Dial-up Internet Access

Dial-up Internet Access is a form of Internet access via telephone line. The client uses a modem connected to a computer and a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's (ISP) node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then routed to the Internet.

Dial-up connection of phones requires no additional infrastructure other than the telephone network. As telephone points are available throughout the world, dial-up remains useful to travelers. Dial-up is usually the only choice available for most rural or remote areas where getting a broadband connection is not likely due to low population and demand. Sometimes dial-up access may also be an alternative to people who have limited budgets as it is offered for free by some, though broadband is now increasingly available at lower prices in countries such as the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom due to market competition.

Dial-up requires time to establish a telephone connection (several seconds, depending on the location) and perform handshaking before data transfers can take place. In locales with telephone connection charges, each connection incurs an incremental cost. If calls are time-charged, the duration of the connection incurs costs.

Dial-up access is a transient connection, because either the user or the ISP terminates the connection. Internet service providers will often set a limit on connection durations to prevent hogging of access, and will disconnect the user — requiring reconnection and the costs and delays associated with it.

A 2008 Pew Internet and American Life Project study states that that only 10 percent of American adults still use dial-up internet. Reasons for retaining dial-up access span from lack of infrastructure to high broadband prices.