Until now internet the public had to access the WWW through slow phone lines, connecting anywhere from 300 bps in the infancy of public access to 56k. But now there are several high-speed alternatives to the old phone line, one being the cable modem. Using your cable TV provider as your ISP, people can access the Internet at speeds up to 27 Mbps, but limitations with hardware limit this to about 2Mbps (www.TechTarget.com). This speed is fine for most users. It is also “always on”. Meaning you do not have to dial-up to your ISP. It is similar to a LAN connection. This hasn’t been done before mainly because when cable TV companies were being formed, the networks were only being set up to send data and not to receive it. The remedy for this was to upgrade the networks not only to be able to receive information, but to handle the larger amount of bandwidth (www.Vicomsoft.com).

The way cable internet access is possible is my

Cable Internet access is a great way for people to access the WWW quickly if available to them and they can afford to pay for it. It offers speeds up to 50x that of a 56k dial-up connection and allows multiple computers to share the same connection. If providers can keep up with demand, it will easily be the choice of many users nationwide for years.

There are a few minor drawbacks to cable internet access. Despite the speed benefit of cable internet access, many people do not yet access the Internet in this fashion. One reason is because they can’t. In order for a person to have cable internet, they must also have to be in an area with cable TV. The cable TV provider must also have the ability to provide Internet access as well (www.catv.org). Another reason is the price. Costs can be anywhere from $30 to $60, whereas a 56k dial-up connection can run from $15 to $22 (www.catv.org). The lower price of course entices people to use it despite it being slower. Users are also more afraid of it because they think they have to be “computer savvy”, so ISP’s such as AOL and MSN are popular. One more drawback occurs when multiple users from the same area access the Internet using a cable modem. Because bandwidth is shared within an area, s

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