Accessing
the Internet
The Internet might be the reason you bought a computer in the
first place. The Internet opens a world of possibilities to your
family—research, shopping, libraries of information, and more. You
can send e-mail to friends and meet new people from other states,
even other countries. You can find out about the latest movie at the
theater or send greeting cards. The potential is limitless. If you have a
home network, you can unlock the Internet’s potential for your entire
family.
Understanding Internet Access
Most homes with PCs have at least one Internet account. Kids might
use the account to play games, to e-mail friends, and to gather information
for school. Mom and Dad might use the Internet to e-mail family
and friends, look for prices on golf carts and digital cameras, read the
news, check the weather, make stock investments, bid on auctions, and
more. Perhaps one or more family members want to create a Web page
or subscribe to e-zines (electronic magazines).
Figure 16-1 illustrates a home page on the Internet. This site advertises
entertainment links to music, games, and movie clips. You can
even design your own Web pages to put on the Web.
Add to home and personal use the fact that many people work in
their homes instead of in a traditional office. People working in home
offices need the Internet for a variety of reasons—checking competitors,
advertising with their own Web pages, e-mailing customers,
sending and receiving work-related files, and perhaps even running
an e-commerce site.
Figure 16-2 illustrates a business Web site that offers online help with
your computer problems. You can locate a variety of products and
services on the Web.
Figure 16-1: You can find anything on the Web.
Figure 16-2: Find businesses, products, and services on the Web.
Internet access is easier and cheaper than it’s been in years past. Most computers come with
built-in modems; or you can easily add an external modem for less than $60. There are also
DSL and cable modems available in most areas of the country. All Windows versions have
built-in Web browsers and e-mail programs. Most Macs also have built-in browsers and e-mail.
Local and national ISPs offer deals to attract more home users.
Exploring advantages and disadvantages
of Internet access
The Internet affords the possibility for anyone with a connection to access data from any
other Internet connection in the world for a fraction of the cost of traditional data collection
methods. Internet access and use are growing at an incredible rate. Anything so nearly infinite
certainly has many disadvantages as well as advantages.
Advantages
One of the biggest advantages of Internet connections, as previously mentioned, is the availability
of the technology to nearly everyone. Home users now can afford to attach to the
Internet by using a standard PC that comes with a modem and the Windows operating system.
The only other thing that is needed is the Internet connection. If you already have cable
TV, you can add a cable modem with a faster Internet connection than dial-up for around $45
a month.
If you already have a network in your home, you have the built-in equipment for sharing an
Internet connection. All you need to buy is an inexpensive piece of software or hardware that
enables you to share one connection and one Internet account. You don’t have to purchase
additional cabling, modems, or other equipment to attach everyone in the home to the
Internet.
Small Business Tip
If you have a small-business network and you’re not using TCP/IP, the Internet protocol, consider
changing over to IP addressing now. Using TCP/IP has many advantages, including network
performance and speed and more available networking products. See Appendix B for
more information.
Following are some of the advantages to using the Internet for the home user:
✦Using the Internet promotes cooperative learning. Your kids can e-mail and share files
with universities, libraries, research groups, and others. Users send links to useful Web
pages to each other and sign up for informational newsletters and papers.
✦Internet users can read about, study, and e-mail people from all over the world to share
information and opinions. The Internet also increases access to experts; you can locate
authors, scientists, doctors, and others easily through their Web pages or e-mail.
✦The Internet access increases motivation. The Internet encourages exploration with a
wealth of video, music, animations, and more.
Disadvantages
Naturally, having Internet access in your home also has disadvantages. Many people worry
about the type of Web sites and information children access when they are not monitored.
Sex, violence, and depraved individuals run rampant over the Internet community.
Also at risk is the security of your home. Depending on the information you give out on the
Internet, unstable or unscrupulous intruders can invade your home through the Internet or
even in person. It’s a scary world, and you might be inviting it into your living room every
time you access the Internet.
Other disadvantages include the following:
✦The Internet wastes a lot of time. Surfing the Web, joining chat rooms, e-mailing list
after list of people and groups—they all take time. Whether it’s a child or an adult who
is accessing the Internet, time and exposure should be reasonable and often limited.
✦The expense of attaching to the Internet can increase as you discover you need more
power, multimedia equipment, and other technologies that enhance the Internet experience.
Upgrading hardware and software for Internet use can become addictive.
✦Depending on your e-mail and Web access for business or personal use is a risky business.
ISP connections and services are always subject to failures; you must make sure
that you have an alternative when connections break down and services fail.
✦Viruses, worms, and Trojan horses attack almost constantly over the Web and through
e-mail. Your computer, data, and even networked computers can be at risk from these
pests.
Looking at Internet services
If you’ve ever surfed the Net, you know there’s a world of products and services at your fingertips.
You also know that you can find information on just about anything, if you know
where to look. After you locate the information, you can share it in many ways over the Net.
What’s available
You can find just about any type of information you want on the Internet. Not only can you
find the popular sales and service Web sites, but also you can take advantage of years of
research, studies, reports, and surveys. Following are a few of the things you can explore
over the Internet:
✦Find out information about society and culture. Learn about life in foreign countries or
in the United States. Study geography, religion, politics, and the people of present cultures
or past ones. Examine archaeology, economics, and languages. Learn about biology,
astronomy, and other sciences.
✦Visit libraries all over the world. Find definitions and dictionaries, quotes, and anthologies.
Study the biographies of famous and infamous people who are living today or who
are a part of history.
✦Read the news, check the sports, and keep an eye on the weather. Learn where the next
war will break out and who is testing nuclear weapons in the world. Find out what your
governor or state legislature is doing right now.
✦Read famous works of literature, view prominent artwork, listen to a symphony. See the
latest photography exhibit in Washington, DC, or visit a museum in Kansas.
✦Research the latest movies, as well as movies of the past. Play games, read jokes, and
connect with others interested in the same hobbies as you.
✦Learn about the newest advances in medicine. Read about the medications you’re taking.
Find out how to keep fit and eat well.
✦Get government forms, tax information, grant applications, stamps, and information
about city, county, state, federal, and international government.
✦Find a job. Post your resume. Inquire about openings all over the country and the
world. Figure 16-3 illustrates a resume posted online. You can register your Web page
with various search engines so that anyone searching for a computer book author, for
example, can find your resume easily.
Figure 16-3: Advertise yourself online.
The Internet has something for everyone, no matter what your question or interest.
Acquiring the information
In addition to supplying enormous amounts of information, the Internet enables you to transfer
the information in various ways. In addition to printing data so that you can read it at your
own pace, you can transfer the information electronically.
You can send the information you find to another user via e-mail. Attach a file or a link so that
you can share any Web site with someone else. Discuss topics, pool resources, and share
ideas—all with the click of a mouse. For more information about e-mail, see Chapter 17.
Figure 16-4 illustrates an e-mail message for a friend. You can send messages to friends and
family all over the world with just the click of the mouse
Small Business Tip
E-mail is a great way to give your employees the means to collaborate and share information
with coworkers, vendors, manufacturers, customers, and others. Be careful, though, it’s also
an easy way to pass around jokes, hoaxes, stories, and viruses.
Chat programs
You also can exchange information over the Internet by using chat programs. Whereas e-mail
sometimes must wait until the recipient receives and responds to your message, chat programs
connect two or more people online at the same time. The conversation is held in real
time. For more information about chatting over the Internet, see Chapter 18.
Figure 16-4: Send messages to friends, family, and business associates.
Small Business Tip
Your employees can use chat programs to contact customers, for example, as they work on
accounts, projects, reports, and other tasks. Chatting over the Internet is usually less expensive
than long-distance phone calls and business trips to other states or countries.
File transfer
Transferring files over the Internet is a quick and easy method of acquiring updates, applications,
documents, and other files. You can purchase and download a program, such as a
game, a piece of shareware, accounting packages, utilities, and network management software.
Many vendors supply free demos of their applications so that you can try it before you
buy it. You also can download updated drivers and software for your computer or network.
In addition to downloading files from the Internet, you can upload files. Many companies use
a special site for their remote employees to send files. You might upload a file to a technical
support company, for example, or reports to universities, or documents to friends. File transfers
over the Internet are faster and cheaper than transporting a floppy disk or using snail
mail to send files.
Small Business Tip
Send presentations and reports to your customers, accounting information to a parent company
or business partner, or publication files to your commercial printer over the Internet.
Conferences and meetings
Current technology enables people to hold meetings with colleagues and business associates.
NetMeeting, a Windows application, is but one of these programs. Although conferencing software
is similar to chat rooms, it also offers features that chat programs do not.
Some business meeting software, for example, enables the participants to engage in phone
conversations at the same time; sometimes videoconferencing is also built in. Whiteboards
are often used to take notes and organize ideas during a meeting; everyone can see the information
on the whiteboard, add to it, and modify it.
Although conference and meeting software generally is used for business contacts, you easily
could use it on your home network too.
Scheduling and calendaring
In addition to using a scheduling program on your local area network, you can make use of a
Web-based calendar program that enables you to share your schedule with others over the
Internet. You might want to schedule visits with your family and friends who are spread out
over the country, for example.
Small Business Tip
You can share your calendar with colleagues to make business trips, meetings, deadlines,
and even golf games easier to schedule.
Understanding Internet Connections
Most home users connect to the Internet with a dial-up modem, and in some cases, the
modem is perfect for the job. You can use various speeds and types of modems to access the
Internet, but the most common speed at this time is 56 Kbps. Instead of a modem, however,
you can use other equipment that provides a fast, permanent connection to the Internet,
such as DSL or cable modems, high-speed lines (T1, frame relay, fractional T1), and so on.
The type of connection you get depends on how much you use the Internet. If you and your
family connect to get e-mail and do some surfing every day, a dial-up modem connection might
be just fine. If you use the Internet many hours a day every day for work from your home or if
your kids play online games, however, you may want to invest in a faster, more permanent
connection.
Figure 16-5 shows a home network using one modem to attach to the Internet. All users can
share the Internet connection, however, with the use of a piece of software. See the section
“Sharing Internet Connections” later in this chapter.
You can connect to Internet services by using an analog phone line or a digital cable line.
Traditional modems use phone lines, and DSL or cable modems and other equipment use
high-speed digital lines.
Dial-up modems use a service through an ISP, a government agency, or some other service
provider. Your phone line is attached to the dial-up modem; you dial your ISP and access the
e-mail and/or Web server. When you disconnect from the ISP, you no longer receive mail or
information from the Internet until you connect again.
Cable or DSL modems are not really modems but are called that out of convenience and familiarity
with the word modem. Cable and DSL are also called broadband Internet connections.
Broadband defines telecommunications that provide a variety of channels of data over a single
wire. A dedicated line, such as a T1, is a special high-speed, or hard-wired, connection
that is permanent. Any of these connections is always active, always ready. You can be working
in your word processing program and hear the “you’ve got mail” sound at any time,
because when mail is received at your ISP’s e-mail server, it is sent directly to you over your
permanent connection.
Figure 16-5: Whether you use a fast connection or a slower one, all network users can
take advantage of the Internet.
Using phone lines
Modems use analog technology—transmission methods developed to transmit voice signals
instead of digital signals. The phone lines in your home are analog lines built to carry voice
transmissions, and perhaps other data, such as faxes. They also might carry your network
transmissions on a phone line network
Note
If you use a phone line for several services at the same time—such as home networking and
an Internet connection—you are likely to notice a performance degradation.
Using phone lines for Internet access is more flexible than using cable modems or permanent
lines. You can move the dial-up or DSL modems to other computers or rooms: All you need is
a telephone line and a jack. Also, using a dial-up modem and phone line is much cheaper than
using a cable modem or a dedicated line.
On the other side, however, a dial-up connection using a modem and a phone line is slower
than a cable modem or dedicated connection. Generally, speeds are between 28 Kbps and 56
Kbps. Also, noise or interference over the lines can cut off transmissions unexpectedly.
Finally, using the phone line for the Internet ties up your phone line unless you use a dedicated
line for your modem.
Using cable and DSL modems
More and more homes are using cable or DSL modems. For a small monthly price, you can
have high-speed connections to the Internet that enable you to download large files—like
music, video, white papers, even entire books—in minutes. You also have a permanent connection
via these modems, meaning you can send and receive e-mail anytime without having
to dial up or connect to your ISP’s server. In addition, both connection types leave you more
vulnerable to viruses and worms because of their “always-on” configuration.
Local phone companies usually offer DSL connections, since DSL access is over standard
copper lines. DSL connections receive up to 6.1 Mbps, so the technology is very fast indeed.