Classroom using the web

Zooming down the Superhighway!

Classroom

[ introduction ] [ dial-up connections ]
[ want to be on the internet all the time?] 
[ access the internet on the move]
[ top tips ]

[ introduction ] [ configuring ]
[ subscribing to ] [ handy hints]

[ introduction ] [ configuring ]
[ subscribing to ] [ handy hints]

Zooming down the Superhighway - different Internet Connections

Once you have been using the Internet a while you will be able to get some idea of how much and when you need to use it, and what kind of levels of availability you need in your internet connection. There are many ways you can connect your computer to the Internet, all offering different speeds and, (more importantly if you are a small organisation), very different costs. All may not be fully available (or fully reliable!) in your area yet, so do some research about what are good options for you.

Dial-up Connections

A dial-up connection is so called because your computer is not online until you dial-up your ISP using your modem and telephone line. There are different kinds of telephone lines you can use for Internet access:

A basic telephone line This kind of connection is fast enough for one computer connected to the Internet at home or work, but if even a small network of computers in an office tried to use it they would find it too slow to be of much use. Also, anyone trying to phone you would find the line engaged whilst you were online - not much use if you only have one line.

Digital phone lines such as ADSL or ISDN This is still a kind of dial-up connection, although it works much faster than the average telephone line. This kind of connection is fast enough for several computers to work off of it reasonably quickly (or one super speedy one!) but you will probably have to pay an large installation fee, plus your telephone company and ISP will charge you more for your Internet access. Also, as this is a relatively new development, not all ISPs support digital phone connections. Check with your ISP. One handy thing is that this kind of line can be split so that you can have an ordinary speed Internet connection, plus a telephone line, in use at the same time from the same number. This is handy for the smaller office (although it will mean double the phone bill in call charges!)
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This is all very well, but I want to be on the Internet all the time! What do I need?

If this is what you want, there are two things you can do: either, contact your telephone company for information on special calls for Internet calls - either for a certain part of the day (usually off peak) or all day. Whilst this isn't necessarily going to be uninterrupted access (phone companies tend to cut people off once every two hours to try and stop people who are online but not using the connection) for a single user with a decent speed modem this should be sufficient.

If you are on a relatively large network however, what you need is a permanent connection to the Internet. The most common way of doing this is through a leased line. This is a permanent and direct phone link from your PC to your ISP. Leased lines can be the speediest way of getting online, and if you are a large company or group with your own website, this might be the option you want. However, they are extremely expensive, and require a lot of complicated computer hardware in terms of both sharing information with your ISP and as security measures. The major advantage is, of course, that you're always online, and won't be paying huge phone bills for the cost of time you're online (although you will be paying huge phone bills for the leased line!)
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I want to access the Internet on the move
It is possible to do this in various different ways. If you have a handheld, palmtop or laptop it is possible to get modems which will give you all the usual services you would get in the home and office (although as these work using a mobile phone line often the costs involved are very high).

Even if you don't have a kind of portable computer, it is now possible to access the Internet on the move from a mobile phone. This is achieved using WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technology, a kind of programming which allows mobile phones to access this Internet (or at least parts of it). Currently WAP phones can give access to emails, news and weather, traffic information, cinema listings, and other useful information. Currently you can only access limited sites - you can't just look at any you can't web page as they have to be written specially in a different way to the usual HTML. Also WAP phones are usually very slow indeed, leaving users with hefty phone bills.
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Top Tips

This tutorial has given you an overview of different kinds of connections you can have. If you feel that your current connection is not sufficient for your purposes, then before you make any huge (and potentially expensive) changes the next course of action (as with so many things in life!) is a lot of research and thought:

* Ask people in similar organisations to yours how they connect to the Internet. What companies do they use? How have they found them? Are they expensive? Did they have to buy new software? If they had problems did they get free technical help?

* Buy a few Internet / computing magazines and look at the adverts for different companies and products. T ake a note of companies that look useful. Also check out the consumer pages and product / service reviews for ideas on what seems to work well (and what works badly!)

* Contact your ISP. Do they support your kind of internet connection? How much more will it cost for the new kind of connection?

* Ask questions to anyone and everyone. If a company sends you a standard answer that you don't understand email back and ask for a simpler explanation. Or phone up. Or, if you can, visit. If you feel out of your depth ask a more tech-savvy friend to help you.

Good luck!

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