Dial-up facts for kids

Dial-up internet access, usually just called Dial-up, is a slow way of connecting to the Internet by using a telephone line. A modem is connected between a computer and a telephone line and then the modem is instructed to dial the phone number of an Internet service provider (ISP) to connect to the Internet. The ISP must be a dial-up service provider with several dial-up modems waiting to accept dial-up calls. This kind of internet is slower than DSL.

In most parts of the world, dial-up service was the most common way of connecting to the internet in the late 20th century. Since the middle of the 2000s it has become uncommon, being largely replaced by DSL and cable modem where those are not too expensive.

Images for kids

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  Active modem USRobotics courer 28800-bit/s

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  Banks of modems used by an ISP to provide dial-up internet service

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  An example handshake of a dial-up modem

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  A TiVo Series2 video recorder's back panel. The telephone socket, located near the cooling fan exhaust, is a way for the machine to download required TV guide data.

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  A Sky TV receiver, made by Thomson, has a telephone socket at the left of its back panel. This connection serves as a way for the machine to communicate to the company, as a TV satellite dish cannot transmit signals back to the satellite.

See also

In Spanish: Conexión por línea conmutada para niños