Last Updated on August 11, 2022 by
No one can deny how important the internet is to us. A glance at how we spend our day will be enough to prove that. The second we turn off the alarm on our phone, we quickly open up Facebook Messenger to see if any of our loved ones tried to contact us while we were asleep. Getting ready, we tell Alexa to tell us about the weather and the news. While operating our car, we ask Google Maps to tell us the way to the office that has the least number of cars on the road. During the hours we are at the office, we again use apps like Facebook Messenger and Skype to know how our families at home are doing. The internet is also used to communicate with our bosses and subordinates. Once back from work, we let all our friends know that we are free to hangout using online group chats. And of course, we read online content like the one you are reading right now, using the internet.
Given how much internet we use, it only makes sense that we use the fastest internet available to us. It is important for us to explore each of the types of internet to see the one that best suits our requirements. To help with this cause, we have listed down and briefly described every mainstream type of internet.
Table of Contents
Dial-Up
We have added this internet type not at all because of its blazing fast speeds – dial-up is actually ridiculously slow compared to today’s standards and no rational person should be investing in dial-up internet. The reason we put dial-up on our list is for one reason: it means a lot to so many people as for a long time, it was the only technology that brought us the internet. As far as speeds are concerned, they are lesser than even a tenth of a megabit per second.
DSL
The successor to dial-up was the digital subscriber line. It is labeled as the successor because it uses the same type of cable as dial-up – a telephone line. That is it for the similarities though. As the digital subscriber line gives you a completely different experience compared to dial-up internet. The web page that previously took minutes to load in dial-up takes seconds to load in DSL. That is because it can deliver speeds in the tens of megabits per second. When it comes to price, know that a high-quality plan may cost you around fifty dollars in one month. You can buy a plan with a bit lower speeds for cheaper though. Because of the drastic increase in speed it offered, the digital subscriber line was the most commonly used form of internet in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries up until 2019. Guess who took the top spot after that?
Cable
The answer to the question posited at the end of the preceding paragraph is cable – cable internet became the most popular internet type in 2019. This was because of a few reasons. Perhaps, the most major one was the fact that telecommunications service providers often give you the opportunity to save money by subscribing to both television and the internet at the same time. This is made possible by the fact that cable internet is transmitted through the same type of cables that transmit television signals. One company that offers very reasonably priced bundle packages is Comcast. To subscribe to Comcast internet, you can visit Comcast’s website or call the company’s customer service line.
Satellite
The satellite internet has many advantages. The biggest one is the fact that it can be used from anywhere in the world. The only thing you really need is a receiver on the top of your roof and a subscription to a satellite internet service provider. You will be glad to know that researchers in Antarctica also use satellite internet. One thing to keep in mind is that satellite ISPs are normally different from other ISPs. The main drawback of satellite internet is that it is slower than other types of internet.
Fiber
In multiple ways, fiber internet is the polar opposite of satellite internet. It is not available everywhere on the planet; rather, it is available only in certain areas such as big cities in the developed world. When it comes to speed, business fiber optic internet can provide you with superfast speeds in the thousands of megabits a second.
Wrapping Up
In short, yes fiber is the fastest in the world. But, in the case that it is not available, the cable is also a good choice. Just make sure you subscribe to bundle packages to save money.
