Home and Small Office Internet Connections

The figure illustrates common connection options for small office and home office users:

• Cable - Typically offered by cable television service providers, the Internet data signal is carried on the same cable that delivers cable television. It provides a high bandwidth, always on, connection to the Internet.

• DSL - Digital Subscriber Lines provide a high bandwidth, always on, connection to the Internet. DSL runs over a telephone line. In general, small office and home office users connect using Asymmetrical DSL (ADSL), which means that the download speed is faster than the upload speed.

• Cellular - Cellular Internet access uses a cell phone network to connect. Wherever you can get a cellular signal, you can get cellular Internet access. Performance will be limited by the capabilities of the phone and the cell tower to which it is connected.

• Satellite - The availability of satellite Internet access is a real benefit in those areas that would otherwise have no Internet connectivity at all. Satellite dishes require a clear line of sight to the satellite.

• Dial-up Telephone - An inexpensive option that uses any phone line and a modem. The low bandwidth provided by a dial-up modem connection is usually not sufficient for large data transfer, although it is useful for mobile access while traveling.

Many homes and small offices are more commonly being connected directly with fiber optic cables. This enables an ISP to provide higher bandwidth speeds and support more services such as Internet, phone, and TV.
The choice of connection varies depending on geographical location and service provider availability.

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