What is the difference between dial up and broadband Internet connections?

  The fundamental difference between dialup and broadband connections is the manner in which the connection is made from PC to the Internet. A dialup service connects to the Internet through a phone line with a maximum speed of 56kbps. Broadband refers to a connection that has capacity to transmit large amount of data at high speed. Presently a connection having download speeds of 256kbps or more is classified as broadband. Broadband comes in a number of forms - depending how the data is delivered - for example via cable, satellite and most commonly using a telephone line where as a dialup service always connects to the Internet through a phone line.

  While using a dialup connection, we need to pay for a local call every time we dial the Internet. In addition phone line is engaged while we are on the Internet. With a broadband connection, phone line (if existing phone line is used) can still be used while using the Internet and both the phone and the Internet work simultaneously and no dialup costs are incurred. Telecommunication systems were originally built to carry analogue signals. In a dial up connection, modems are used to translate digital into analogue signals and communicating with Internet.

  However, analogue transmission between the subcriber and the telephone company is a bandwidth bottleneck. Dialup connection speeds make it more difficult to view certain types of media, such as video, and it can take much longer to download and open emial attachments, play online games and so on.

  In an broadband system, digital data does not have to be converted into analogue. it uses a different part of the line's frequency spectrum, offers much wider bandwidth 9more lanes) and does not interfere with the use of the line for voice transmission. When connected to the Internet, such a connection allows surfing or downloading much faster than a dial-up connection. Dialup connection users a built-in modem to connect and does not require a special router, whereas broadband requires a special router or modem. In terms of security for attack, dialup is more secured then broadband, Broadband users need to use a firewall to keep the computer "invisible" to the outside. Courtesy : The Hindu