Introduction

Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a dialed connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) via telephone lines. The user's computer or router uses an attached modem to encode and decode Internet Protocol packets and control information into and from analogue audio frequency signals, respectively.

The term was coined during the early days of computer telecommunications when modems were needed to connect dumb terminals or computers running terminal emulator software to mainframes, minicomputers, online services and bulletin board systems via a telephone line.

Notes

1. UB discontinued its dial-up Internet access service in Fall 2009.

References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dial-up_Internet_access