Internet. The most popular
is a hard-line connection ( also called Broadband)
this type of connection comes from your local
phone, cable TV other provider. They send the
Internet signal through a cable that is physically
attached to your home or business. This cable
can be a copper line or fiber optic cable. This
kind of connection is the most reliable and
the fastest connection you can get. They will
usually bundled the Internet with your cable
TV or phone bill. The cost is
The
second type of connection is wireless or cellular.
These connection come over a wireless signal
directly to you phone or a tower attached to
your home then to a modem box. These connection
can be spotty in some areas and cost allot more
than a hard-line connection, but, are unusually
very portable and easy to move around. One such
provider has a small box that attaches to your
cell phone giving you and up to 5 people access
to the Internet anywhere you can get cell signal.
Some wireless service put a small antenna on
the home or building and get the signal from
up to 25 miles away, these connection are not
portable and can have problems in bad weather
they are however much faster than Dialup. These
connection are also called Broadband because
you can get them in a broad range of speeds
and prices.
The
third kind is Dialup this was the first kind
of service that was access via a Dialup modem
card in or connected to your computer. You would
use you home or business phone line to dial
a phone number that connected you to your ISP's
server. The speeds were very slow and tied up
your phone line while you are using the service.
Dialup up service could only be used by one
computer at a time, Broadband can have many
computers connected at one time.
2)
Hardware connections.
There
are four basic hardware connections to your
computer you can get Internet through.
- Ethernet
or NIC cards; these card are built into
almost every computer made in the last 8-10
years. These cards are hooked to the modem
box or Router using a Cat5 cable.( see Terms
and Definitions for more information)
- Wireless;
a card or built in chips gathers a signal
that is broadcast through the air. These card
are found in laptops, desktops, tablet computers
and cell phones. No cables needed, just access
to the signal or service.
- Dialup
Modem; this card or external box was attached
to the computer then the phone line, this
is was one of the first kinds of Internet
access and is not used very often today due
to slow speeds and limit to one computer.
A home phone service is required.
- Satellite
Dish; You
can get Internet through a two way satellite
dish that can be installed almost anywhere
your can get a clear signal to the sky. The
signal is received and sent through the dish
to a satellite receiver then to a Router or
modem box. This is considered Broadband but
has some issues. The expense can be high up
to $100 a month and $400 setup fee, the signal
can degrade in bad snow or heavy rain. The
signal also has a great amount of lag when
you make a request, it takes time to send
a signal thousand of mile into space and back
to earth this can really slow down if the
satellite is under a heavy load. Satellite
cost millions of dollars and satellite time
is over sold to pay for the cost.
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