Broadband Internet has been around for the last 7-10 years or so, and basically offers faster Internet access to web cam imagery, streaming video and audio, and everything else that you essentially wished you could access with a dial-up connection. Referred to as high speed internet, DSL, or cable modem, a broadband internet connection is four times faster than your current networking configuration, and the term "broadband" can be applied to any connection transferring at least 256 kilobits of data per second. No dial-up connection could ever match that speed regardless of how much you tweak your registry, or the number of times that you clear your cache!



Some people are resistant to new technology and declare that they'll stick to their archaic connection no matter what. "After all, I really only use my computer to download email," they say. This may be true, but if you're like most of us, you get email with attachments - attachments so large that they could take up to 3 or 4 hours to download with dial-up internet access.

With broadband Internet however, you can download hour-long video attachments within minutes, forward that video to a friend and download another one just like it large enough to fill an entire CD!

It would be easy to claim that videos aren't your interest and that they just aren't part of your everyday Internet itinerary. But with today's technology, more and more of us are formatting important information (like the local, national, and international news) in formats that demand additional power. Whether that format is a video, streaming audio, or a downloadable executable, you've got to be able to meet that demand with the proper equipment if you want stay informed within a reasonable amount of time.