Upgrading Your Internet Speed: Making the Move from Dial-Up to Broadband
Published: February 14, 2005 - By Joli Ballew, Expert Zone Columnist

A few weeks ago, I got a call from a friend who wanted to get rid of his dial-up connection and upgrade to something faster. Unfortunately, John had no idea where to start. He didn’t know the difference between DSL, high-speed cable Internet, wireless, or satellite, or how broadband figured into these. He also didn’t know which of these choices were in his price range or which would be the faster connection. I’ve seen similar queries in the community newsgroups.
As I walked him through the week-long process of choosing a provider, making the purchase online, installing the hardware, and purchasing and configuring a router to get his networked computers online, I knew he was not in this boat alone. Others are in the same predicament, trying to make the same complicated choices.
In this article, I’ll outline the steps we took to get John online that you can use when upgrading your own dial-up service. Here’s the procedure you’ll follow:
1. You must choose a provider. I'll discuss the various choices, although it’s usually best to call your dial-up provider first, if you’re happy with them.
2. You'll have to make decisions about the physical connections.
3. You'll have to obtain and install a separate modem, and depending on the connection option you choose, purchase a cable splitter, Ethernet cable, wireless equipment, or other hardware.
4. Additional decisions are necessary if you have networked computers that also need to be online.
In this article, I'll outline the steps involved in self-installation. Although we almost chose DSL, we finally decided on high-speed cable Internet. I'll also describe the installation process for cable Internet. However, the installation process between DSL and cable Internet is typically the same no matter what you choose.

Choose a Provider
The first step in moving away from dial-up is to decide what types of services you have access to in your area and which of those services you can afford. There are probably several: cable Internet, DSL, satellite, and wireless Internet.
Cable Internet service is popular. Cable Internet comes through existing cable TV lines and uses a cable modem. If you have cable and your cable provider offers this service, this may be a good choice.
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service is typically offered by your local telephone provider but is also offered by many cable companies. This data comes through standard copper phone lines, but you don’t have to have a second phone line or be off the phone to use it. If you have a digital phone line as well as cable TV, you might get a package deal if you go with DSL. Phone, cable TV, and DSL, all from the same company is another logical choice. In many cases, the DSL connection is slower than cable. However, consider that DSL connections are dedicated to each customer, whereas cable Internet is typically shared with multiple customers.
Satellite service is another option. However, satellite requires a dish attached to your residence to send and receive data, so this might not be an option if you live in a condo or apartment. To check, ask your homeowner's association, landlord, or Satellite Company for suggestions.
Wireless Internet service is more expensive generally and typically (for now) only available in the core region of some metropolitan areas, both for monthly fees and for hardware and may be out of your price range.
Comparing all the options and speeds in John’s neighbourhood and price range, we settled on high-speed cable Internet from John’s cable TV provider. It’s fast, and he got a package deal because he also had a digital phone and digital cable. We ordered it online.

Make the Decision
When you’re ready to place your order, you’ll have to decide if you have the knowledge and the nerve to order it online without help from a real person. Purchasing online has its advantages; you can get lower prices, gifts and other incentives, and discounts on purchased hardware.
Once you’re ready to order, you’ll have to decide if you want to purchase the equipment (a modem or other hardware) or lease it, if want a professional installation or a do-it-yourself kit, and what option you’ll choose to connect your networked computers. Broadband connections don’t work like dial-up does; you can’t just turn on Internet Connection Sharing and be done with it. You either need to either purchase and configure a router or purchase additional IP addresses.
We decided on the self-installation method so John wouldn’t have to pay the extra $50.00 for a professional installation. We also chose to rent the modem for a few months instead of buying it from the cable company so we’d have time to comparison shop. And, although John had four networked computers, we decided against purchasing multiple IP addresses for them (an option for an extra $20+ a month), and chose instead to purchase our own router and configure those connections ourselves. Purchasing additional IP addresses isn’t a great option anyway because you need the router to act as a firewall and help protect the networked computers in your home. John got a free MP3 player and 6 months of half-price service fees for ordering online too, and he even got to “chat” with a real person in real time. All in all, John and I felt we’d made good, balanced, and well-thought out choices.

Perform the Self-Installation
If you decide on DSL or cable Internet and self-installation, you will receive a self-installation kit in the mail a few days after placing your order. A high-speed cable Internet kit will include a signal splitter, extra coaxial cable, and a modem. It may also include an Ethernet card or USB cables. Just in case you’re on the fence about your ability to go the do-it-yourself route, I’ve included Figure 1. This shows what came in John’s self-installation kit. (A kit for DSL connectivity will look similar.)

Figure 1. You probably won’t need all this hardware, but whatever you need should be included in the self-installation kit you receive.
To begin, first carefully unpack all of the hardware and keep related materials together, read all of the material that was included with the self-installation kit, and if you have options, decide how you’ll connect the modem. Most modems can connect to a USB port or through an Ethernet card.
If you don’t have an Ethernet card and want to go that route, you’ll have to install one. You can see from Figure 1 that our self-installation kit included one just in case (along with instructions for installing it). You’ll also have to install the software once you restart the computer. However, if your computer has an extra USB port and the modem has a USB option, this is the better choice. USB can offer a faster connection, you don’t have to open your computer to use it, and it supports Plug and Play installation with Windows XP. If given this option, I’d definitely choose it.
Note: You should install a router if you can afford one. Installing a router is outlined in the last section of this article. Many routers also act as a hardware firewall and help protect the computer.

Figure 2. This router has four ports for networked computers, one port for the modem, and one power connection.
With the connection decision made:
1. Make the physical connection from the computer to the modem. If you’ve chosen to connect using USB, use the USB cable included in your kit. If connecting using Ethernet, use the Ethernet cable included in your kit.
2. Make the physical connection from the modem to the cable outlet in the wall. Use the coaxial cable included in your kit. If the wall connection is used to connect to a television, videocassette or DVD player, media centre, or other device, use the cable splitter included in your kit to create two connections from the one. If you’ve never used a splitter before, refer to the directions in your kit. TIP: Treat the coaxial cables with care and make good, tight connections. Do not kink cables or staple them to walls or baseboards. Do not use cables longer than the ones provided or use cable extenders.
3. From the Windows XP desktop, click Start , click Control Panel , and then click Network Connections . If your dial-up connection to the Internet is connected, right click your dial-up Internet connection and choose Disconnect. Don’t delete the dial-up connection yet though. You may need to fall back on a dial-up connection either before installation is complete or when the high-speed Internet is not available (for whatever reason).
4. Plug the new modem into an electrical outlet. Make sure you’re using a reliable surge protector. Additional decisions are necessary if you have networked computers that also need to be online.
5. Insert the CD-ROM that came with the cable modem into the CD-ROM drive. If the software installs automatically,
skip to step 7.Then you’ll make installation choices too: professional installation or self-installation.
6. If prompted by the Found New Hardware Wizard to connect to Windows Update to search for the required software, select No, not at this time and click Next. When prompted by the Found New Hardware wizard on what to do, select Install the software automatically (Recommended) , and click Next .
7. Click Finish to close the Found New Hardware Wizard. The modem should show blinking lights, meaning the power is on and connections are made.

Perform the Configuration Tasks
After the physical connections are complete, search through your self-installation kit for an installation and configuration CD. Insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive and work through the installation program. This will usually consist first of making sure your computer meets the minimum requirements, and then that the modem and USB or Ethernet connections are working properly. With that verified, you’ll need to type in your account number and registration code.
Note: An account number is often also the subscriber number. We had to call John’s provider for that titbit of information. Additionally, we had to ask for the registration code over the phone too.
Be prepared to choose an e-mail account name and password, and write these down. (If the program stops working for any reason, close all programs and restart the computer. The installation should continue after restarting. John and I had to do this.) If you are prompted to Block or unblock any program during the installation, click Unblock.
Congratulations, you now have high-speed Internet!

Share the Connection with Networked Computers
If you want to share this connection with networked computers, you’ll need to purchase a router. The router John purchased is shown in Figure 2. The router will not be included in your self-installation kit. A router will take the place of an existing Ethernet hub or switch, if that’s what you currently use, but will also allow other networked computers in your home to use the broadband Internet connection.
Note: If you have an existing switch or hub, and don’t want to get rid of it and replace it with a router, you don’t have to. You can connect your hub or switch by its uplink port to a port on the router. A single-port router may be less expensive than a multiple-port router, especially if you require 6 or 8 ports.
Before setting up your router, always start with a healthy and functional network and read all the instructions that came with the router. Then follow these steps:
1. Turn off all computers, and turn off or unplug the modem.
2. Connect one end of an Ethernet cable to the back of the modem. Connect the other end of this cable to the wide area network (WAN) port of the router.
3. Connect the networked computers to the router’s LAN ports, either by connecting an uplink cable from an existing switch or hub to a single port of the router or by connecting an Ethernet cable from each of your home computers to different ports of the router.
4. If the modem is also connected to the computer by Ethernet or USB, disconnect the modem from the computer by removing the cable that connects them.
5. Turn on the modem and wait for the indicator lights to settle down.
6. Plug in the router and turn it on.
7. Turn on the host computer.

Avoid Common Mistakes
Of course, things rarely go as smoothly as they should. As expected, John and I encountered a few glitches while setting up the router. I’ll share some tips to help you avoid them.
First, if you have problems with the router, first make sure all of the connections are solid and the modem is plugged into the WAN port and not one of the LAN ports on the router.

Second, if you installed and configured the modem before obtaining the router, the modem is probably connected to the computer by a USB or Ethernet port. After installing the router, you’ll have to unplug the modem from the computer’s USB or Ethernet port.
Third, the LAN port of the router must be Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)-enabled. DHCP is sometimes referred to as an "automatic addressing" feature. If the Windows XP-based computers your network are manually configured with IP addresses, you’ll have to configure them to obtain an address automatically.

On a personal note, John and I ended up e-mailing Airlink’s technical support due to some of the problems above. (The computer I had plugged directly into the modem could connect, but problems with the router were preventing others on the network from connecting.)

That’s proof that even the most experienced computer user can run in to snags. (It was a little embarrassing on my end, having to contact technical support though!) After a brief correspondence that day, a nice young man named Lucas gave me a call. He patiently explained how to fix the problems, talked to us about DHCP and manual IP addressing, and waited until all of the computers were up and running before hanging up the phone. Hats off to that young man.

I hope this is helpful to Modem Users

Regards