In this article you will learn that what are the major internet access types and how these internet access method works. Following is a brief overview of the major internet communication methods.

DSL

Digital Subscribers Lines is an advanced technology for bringing high speed internet connection to the home and corporate users. DSL doesn't require the new wiring because it can be used on the regular telephone lines. With DSL you can use your internet connect and use telephone for making phone calls at the same time.

ADSL

ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscribers Lines) is a high speed internet connection that is used to send and receive data at very high speed over the conventional telephone lines. ADSL supports data rate of 1.5 MBPS to 9 MBPS when receiving data (downstream) and 16 to 440 KBPS when sending data over internet (upstream)

Cable Net

Cable modems are copper wire are used to high speed access to the internet. Coaxial cable is used by the TV provides much greater bandwidth than the regular telephone lines. Cable modem provides the broadband internet access. Cable modem is a network bridge that conforms to IEEE 802.1D for Ethernet networking with some modifications. Some cable modem devices use Router to provide local area network with its own IP addressing. Some of the major manufacturers of the cable modem are Cisco, D-Link, Linksys, Motorola, Ericsson, Nortel Networks and 3Com.

Dial Up

Dial up communication is a type of internet access that works on the regular telephone lines. The computer is granted internet access by connecting the telephone line with the modem in the computer and configuring the computer with user name password and dial up numbers provided by the local ISP. Dial up service is least expensive but also provide the lowest internet speed. The dial up connection can be used with two types of modems internet modem and external modem.

GPRS

GPRS General Packet Radio Service is a series of functionalities that allow mobile data streaming and transfer to users of Global System. GPRS also called as 2.5 G. GPRS allows multiple users to share communication channel. GPRS facilitates the functionalities of web browsing, SMS, multimedia messages and real time email reception etc.

WiMAX

WiMAX stands for worldwide interoperability for Microwave access. WiMAX provides very high speed broadband internet connection to the home users, corporate users and the roaming users over wireless connection. WiMAX allows the data, voice and video communication at the same time. WiMAX connection can also be bridged and routed with the wired or wireless LAN. WiMAX provides data rate up to 70 mbps.

Satellite Internet access

Satellite Internet services are used in the locations where terrestrial internet access is not available. Satellite broadband is linked to the dish network subscriber service and provides data communication speed at the same rate of other broadband technologies. Two way satellite internet consists of two foot by three foot dish, two modems for uplink and downlink and coaxial cable between dish and modem.

About the Author

B. Bashir manages Networking Tutorials and regularly writes articles on various topics such as Computer Networking, Router Command ListWireless Networking, Computer Hardware, Certifications, How Tos,