With the increase in computers’ processing speed, amount of memory, data transfer speed in hard disk drives etc., the Internet connection speed needs to be kept up as well. Remember, your computer is as fast as its slowest component. Gone should be the days of dial-up speed… and where thousands of data units were transmitted per second, millions are now.

There are several lines one can use to connect to the Internet. From slowest to fastest, they can be broken down into the following:

Dial-up: The oldest and now slowest connection type, it travels through the telephone lines in the voice band. The fastest ones currently would allow your computer to receive a big sized picture in about 4 minutes.

DSL: Stands for Digital Subscriber Line. Similar to dial-up in that it uses the telephone lines, it differs in that it can allow for data transmission WHILE the phone line is being used for voice transmission. The reason for this is that it uses a higher frequency for data transmission than the human voice band (dial-up uses the voice band) and thus voice and data transmission can coexist on the same line. It of course also differs in that it is much faster than dial-up. DSL speeds vary greatly, but let’s just say that the same picture used in the example above would take around 24 seconds in the low end of DSL transmission speed, and little over a second on the high end.

Satellite: Comparable in speed with DSL, Satellite Internet service is an alternative to dial-up in rural and remote areas where other high-speed connection lines don’t exist. Due to disadvantages such as cost of equipment, signal problems due to bad weather, Fair Access Policies on the amount of data that can be accessed per day some of the providers have (like Earthlink’s Satellite service), I don’t recommend this option where other high-speed services exist.

Cable: It uses the cable TV infrastructure to connect your computer to the Internet. Speed wise it would roughly transmit our sample picture in about 6 seconds for the low end, and half a second on the high end.

FiOS: Stands for Fiber Optic Service. A relatively new option, it offers connectivity through optical fiber (a glass or plastic type fiber that uses light instead of electricity for data transmission).   On the higher end, you could receive 6 sample pictures, of the same size as used in the above examples, in about a second. This service however is not available in all areas. As of this writing, only Verizon offers it.

So the above is the basic data on the subject. Of course cost has not been entered into the equation here so up to you to find the best speed for the buck. Sometimes the Internet connection service is bundled with other services, such as phone and TV, which makes it more attractive, price-wise. Also most of these services have more than one tier, i.e. a company will offer a basic DSL package that goes at a certain speed, and then a premium package that is twice as fast or even more.

What is the ideal speed for you? It depends largely on your use of the Internet. Basic emailing and websites browsing don’t need great speed, while video conferencing or big downloads will need something considerable faster. Also remember that if there are several computers at your place connected to the same line, the speed to your computer will be slower if someone else is using the line simultaneously. So take that into account as well.