Getting to the Web
There are still plenty of options when it comes to choosing Internet service. The old-fashioned dial-up route is available from Internet service providers, such as Earthlink and NetZero, for a monthly fee starting at around $10 (but you first must have a traditional phone line installed). For high-speed, or broadband, Web connections, the two primary choices are cable Internet service from providers such as Comcast and DSL (digital subscriber line) service from phone companies like Verizon or BellSouth. Cable typically starts at about $40 per month, though some carriers offer teaser rates of about $20 for the first few months. DSL service is less expensive, starting at about $30, but is generally slower than cable Internet service, though fast enough for general Web surfing and E-mail.
Satellite service offers consumers another high-speed route to the Web, but it has drawbacks. It is about twice as expensive as cable or DSL service, and it is victim to the vagaries of weather that plague satellite dish TV. But in rural areas with no access to cable modems or DSL, satellite service may be the only broadband option.
Wireless. You can even get online without wires or dishes at all. A laptop with a built-in wireless connection can connect at a Wi-Fi hot spot in a coffee shop, airport, hotel lobby, or corporate office to surf the Internet for a one-day fee of about $10 or a monthly subscription of $30. Or a wireless phone will give you access to the Net, with charges starting at about $10 per month on top of what you pay for your regular cellular service. Mobile devices that can use Wi-Fi hot spots as well as cellular networks will be available later this year.
In the future, there may be even more choices for high-speed Internet connections. An emerging wireless standard known as WiMax, which is similar to Wi-Fi but works at greater distances, and a technology called broadband over powerline, using electricity lines, have the potential to bring high-speed Internet access to rural areas at last. -Mary Kathleen Flynn
This story appears in the March 7, 2005 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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