by Edgar Frost

Created on: September 19, 2008   Last Updated: November 11, 2008

Do you have a need for speed? If you're like a growing segment of internet users, the answer is a resounding yes. As internet use has risen over recent years, more and more people are integrating the internet into their life, and in many cases, broadband access is the method of choice.

When I bought my first computer eight years ago, I had dial-up internet. Almost everyone I knew had dial-up, and because I didn't know anything else, it was fine with me. After all, Weren't you supposed to wait a minute or two... or three for pages to load? Plus, there wasn't much going on at that time. There weren't many videos, and images tended to have smaller file sizes. Having a high-speed connection would just be over-kill. Expensive over-kill.

As the internet continued to evolve, there were more videos and images, and files seemed to be getting larger. Streaming video was becoming more commonplace, and more web sites started to use flash. At the same time, broadband users started to steadily increase. In a way, these two trends fed into each other. The increasing number of large files and activities caused more people to switch to broadband, while the increase in users also drove an increase in content. In a way, you couldn't have one without the other.

So, it's pretty obvious that everyone should have broadband, right? Well, not exactly. Broadband is much faster than dial-up and can provide limitless access to all the media the internet has to offer, but what if you don't care? If you love watching videos on the internet and spend lots of time surfing, then you pretty much need broadband access. If you don't, it isn't really necessary. If you're only interested in checking e-mail and reading news reports, then dial-up may be all you need. In this case, paying for broadband would be akin to driving a Ferrari in rush hour traffic. Sure, you can go fast, but you know you're probably not going to get past 5mph.

Broadband users also have two other problems. First, they need to be especially vigilant about keeping their antivirus software and firewalls up to date. The high-speed connection could cause additional security challenges. Second, with broadband access, the users IP number is always the same, which makes it easier for them to be tracked each time they are on the internet. Since dial-up always needs to be connected before each use, the users IP number changes with each connection.

Should you choose broadband or dial-up? If you don't use the internet much, then you're probably better off using dial-up service. However, if you are a frequent internet user who enjoys surfing the net and viewing videos and other large files, then broadband is definitely the option for you.

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