Computer Networking and Connecting to the Internet
By: Benedict Smythe
Submitted: 2008-11-20 02:41:42 | Word Count: 530
It can be hard to remember a time without the Internet. Ever since Internet service providers brought this piece of technology to the public, it has been a part of our daily lives, and has produced a number of jobs as well. Nowadays, we move about and do most of our activities through the Net such as shopping, chatting, email, and even food delivery. There even are some places where you can file a police report on the precinct’s webpage.
It all started out when the military needed some sort of network for transmitting and receiving data to exchange of information. What happened was that a number of computers were linked, and a number of linked computers were connected to a vast network. Soon, universities would want a piece of the action and made their computers part of that network themselves. The Internet nowadays is considered to be the largest network in the world. There are many ways that we can connect to the Internet.
[ advertisement ]
Dial up
When the Internet was still fresh to the public, one of the first ways of connecting to it was through a dial up connection. This would utilize the wires of a phone line. With new technology, dial up seems to be a very slow connection and the difficult thing with it is that you can’t use the phone while you are connected to the Internet. Upon lifting your telephone from its cradle, you will immediately lose your connection. This may be the case, but using a dial up connection is economically friendly. You can even pay pre paid so that you are in control of how much you spend on your connection.
Digital Subscriber Line
More popularly known as DSL, Digital Subscriber Line is an Internet connection that uses telephone lines as well. The thing is, voice calls on a telephone line use up low frequencies, whereas DSL uses up high frequencies. This means that you can be connected to the Net, while chatting to your mate on your telephone. This is a lot faster than that of a dial up connection.
Satellite Internet
Getting this sort of connection can be quite expensive, but imagine being able to connect to the Net almost everywhere in the world. Depending on your subscription, you could be in a safari in Nairobi, while downloading the latest Rolling Stones album. This sort of connection though is not ideal for online gaming because of its latency problems. Imagine that the signal has to travel from a satellite from space, so it may create problems when you are playing your favorite massively multiplayer online role playing game.
Regardless of the service you avail of, what’s important that you are connected to the Net and not get left behind. So many corporations rely on the Web to conduct their businesses such as to meet with clients (video chat!), introduce new products to consumers, and email each other. It has become a way of life, and has even spawned a number of sub cultures, and made so many average people into millionaires and overnight sensations. It is something that is here to stay for the years to come.
