Internet access

Internet Access

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Internet access

Internet access refers to the means by which users connect to the Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global network of interconnected computers, enabling users to share information along multiple channels. Typically, a computer that connects to the Internet can access information from a vast array of available server and other computers by moving information from them to the computer's local memory....
.

on methods of internet access include dial-up

Dial-up access

Dial-up Internet Access is a form of Internet access via telephone lines. The user's computer or router uses an attached modem connected to a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then used to router Internet Protocol packets between the user's equipment and hosts on the...
, landline (over coaxial cable

Cable internet

In telecommunications, cable Internet is a form of broadband Internet access that uses the cable television infrastructure. Like digital subscriber lines and Fiber to the premises, cable Internet bridges the Last mile from the Internet service provider to the subscriber....
, fiber optic or copper wires), T- lines

T-carrier

In telecommunications, T-carrier, sometimes abbreviated as T-CXR, is the generic designator for any of several digitally multiplexing telecommunications carrier systems originally developed by Bell Labs and used in North America, Communications in Japan, and Communications in South Korea....
, Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile voice or data communication over a network of specialized base stations known as cell sites....
. Dial-up connections are the most common type of internet connection available from ISPs, they are also the slowest and (usually) the least expensive. A dial-up connection allows users to connect to the internet via a local server using a standard 56k modem

56K modem

56k modems are voiceband modems nominally capable of download speeds up to 56 kbit/s . At the beginning of the 21st Century, most personal computers contained one, their use declining as broadband technologies such as DSL gain wider availability....
, the PC literally dials (hence the name) a telephone number

Telephone number

A telephone number or phone number is a sequence of numbers used to call from one telephone line to another in a telephone network. When telephone numbers were invented, they were short - as few as two or three digits - and were used by people to call a few neighbors....
(provided by the Internet Service Provider

Internet service provider

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Encyclopedia

Internet access refers to the means by which users connect to the Internet

Internet

History and Types of Connections

Common methods of internet access include dial-up

Dial-up access

Cable internet

T-carrier

Wi-Fi

Mobile phone

56K modem

Telephone number

Internet service provider

An Internet service provider is a company that offers its customers access to the Internet. The ISP connects to its customers using a data transmission technology appropriate for delivering Internet Protocol datagrams, such as dial-up, DSL, cable modem or dedicated high-speed interconnects....
) and connects to the server's modem and therefore the internet. Once connected users are free to search the web as they please, however, compared to modern speeds of broadband internet, dial-up is very slow and can only nominally transfer at 56 Kilobits of data per second under ideal conditions.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a form of Digital subscriber line, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide....
(ADSL) connections provide broadband internet and are becoming more widely available and can provide an excellent internet connection. The connections work by splitting the function of a phone line into separate channels for voice telephone call

Telephone call

A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party....
s and for data (internet). Thus, a user can talk on the phone and be connected to the internet at the same time. ADSL connection services are sold with different speed specifications, below are some common configurations: * 256Kbps/128Kbps * 512Kbps/128Kbps * 1Mbps/256Kbps

Wireless connections

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, founded in 1999 as Wireless Internet Compatibility Alliance , comprising more than 300 companies, whose products are certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, based on the IEEE 802.11 standards ....
provides wireless access to computer networks, and therefore can do so to the Internet itself. Hotspots

Hotspot (Wi-Fi)

A Hot-spot, or Hot spot or HotSpot is a venue that offers internet access over a wireless LAN. It should not be confused with a Hot-zone, which is an internet-sharing WWAN....
providing such access include Wi-Fi-cafes

Hotspot (Wi-Fi)

Laptop

A laptop is a personal computer designed for mobile computing small enough to sit on one's lap. A laptop includes most of the Computer hardware of a typical desktop computer, including a Computer display, a computer keyboard, a pointing device as well as a battery, into a single small and light unit....
or PDA

Personal digital assistant

A personal digital assistant is a handheld computer, also known as a palmtop computer. Newer PDAs also have both color screens and audio capabilities, enabling them to be used as mobile phones, , web browsers, or portable media players....
. These services may be free to all, free to customers only, or fee-based. A hotspot need not be limited to a confined location. The whole campus or park, or even the entire city can be enabled. Grassroots

Grassroots

A grassroots movement is one driven by the constituent of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures....
efforts have led to wireless community network

Wireless community network

File:Patras Wireless Network 5.jpgWireless community networks or wireless community projects are the organizations that attempt to take a grassroots approach to providing a viable alternative to municipal wireless networks for consumers....
s.

Apart from Wi-Fi, there have been experiments with proprietary mobile wireless networks like Ricochet

Ricochet (internet service)

Ricochet Networks was one of the pioneering wireless Internet service providers in the United States, before the advent of widespread Wi-Fi, 3G, and broadband services were available to the general public....
, various high-speed data services over cellular or mobile phone networks, and fixed wireless services. These services have not enjoyed widespread success due to their high cost of deployment, which is passed on to users in high usage fees. New wireless technologies such as WiMAX

WiMAX

File:WiMAX Antenne aufm Land.jpgFile:WiMAX equipment.jpgWiMAX, meaning Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology that provides wireless Transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes, from Point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet access....
have the potential to alleviate these concerns and enable simple and cost effective deployment of metropolitan area network

Metropolitan area network

Metropolitan area networks, or MANs, are large computer networks usually spanning a city. They typically use wireless infrastructure or Optical fiber connections to link their sites....
s covering large, urban areas. There is a growing trend towards wireless mesh networks, which offer a decentralized and redundant infrastructure and are often considered the future of the Internet.

Power line

Broadband access over power lines

Power line communication

Power line communication or power line carrier , also known as Power line Digital Subscriber Line , mains communication, power line telecom , or power line networking , is a system for carrying data on a conductor also used for electric power transmission....
was approved in 2004 in the United States in the face of stiff resistance from the amateur radio

Amateur radio

Amateur radio, often called Etymology of ham radio, is both a hobby and a service in which participants, called "hams," use various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for Public services, recreation and self-training....
community. The problem with modulating a carrier signal below 100 MHz onto power lines is that an above-ground power line can act as a giant antenna and jam long-distance radio frequencies used by amateurs, seafarers and others.

Methods & venues of connection

Besides accessing from residences, there are public places to use the Internet which would include libraries and Internet cafes, where computers with Internet connections are available. Some libraries provide stations that provide facilities for hooking up public-owned laptops to local area network

Local area network

A local area network is a computer network covering a small physical area, like a home, office, or small group of buildings, such as a school, or an airport....
s (LANs). There are also wireless Internet access points in many public places like airport halls, in some cases just for brief use while standing. These Access points may provide coin operated computers or Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, founded in 1999 as Wireless Internet Compatibility Alliance , comprising more than 300 companies, whose products are certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance, based on the IEEE 802.11 standards ....
hot spots* that enable specially equipped laptops to pick up internet service signals. Various terms are used, such as "public Internet kiosk", "public access terminal", and "Web payphone

Payphone

A pay phone or payphone is a public telephone, with payment by inserting money or a credit card or debit card before a call is made. Some telephone companies have termed them, and tried to get the public to identify them as "coin phones", because the term "pay phone" may imply that other phones are free....
". Many hotels now also have public terminals, though these are usually fee based.

Proliferation of users

The use of the Internet around the world has been growing rapidly over the last decade, although the growth rate seems to have slowed somewhat after 2000. The phase of rapid growth is ending in industrialized countries, as usage becomes ubiquitous there, but the spread continues in Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages ? particularly Spanish language and Portuguese language, and variably French language ? are primarily spoken....
, the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
and the Middle East

Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
. One example of a great number of people gaining access to the internet is in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
where, thanks to lowered taxes on computers and in dial-up providers, the number of Brazilians on the internet has grown substantially over the past 2 years.

Internet access as a human right

Today, there is a big push by the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
to make internet access a human right. This push was made when it called for universal access to basic communication and information services at the UN Administrative Committee on Coordination. In 2003, during the World Summit on the Information Society

World Summit on the Information Society

The World Summit on the Information Society was a pair of United Nations-sponsored conferences about information, communication and, in broad terms, the information society that took place in 2003 in Geneva and in 2005 in Tunis....
, another claim for this was made.

In some countries such as Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
and Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
, internet access has already been made a human right.

Countries where Internet access is widely available

See Internet access worldwide
Internet access worldwide

For more information about the development of internet connections in individual countries, click on the links below.Internet in Europe...

External links

[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2153rank.html CIA World Fact Book: Number of Internet users by country]