Improving Your Web Experience:
A Basic Internet Tutorial

Finkelstein Memorial Library

DOWNLOAD TIMES	1.5 Mbps (low-speed DSL)	5 Mbps (cable and high speed DSL)	50 Mbps (fiber-optic- Verizon FiOS)
One 5-megabyte MP3 file	33 seconds	10 seconds	1 second
50 MB of digital photos	5.5 minutes	1.7 minutes	10 seconds
125 MB video-game demo	14 minutes	4 minutes	25 seconds

What is Verizon FiOS?

FiOS stands for "fiber-optic service. Verizon has attracted consumer and media attention in the area of broadband Internet access as the first major U.S. carrier to offer such a service. Verizon has also launched a television service with its fiber optic lines and is expected to become a competitor to local cable television companies over the next 10 years. At last check, Verizon FiOS is now available in parts of Clarkstown, Nyack and Orangetown.

How much does FiOS cost?
It depends on speed tiers offered by Verizon. The approximate costs are:

5 mbps downstream / 2 mbps upstream - $39.95
15 mbps downstream / 2 mbps upstream - $49.95
30 mbps downstream / 5 mbps upstream - $199.95 [$54.95 in specific areas]

Internet service: Fiber vs. Cable vs. DSL vs. dial-up?: Consumer Reports 2006 Study

Check the ongoing monthly rate for broadband ,not just the introductory price. If you spend considerable time online, you'll probably need a broadband (cable or DSL)Internet connection to your home. Broadband offers faster connections and swifter downloads than slower, but cheaper, dial-up Internet service. But broadband service isn't predictable and uniform in performance as the term suggests.

There's no best broadband type. Availability of broadband is growing, with virtually all cable-TV companies now offering broadband Internet service and telephone companies wiring more neighborhoods for digital subscriber line (DSL) service. The best cable and DSL providers offered comparable, fairly high levels of satisfaction--while the least satisfactory of each receive mediocre or worse ratings.

But the two provider types differed in what made their best ISPs score so high. Subscribers to the better-rated cable-broadband providers are more satisfied than most DSL subscribers with the speed of their service, and with its reliability and tech support. But subscribers to the least pricey of the DSL providers were far more satisfied with their monthly bills (around $30) than were subscribers to cable broadband, who paid about $35 to $45 a month.

Budget DSL

While most cable and DSL services reach download speeds of 3.0Mbps, Verizon's new budget DSL has a maximum downstream speed of just 768Kbps. While much slower than other broadband, basic Verizon DSL service is still 15 times faster than a dial-up connection. And because it is DSL, your connection to the Internet is always on and it doesn't tie up your phone line. While reviews say Verizon's basic DSL service is nowhere near as fast as other broadband, its low cost makes it a compelling alternative to a slower dial-up ISP like AOL or Earthlink dial-up, both of which are more expensive.

At its best, dial-up service is satisfactory. Cost is a main attraction. It certainly wasn't speed, which was muchslower for all the dial-ups than the broadband providers. In fact, the least expensive service, Juno, was among the top-rated dial-ups, while AOL, the biggest ISP, had one of the lowest overall scores. America Online (AOL) is the most popular ISP in the United States. AOL claims about 22% of the dial-up ISP market (almost 20.8 million users), yet AOL (*est. $24 per month for dial-up) receives lower scores in customer surveys on almost every ISP performance measure, including reliability, support and overall satisfaction.

Why Broadband? The Changing Experience of the Web...

Today's World Wide Web presents an ever-diversified experience of multimedia, programming languages, and real-time communication. There is no question that it is a challenge to keep up with the rapid pace of developments. The following presents a brief description of some of the more important trends to watch.

Multimedia

The Web has become a broadcast medium. It is possible to listen to audio and video over the Web, both pre-recorded and live. For example, you can visit the sites of various news organizations and view the same videos shown on the nightly television news. Several plug-ins are available for viewing these videos. For example, Apple's Quick Time Player downloads files with the .mov extension and displays these as "movies" in a small window on your computer screen. Quick Time files can be quite large, and it may take patience to wait for the entire movie to download into your computer before you can view it. Soon services will be available like "video on demand" similar to "pay for view" and voice communications (VOIP) to replace or supplement telephone service from your ISP.

Interactive Usage

For sharing music, photos, downlaoding, uploading, game-playing, etc.

The problem of slow download times has been answered by a revolutionary development in multimedia capability: streaming media. In this case, audio or video files are played as they are downloading, or streaming, into your computer. Only a small wait, called buffering, is necessary before the file begins to play. The RealPlayer plug-in plays streaming audio and video files. Extensive files such as interviews, speeches and hearings work very well with the RealPlayer. The RealPlayer is also ideal for the broadcast of real-time events. These may include press conferences, live radio and television broadcasts, concerts, etc. The Windows Media Player is another streaming media player. Many sites offer the option to use one player or the other.

Shockwave presents another multimedia experience. Shockwave allows for the creation and implementation of an entire multimedia display combining graphics, animation and sound.

Sound files, including music, may also be heard on the Web. It is not uncommon to visit a Web page and hear background music. Sound files are also available for downloading independent of Web page visits. Sound files of many types are supported by the Web with the appropriate plug-ins. The MP3 file format, and the choice of supporting plug-ins, is the latest music trend to sweep the Web. The once-famous famous Napster site allowed for the exchange of MP3 files but ran into copyright problems.

Live cams are another aspect of the multimedia experience available on the Web. Live cams are video cameras that send their data in real time to a Web server. These cams may appear in all kinds of locations, both serious and whimsical: an office, on top of a building, a scenic locale, a special event, and so on.

HIGHEST RATED CABLE BROADBAND PROVIDERS

1 EarthLink earthlink.net
2 Cox.com
3 Road Runner rr.com
4 Optimum Online optonline.net
5. Insight insight-com.com

HIGHEST RATED DSL BROADBAND PROVIDERS

1. Earthlink.net
2. SBC Yahoo sbc.com
3. Verizon verizon.com
4. BellSouth bellsouth.com
5. Qwest qwest.com
   
   HIGHEST RATED DIAL-UP PROVIDERS

1. Juno.com
2. EarthLink earthlink.net
3. AT&T att.netNetZero netzero.net
4. SBC Yahoo sbc.com

If high speed is a priority:
Verizon

It received the highest satisfaction scores for speed, although you probably don’t need that speed unless you download full-length movies or back up your hard drive over the Internet. This service cost less, on average, than most of the cable services. And subscribing to fiber, if it’s available to you, also readies you for broadband television service as an alternative to your local cable monopoly.

Cable broadband

If fiber-optic isn’t available, consider cable service. Cable customers as a group were more satisfied with their connection speeds than were DSL subscribers. That’s important if you often download large files or access the Internet with more than one computer at a time. Cable costs more than DSL. However, as you compare prices, consider the likely savings available by bundling cable-TV service with your Internet service, which might close or even eliminate the cost gap with DSL service.

Dialup (Telephone)	Speed: 56K The 'K' stands for kilobytes. The speed of transmission is usually measured in kilobytes per second. Dialup offers the slowest connection speeds. THIS TYPE OF SERVICE IS NO LONGER RECOMMENDED. At 56 K To Transfer A 10MB File would take about 24 minutes Typical Cost: $15-20 per month About 49 percent of residential Internet customers still use dial-up. If you are patient, use the Internet primarily for email and casual surfing, dial-up is still OK. IMPORTANT!!! Does your ISP provides a local calling number or an 800 number so that you don't have to pay long distance telephone charges? Does your telephone company offers unlimited local calls to that number? In Rockland County, you should pay a set price per call, no matter how long you are online. You tie up your phone line unless you use a service like Callwave which is an internet answering machine that costs about $2.95 per month. Highest rated ISPs are: Juno and Earthlink.
Broadband Connections Broadband is a high speed Internet connection that gives you access to the Web up to 50 times faster than a traditional dial-up connection. This means that Web pages can be accessed almost instantly and you can download data at much greater speeds. It is recommended over dial-up despite the higher cost. While all broadband services make dial-up seem glacial by comparison, not all deliver the same speed. Most broadband services are asymmetric, a fancy term that means that the download speed is faster than the upload speed. But since you will be downloading much more data, such as web pages, music and video, than you will be sending, the download speed is most critical. Depending on the type of service--cable, DSL, satellite or wireless--and other variables, broadband data speed range from 128 Kbps to 30 Mbps. Verizon FiOS now offers very high-speed fiber-based service. Download speeds can reach as high as 50 Mbps. It can sometimes costs up to $200 per month. It is not yet available locally. Broadband is the name given to systems designed for high-speed transmission of huge amounts of electronic data. Think of a pipe carrying water. If you want to get more water down the pipe, and send it faster, you need a broader pipe. A dial-up modem (narrowband) would have a small trickle of water flowing along the bottom of the pipe, while a broadband technology such as DSL or cable uses almost all of the available carrying capacity. Broadband benefits: 24-hour internet connection Movies On-Demand Fast interactive digital television Fast interactive home shopping Photo and Video Sharing Video e-mail Video conferencing Fast downloading of games, music and software; Multi-player Gaming Streaming Audio (Internet radio) Music Downloading Voice over IP (make telephone calls) Allows for home networking--more than one computer on one connection Broadband Pitfalls: always on--higher risk of hacking, viruses and identity theft Personal Firewalls: Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm, Symantec's Norton Personal Firewall, McAfee.com's Personal Firewall. Firewalls hide your PC from hackers, blocks suspicious incoming connections, stops malicious programs from spying on your system, and prevents confidential information from being sent out without your knowledge. higher costs
Cable Modem	This broadband method uses the local cable TV line to receive (broadband) Internet content. Can range from 1.5 to 4 megabits per second, depending on available bandwidth. This is a connection to the internet via the same cable lines that a user would get cable television. The signal is split. Usually faster than DSL. The actual bandwidth for Internet service over a cable TV line is up to 27 mbps on the download path to the subscriber with about 2.5 mbps of bandwidth for interactive responses in the other direction. However, since the local provider may not be connected to the Internet on a line faster than a T-1 at 1.5 mbps, a more likely data rate will be close to 1.5 mbps, although some cable subscribers have claimed an ability up to 4mbps. From A 4Mbps cable modem To Transfer A 10MB File would take about 20 seconds. Typical Cost about $30-$50 per month. Special offers abound especially if bundled with regular cable services. About 41% of all Internet users in the USA now have broadband connections surging from just 9 percent of the active online population in 2000. While cable companies continue to surpass the Bells in total broadband market share, they have watched their growth slow compared with DSL (digital subscriber line). DSL offers cheaper subscriptions than cable, which promises higher speeds. Connection Speeds From 4 Mbps to 8 and soon 15 Mbps, it seems the future has finally arrived. And with that, the question is how much speed is enough? Transmission will be almost instantaneous. You share bandwidth and this access with your neighborhood, so there is a possibility of slowdowns during peak-use periods just because your neighbors log on. You are always connected. You will install a splitter onto your existing cable, which allows you to connect to the Internet while still using this wire for your cable TV access as well. There is no problem using the Internet connection and watching cable TV at the same time. A cable modem will be installed on the coax cable at an outlet near your computer Cable Internet Access utilizes T.V. cable upgraded with fiber optic cable for two way transmission capabilities Requires Ethernet card & Specialized cable modem Uses TCP/IP protocol To get online, you need to connect your PC to a broadband modem, which in turn connects to the broadband service. Typically, you'll need an Ethernet adapter to connect your PC to the modem. This can be an internal card or an external USB-to-Ethernet adapter. (While such adapters run at about a tenth the speed of an internal card, they're still easily fast enough to keep up with the throughput of a broadband connection.) Alternatively, your modem may support direct USB connections, in which case just run a USB cable from the device to your PC. Optimum Online Earthlink CableVision
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)	A family of digital telecommunications protocols designed to allow high speed data communication over the existing copper telephone lines between end-users and telephone companies. Up to 1.5 megabits per second. A method for moving data over regular telephone lines. A DSL connection requires a DSL modem, Ethernet card and a computer. From A 4Mbps cable modem To Transfer A 10MB File would take about 20 seconds. Typical Cost about $30-$50 per month. Verizon now has special offers as low as $15 per month. About 50% of broadband users have DSL. Verizon DSL Earthlink You can leave your Internet connection open and still use the phone line for voice calls. The speed is much higher than a regular modem (up to 1.5 Mps vs. 56 kps) DSL doesn't necessarily require new wiring; it can use the phone line you already have. The company that offers DSL will usually provide the modem as part of the installation. A router, along with a DSL modem, allows up to eight computers to access the Internet over a single DSL line. You get an "always-on" connection. But there are disadvantages: A DSL connection works better when you are closer to the provider's central office. The connection is faster for receiving data than it is for sending data over the Internet. The service is not available everywhere.
Wi-Fi	What is Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi, or Wireless Fidelity, allows you to connect to the Internet at high speed without wires. Wi-Fi wireless technology works as a cell phone does, transmitting a wireless signal (radio waves) from a base station to a device. A wireless network connected to the Internet requires the following components: a broadband Internet connection, a modem, a router, a firewall, a wireless access point, and a wireless network adapter for your notebook (built in or a PC Card) or desktop computer (PCI). Some or all of these components often come packaged together in one device. Advantages: No cables to connect or rout. Minimal installation costs. You can use anywhere around your home. Best for laptop users. Disadvantages: Security requires additional steps, without which you are vulnerable to hackers. The signal is broadcast a few hundred feet in each direction. Activate encryption. A technology called Wi-Fi Protection Access (WPA) offers the best protection. Change the default password on your router. Like cell phones, you sometimes experience interference (thick walls, large metal objects, etc.) or a dropped connection. http://www.verizon.net/wifi/ The Wi-Fi-FreeSpot™ Directory is a State by State listing of Wi-Fi locations that offer Free Wireless Internet Access. The locations listed include cafes, restaurants, coffeeshops, libraries, airports, downtown business districts, malls, retail stores, etc. that are open to the public. EXAMPLES IN ROCKLAND COUNTY: Finkelstein Memorial Library; Spring Valley , Kinkos, Nanuet; Holiday Inn, Suffern; Starbucks, Suffern; Barnes and Noble, West Nyack; Borders Books, Ramsey; Suffern Free Library, Suffern. http://www.wififreespot.com/ Most newer notebook computers and some Pocket PC devices are equipped with built in Wi-Fi antennas and software. As a result, selecting a few settings in the Wi-Fi software allows you to connect using a Wi-Fi data signal. In fact, most Wi-Fi software is set up to find and display the available Wi-Fi signals available in your location. The ultimate speed of the connection you receive on your Wi-Fi device is governed by many factors including: the number of active users using a single access point (HotSpot), the distance the device is from the access point, any obstructions that are blocking the signal, and the speed of the wired line that connects to the access point. Generally, Wi-Fi signals transmit reasonably well through glass and many wall types, but they do not transmit well through metal, concrete or buildings. Adding WiFi to a Computer One of the best things about WiFi is how simple it is. Most new laptops already come with a WiFi card built in -- in many cases you don't have to do anything to start using WiFi. It is also easy to add a WiFi card to an older laptop or a desktop PC. Here's what you do: Buy a 802.11g network card. 802.11g has the advantage of higher speeds and good interoperability but standards are always changing. For a laptop, this card will normally be a PCMCIA card that you slide into a PCMCIA slot on your laptop. Or you can buy a small external adapter and plug it into a USB port. For a desktop machine, you can buy a PCI card that you install inside the machine, or a small external adapter that you connect to the computer with a USB cable. Install the card Install the drivers for the card Find an 802.11 hotspot Access the hotspot. A hotspot is a connection point for a WiFi network. It is a small box that is hardwired into the Internet. The box contains an 802.11 radio that can simultaneously talk to up to 100 or so 802.11 cards. There are many WiFi hotspots now available in public places like restaurants, hotels, libraries and airports. And, chances are you will pick up other unsecured signals. Note: Estimates are that about two-thirds of Wi-Fi signals in the U.S. are not secured. There are nearly 15 million Wi-Fi networks in the U.S. and about 10 million of them are unsecured. What is a router? A router does two things: first it provides a wireless network, and second it makes internet available to that same wireless network. A router becomes an access point that transmits wired internet through radio waves, kind of like a tower transmits to your cell phone. What is an NIC Card? NIC - A credit card-size object that fits into the network card slot, commonly located on the side of a laptop, the NIC receives and transmits signals from/to a wireless network. To recognize the radio waves transmitted by your router you need to install a wireless NIC card (also called a PCMCIA card) in each laptop you're planning to be part of your wireless network. Installing the NIC card is easy and when installing it Windows will ask you to set up a unique id for each laptop. This way each laptop will recognize each other on your wireless network and you'll be able copy files between laptops and share Internet connection, printer and other peripherals. Wireless networks are not without their problems. Wireless networks operate on Radio Frequencies or RF. Each NIC or Network Interface Card has a Radio Transceiver attached to it. Because wireless networks operate on Radio Frequencies, they are subject to the same interference as a radio. Heavy walls, large metal objects near a tranceiver, even fish tanks can all interfere with radio signals. When examining wireless speeds, realize that performance will vary. Verizon offers Wi-Fi at multiple locations in the New York City area. The Verizon Wi-Fi service is not available from other hotspots outside the Verizon HotSpot network. Generally, each Verizon Wi-Fi HotSpot covers a 600-foot diameter area around the access point, but service range can be limited by certain factors, such as, obstructions and network congestion. Wi-Fi is currently free to Verizon online customers. You need a Verizon online user id and password, a WiFi 802.11b wireless network card and software in your laptop or PDA. Probably the most important factor in the birth of wireless Internet has been the proliferation of digital cell phones in the last few years. It is estimated that there are more than 50 million Web-enabled cell phones in use. Most cell phones and Web-enabled PDAs have data transfer rates of 14.4 Kbps or less. Compare this to a typical 56 Kbps modem, a cable modem or a DSL connection. Most Web pages today are full of graphics that would take an unbearably long time to download at 14.4 Kbps. Wireless Internet content is typically text-based in order to solve this problem. The relatively small size of the LCD on a cell phone or PDA presents another challenge. Most Web pages are designed for a resolution of 640x480 pixels, which is fine if you are reading on a desktop or a laptop. The page simply does not fit on a wireless device's display, which might be 150x150 pixels. Also, the majority of wireless devices use monochrome screens. Pages are harder to read when font and background colors become similar shades of gray. Navigation is another issue. You make your way through a Web page with points and clicks using a mouse; but if you are using a wireless device, you often use one hand to scroll keys. WAP takes each of these limitations into account and provides a way to work with a typical wireless device.
Satellite	Although it's been somewhat ignored among the current high-speed Internet methods, satellite technology has one strong advantage over cable modems and DSL: accessibility. While cable companies and telephone companies are struggling to upgrade their facilities to support these technologies, the infrastructure exists today to provide 400kbps (kilobits per second) of bandwidth to almost anyone with a 21" satellite dish. It may be hard to imagine that requesting web pages 20,000 miles up to the Hughes satellite and back down again would make for faster access. However, the 400kbps rate at which you receive data is almost eight times faster than today's fastest telephone modems. However, it is not as fast as today's cable modems or DSL services, which both can provide over megabits of bandwidth. You can most buy and install a mini-dish satellite receiver and satellite modem for a few hundred dollars. The 21" dish systems are readily available and fairly easy to install, although DirecPC recommends a professional installation. The satellite modem is a standard PCI card, easily inserted into any modern PC with an available slot. You need to install a PCI satellite modem card in your PC, the mini-dish, and a line from the dish to the modem. If you've opted for the USB version you won't even have to open up your computer; you'll just need an external satellite modem that connects to a USB port on your PC. To get satellite Internet access virtually anywhere, you need a place to mount the dish with a clear view of the southern sky and a fairly basic Windows based PC. Basically, satellite Internet traffic travels from a ground-based network operations center (NOC) to a satellite and from there to your computer. Limitations include lack of support for platforms beyond Windows; higher costs relative to other high-speed access methods; and potential problems associated with severe weather DirectPC Typical Cost about $30-$50 per month. Speed is about eight times faster than dial-up but not as fast as cable or DSL.

What's a web browser?

Web browsers are software loaded on your computer that allow you to VIEW the contents of the World Wide Web. They "translate" HTML-encoded files into the text, images, sounds, and other features you see. Browsers like Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox are usually provided to you free from your ISP.

Internet Explorer 6 is the dominating browser,
Windows XP is the most popular operating system (an update, Windows Vista, will be available early next year), and
most users are using a display with *800 x 600 pixels or more, with a color depth of at least 65K colors.

* The current trend is that more and more computers are using a screen size of 1024x768 pixels

For the first time, Internet Explorer has been losing market share. According to a worldwide survey conducted in early 2006, Internet Explorer's share dropped to about 80 percent, Firefox now has almost 20 percent of the market, and it is growing.

Browsers, allow you to see images and video or hear sound files on your computer. The browser lets you control the way information is displayed on your screen, and you can use the mouse to choose highlighted "links" on the screen. Navigation is accomplished by pointing and clicking with a mouse on highlighted words and graphics.

Mozilla Firefox

Web browsers "read" hypertext and convert it into a page like the one you are now looking at. Here is a brief guide to the most commonly used features of a browser:
 

A browser screen usually contains several different sections. Take note of them.

1. The Title Bar--The name of the Web site or title of the page you are viewing is found on the top left hand corner of your screen. Traditionally, this horizontal blue bar runs across the entire width of your screen. This blue bar that contains the name of the Web site is called the Title