Back in the early 90s, the Internet, as we know it, was born. The only available connection back then was a dial up modem. It was slow and cumbersome, but we could search millions of sites and meet many different people. Of course, you could be in the middle of talking with someone and someone else in your household may need to use the phone. Well, since you are connected to the internet via the only phone line in the house, they can't use the phone or they would knock you off. Downloading something over ten megabytes takes a nightmareishly long time and anything larger than that and you'll be old and wrinkled before it's done.



Fast forward about ten years to the year 2000. This is about the time broadband became a significant force in the online world. It started becoming very affordable, some companies offering it for LESS than the cost of dial up. You may be think, "Broadband isn't available in my area though". Broadband accessibility is spreading rapidly. Of course, you can opt to go with satellite, but a big drawback to that is, if it rains really hard, or anything else that can get in between you and the satellite, it can cause your service to, in some cases, be slower than dial up.

Most phone companies offer some form of DSL. Most cable companies will offer some kind of package plan that includes a cable internet connection. Most of the time, cable is the best choice to go with. It is faster, more reliable and it doesn't matter how far away from the main office you are as to what speed you will have. DSL, on the other hand, is a good alternative if you simply cannot get cable. Most of the time, DSL will tend to be a bit slower than cable. Its speed will be determined by how close the phone company's office is to your house. Both DSL and cable are good choices. Downloading big files is no longer a nightmare and you can actually start thinking about files larger than ten megabytes!

There are, of course, drawbacks, even to broadband. That drawback comes in the form of it being an 'always on' connection. You will want some kind of antivirus and firewall protection. There are many free ones out there. Windows XP comes with a built in firewall. It's okay if you don't have anything better. If at all possible get a better one. Antivirus is also needed as you will run into at least one virus during your time with broadband. Between a good antivirus and a good firewall, though, you shouldn't have anything extremely harmful affect your computer. You may have some adware and spyware but that's easily removed, as well.

Now then, ask yourself if you can really afford to not have a broadband connection. It will improve the way you use the internet. You could even start your own business and have it up and running the same day with broadband!