The Internet has evolved considerably since the days when it was essentially a text-based enterprise.  What began with a few basic Web pages and stripped-down email has today exploded into a rich-media environment that offers everything from music to movies to live video telemetry.  It was hardly an inevitable transition, however – considerable investments had to be made in bandwidth and infrastructure to keep everything humming along.  Today much of the online marketplace has been consolidated under a few corporate roofs, and each favors one method of connectivity over the others.  If you are a consumer trying to make sense of this crowded landscape, it may help to educate yourself about the pros and cons of each.

The least expensive way by far to get online fast is something called high-speed dial-up Internet.  Although this may sound like a misnomer, the truth is that significant strides have been made in the way ISPs manage and compress data for transmission over traditional phone lines.  While they may not be considered true broadband per se, high-speed dial-ups such as these offer more than enough efficiency to let users surf the Web and use basic email without much difficulty.  What you gain in savings, however, you may need to give up in convenience – high-speed dial-up still ties up your phone line like the traditional kind, meaning you cannot make or receive calls while you're online.

Go up one step in speed and you get to DSL, which remains the most popular form of broadband in the U.S.  Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, uses existing phone lines to shunt far greater bandwidth to your home – usually around ten times the speed of the fastest dial-up.  Do not be confused about the fact that both use telephone lines – DSL requires entirely different networking, switching and hardware to work.  The advantage is that you get "always-on" connectivity, meaning you never have to place a call to reach the Internet.  And because DSL providers offer plastic DSL filters free with service, you can split any phone line in your home to let people plug in their computer and telephone simultaneously.

One step faster than DSL is cable Internet access, also known as cable modem. Unlike DSL, cable modem doesn't use any phone lines at all – instead, it relies on your existing cable TV connection.  Cable companies have been advancing into online services for years, and today the transformation can be made in most homes quickly and seamlessly.  Cable modem is generally rated at four to six times faster than DSL, though each technology may come with "pro" options that let you upgrade for a fee.  If you are a media-heavy user or simply want to cut off your phone line altogether, cable modem may offer the best speed and convenience for the price.

Finally comes a comparative newcomer in this marketplace: satellite broadband.  Unlike DSL and cable which rely upon existing infrastructure, satellite connectivity requires nothing more than a dish and an open line of sight to the sky.  With speeds rivaling cable modem and a host of unbeatable television packages, satellite providers continue to siphon away customers from the more traditional land-locked technologies.  The drawback is a significant latency (delay) that keeps such connections from being deemed practical for real-time phone and gaming applications.  The advantage, of course, is that you do not need to rely on any existing infrastructure, making satellite broadband the wisest choice for anyone who lives in a remote area.  Satellite is still the most expensive form of broadband, but the prices continue to drop every year.

In technology, of course, obsolescence is the rule, not the exception.  Thus many of these distinctions may soon be moot, as some experts believe the entire planet will ultimately be covered in low-cost Wi-Fi.  Even today, mobile phone companies continue to roll out new data transfer protocols that give the major broadband technologies a run for their money.  EV-DO and WiMax are already making broadband nodes out of the latest smartphones, and there seems to be little chance the major mobile carriers will rest on their laurels.  Some experts believe the day isn't far off when all the online devices in your home may make use of the same ubiquitous pipeline.

Until that time, ask yourself what you use your Internet connection for.  If you simply read the news and write email, a good dial-up service may suffice.  If you are interested in more data-intensive pursuits such as music, video, gaming and videoconferencing, it may be time to look into a higher echelon of high-speed Internet.