Society is becoming ever more dependent on being electronically connected with every other part of the world. Worldwide communication and commerce are just two areas where people benefit from living in an information age. Using the Internet, business can be conducted from anywhere in the world, and you can even talk to get to know other people, anywhere in the world. These online activities became possible only very recently.

Applications, that utilize the Internet, are being developed every day. However, because of the nature in which most of us are connected to the Internet, there are limitations to what we can do online. Nearly everyone connects to the Internet using an analog modem. To get online, we boot up our PC's, and using our telephone line, dial in to our Internet Service Provider.

Because telephone technology is much older than the Internet, there have been limitations to how fast data can travel over existing copper telephone lines. Using an analog modem, data is translated from its digital form to an analog signal, to travel over the telephone lines. Once it gets to its destination, the data is converted back into its digital form. L

ine noise is a result of data being transmitted as an analog signal. The FCC imposed limitations, decades ago, to minimize the amount of line noise that was allowed. This law was imposed long before the PC ever existed. However, it directly affects how fast we can access the Internet today, at speeds of only 53kbps. Even that connection speed is theoretical. Depending on the quality of the telephone lines that run into your home, your connection speed may not even come close to 53kbps. Despite having ever-faster computers, we are limited to what we can do online by these relatively low connection rates.

What do both of these new technologies offer? Connection speeds previously available only through a costly T1 connection. Both are allow connections approximately 10-20 times faster than existing dial-up analog modems. However, in attaining these high speeds, you have to give up your dedicated connection to the Internet. When you dial in to your Internet Service Provider, through an analog modem, a dedicated connection is established between you and your ISP. If you connect at 34kbps, no one can touch your connection speed. You are connected at 34kbps until you end your online session. Cable and ADSL connections work in an entirely different manner. Both allow you to connect to the Internet through a broadband connection. This me

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Approximate Word count = 912
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)