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How to Connect to the Internet
When purchasing a computer one of the first questions asked. "Is it internet ready ?" As a computer that allows to you connect and enjoy the internet is the primary reason why people buy a computer in the first place. The basics you need in a computer to connect the internet are a Modem or an Ethernet (Network) card and the necessary software called a browser to surf the internet and an email client to enable you to send and retrieve email. For the computer itself you should have a Pentium class computer. (Although you can use a 486 processor computer depending on the internet provider. You will find your computer very slow and your performance unsatisfactory . Thus restricting you from getting full enjoyment from the internet.) .Your computer should have at least 32mb Ram, A video card capable of 256 color 800x600 resolution. In addition you will need a modem (preferably 33.6 or 56K even better) if you plan to use a dial-up service or you will need a 10/100 Ethernet Network card if you plan to use a cable modem (Road Runner) or DSL service. (ANY SYSTEM YOU BUY FROM THOMPSON'S COMPUTER WILL ALWAYS HAVE THE NECESSARY HARDWARE TO GIVE YOU THE UPMOST IN PERFORMANCE) For Software you will need an operating system like Windows 95,98,2000 or XP, An internet Browser like Internet Explorer, An Email Program like Outlook or Outlook Express. In addition it is suggested you have a virusscanner installed. (STANDARD ON EVERY COMPUTER THOMPSON'S COMPUTER CENTER SELLS !!!) There are 3 Basic ways that you can connect to the internet. Dial-up, Broadband and Satellite or Wireless. 1.) Dial-up :This is most common choice and for many the only choice (especially in rural areas) .Costs range from $5 or $6 a month for measured service (Usually first 10 hours are free. After that it is commonly a per minute charge) to $20 a month for unlimited service. When making this choice make sure the internet provider chosen has a local access number you can dial into. Otherwise you will incur long distance charges every time you log onto the internet. In addition if you are new to the internet try and choose a well established internet service provider. As most will provide 24/7 Tech support or close to it. Another suggestion is to poll friends,family, co-workers and neighbors about their internet service. Everything else being equal it might be a good idea to use what they use. Another consideration is while you are logged on you will be tying up phone line . Which may become a major hassle especially if there are others in the house that need to use the phone too. So you may need to install a second phone line which, will add another $10 or so to your internet cost. If tying up a phone line is not big problem you want to try callwave. Which is an internet answering service so you will not miss that important call. 2.) Broadband service is either DSL (digital subscriber line) a Cable (commonly called Road Runner Service) . The big difference between Broadband and Dial-up is that Broadband unlike dialup,is an always-on internet connection and does not tie your phone line up. Other benefits are download speeds are considerably faster (most cases 20-50 times faster!!!) and you can have more than one PC share the DSL or cable modem at no extra charge. All you will need for each PC is a 10/100 ethernet card (cost about $10 ,Check out the Drives and Other Products section) and a Hub (cost about $20) if more than 1 PC is to be connected. In addition it is recommended that you install a firewall to keep hackers out . A good free one is Zone Alarm .Cost for broadband service is around $40 a month. But with broadband it eliminates the need for any extra phone line thus saving you the $15 or so in extra cost. 3.) Wireless or Satellite service is fairly new technology. Some connect directly like Broadband and some use a phone to log on and the Satellite for downloads. Connection speeds are 10-20x faster than dialup and cost around $50 a month. This may be the only choice available for those in rural areas that desire a faster connection than dial-up offers. Service Providers (ISP's) are basically two types . Local ,where in rural areas may be the only choice and National Internet Providers such as America On Line(AOL) ,Earthlink ,MSN,Netzero and Juno. Prices range from $10 a month for Juno and Netzero to $23 a month for AOL. The more expensive internet providers offer extra features such as extra email address (Even the basic ISP offer 2 or more Email address and space to set your very own home page) Special family oriented content, Spam (Junk email) filtering and filters to weed out adult, pornographic or objectionable material. In addition AOL and MSN offer special internet browsers and email programs. The only real drawback to the national internet providers is that access numbers are primarily located in more urban areas. (Although you can access these internet providers through Toll free numbers or through a local ISP and Extra costs will apply). However they make the logical choice for those that travel a lot. All ISP offer discounts for Quarterly and Yearly subscriptions. And all offer payment via direct billing or via credit card. That's it for the topic this month. Next month we will discuss the do's and the dont's of Home Networking . If you like to discuss a topic please leave us email. |
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