Broadband versus Dial Up

[oldmegan]

I am a computer novice with dial up which I am quite happy with. I am being nagged to change to broadband by my family, but I seem to remember reading an article in Which magazine a few months ago which seemed to suggest that with broadband you are 'always on' and so more susceptible to viruses. I can't find the article now. Can anyone help please?

[TEAK36]

I think as long as you have some decent Anti Virus software, you will be ok.I have been on Broadband for 3 years now and have never had any virus problems.

Believe me, once you get Broadband, you will wonder why you did not get it sooner.

[oldmegan]

Thank you, TEAK36. Can you explain the concept of 'always on' to me at all, please?

[WoWo]

It basically means that the internet connection is always open, with dial up you have to explicitly connect, but with broadband it's just there.

You do need to get Antivirus and more importantly some sort of software firewall, but to be honest that's true of dialup also.

[stevie_c2it]

If it puts your mind at ease, I too shared your initial concerns about being 'always on', however, if your worried you can still disconnect and connect your access to the internet even with broadband. Although as already mentioned, good virus software, a firewall and common sense are all you need to use, and enjoy broadband effectively.

[Pinotage]

If you are happy, then why bother changing?

If you ar eplaying on line games or downloading moves etc then you need broadband, but if you're justcheckingyour email and surfung a few sites and you are hapyy, then you don't.

A factor to remember is that you pay monthly for broadban whether youuse it or not, whereas with most dial ups you pay only when connected. So if you are away from home a lot you don'tpay anything while away.

You are more susceptible to attacks on your machine on broadband. With dial up you are allocated a dynamic IP just for that connection which is fairly safe

[Ethel]

I would never go back to dial up! I was paying �18 a month for dial up, now I pay �15 with Telewest Blueyonder.

There is one HUGE advantage, apart from speed, with broadband - you will never ever be caught out by rogue diallers that unknown to you dial premium rate numbers through your computer.

It just can't happen on broadband.

My connection isn't 'always on' because I turn the modem and router off when I'm not using them.

[markja]

oldmegan, work out how much you spend on dial-up, if it's more than �15 then go to broadband. it's only �15 a month if you pick the right one. (some are cheaper i think )

dial-up is open to hijacking by premium rate dialers,( broadband isn't.) and you only find out when you get your �500 phone bill. !!! this is a well documented happening. BBCwatchdog ran a piece on it a while back.

re;- allways on. when your pc is turned off it's not conected, the broadband conection is there but pc isn't useing it. also the pc only conects when you tell it to & disconects when you say as well.

invest in good anti-virus software, Which Magazine recomends some.

broad band is soooo much quicker.

i know most of these points have been mentioned before, so as you see you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

[oldmegan]

Thanks everyone, I feel much more confident now with all your sound advice! I'm going to give broadband a go. Thanks again.