Dial-up internet access
A dial-up internet connection is just like a phone conversation, except the speakers on either end are computers.
Dial-up modems convert the digital 1s and 0s of a computer language into sounds that can be transmitted like voice over the existing (POTS) phone network. Once received at the other end, another modem is required to turn the sounds back into 1s and 0s to be understood by another computer.
These types of modems were first developed in the 1950s to connect air-defence terminals to central control systems in the United States.
By the early 1980s, before the internet was available, modems were being used by home users to connect to bulletin board systems. These were extremely slow by today's standards, and only able to send and receive information at around 300 bits per second. At that time; however, they were used mainly to send text messages with none of the pictures, music or animations we see in websites today.
As technology developed, dial-up access became faster and modems grew cheaper. By the introduction of the world-wide-web in 1991, modems were capable of speeds up to 14.4kbps. Their speed doubled again to 28.8kbps by 1994 - almost 100 times faster than speeds from ten years earlier.
The speed of these modems made the growth of the internet possible. People could begin viewing pictures, animations and even listening to music without extremely long waits.
Dialup Modem Speed
Modem speeds doubled again to 56.6kbps by 1996, which remains the speed of most dial-up modems sold today.
This is believed to be close to the limit for the maximum speed of an analogue dial-up modem, with further improvements reliant on improvements to phone networks.
While still in regular use, these modems are rapidly being replaced by much faster ways to connect to the internet, such as DSL and cable.