Reference Guide

172 Accessing the Internet
• DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connections that provide high-speed
Internet access through your existing telephone line. With a DSL
connection, you can access the Internet and use your telephone on the
same line simultaneously.
• Cable modem connections that provide high-speed Internet access
through your local cable TV line.
• Satellite modem connections that provide high-speed Internet access
through a satellite television system.
• Dial-up connections that provide Internet access through a telephone line.
Dial-up connections are considerably slower than DSL, cable, and satellite
modem connections.
• Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) or Mobile Broadband technology
provides a connection to the Internet using cellular technology at
broadband rates.
• Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connections use high-frequency
radio waves to communicate. Typically, a wireless router is connected to
the broadband cable or DSL modem that broadcasts the Internet signal to
your computer.
If you are using a dial-up connection, connect a telephone line to the modem
connector on your computer and to the telephone wall jack before you set up
your Internet connection.
If you are using a DSL, cable, or satellite modem connection, contact your
ISP or cellular telephone service for setup instructions.
Web Browsers for Viewing Internet Sites
To view the Internet, you need a web browser, which is a software application
(a program) that displays web pages. Web pages include text, graphics, sound,
and video, which use the hypertext markup language (html). Web pages have
links that allow you to move from one document to another, even when the
documents are stored in different locations on the Internet.
A website is a collection of web pages maintained by an individual or an
organization.
Web browsers allow you to read the hyperlinked web pages. Several web
browsers are available. A commonly used browser is Internet Explorer.