The various ways that people connect to the internet are quite vast indeed. There are wired and wireless ways of doing so. In some cases, one either dials up or is always online. So, what is the difference?

Dialup Internet entails the user entering a Username and Password to access the internet. Dialup speeds usually go up to 56 kbps using a modem. Above that ADSL modems are used to achieve higher speeds. Even with some of these DSL modems one has to dialup. This is especially true with USB Modems.

Always Online does not require the user to enter a username and password. Just like a LAN (Local Area Network), once the computer is turned on and the operating system loads, all one has to do is open the web browser and start surfing. This is my favourite choice. An Ethernet connection allows this to happen whereby the Internet c0nnection is ‘kept alive’ via the DSl Modem once it is connected to a power source and the DSL line.

Which do you prefer? I can bet it is the Always Online connection. This was just a brief look at the difference between dialup and always online internet connections. Subsequent articles will show the difference between other contrasting things used on the computer.