It’s the 21st century and in this day and age, the necessities in life have changed. While food, air, water, and shelter still remain on the top of the human must-have list, those are now joined by another can’t-do-without necessity: Internet.

Much of North America began accessing the Internet via dial-up service and over the years, dial-up has maintained a high degree of popularity because it’s so accessible; a majority of homes are wired to receive landline phone services so there’s no special technology or equipment required to get online via dial-up Internet. However, with the growing popularity of faster, broadband Internet services, dial-up providers are quickly losing patrons.

Broadband Internet can be provided in one of four ways: Cable, DSL, satellite, or FiOs. FiOs is the newest and fastest of the broadband technologies, Cable and DSL are fairly comparable to one another, and satellite Internet is the slowest of the broadband services. All of the technologies provide the same basic Internet capabilities but it’s satellite Internet that’s the biggest competition for dial-up because of its accessibility. DSL and cable Internet is only available in select areas while satellite Internet, like dial-up, is accessible by almost anyone, almost anywhere. Plus, when it’s all said and done, satellite Internet is still faster than dial-up. (Most companies estimate about 7X as fast.) It’s not until you look at equipment and price that you will discover how dial-up and satellite services differ.

As stated earlier, the only things required for dial-up Internet are a phone line and service with an Internet provider. Satellite Internet, however, requires more of an investment. To receive satellite Internet, you need a satellite dish (big surprise, right!) plus service through a provider. Satellite dishes can be a hefty investment but if you purchase Internet service from a company that also provides satellite TV, the dish becomes a multipurpose piece of equipment and you can often get a discount on both satellite TV and satellite Internet services. The other difference between satellite Internet service and dial-up Internet is price. Hands down, dial-up is cheaper than satellite Internet but with the popularity of satellite Internet use growing as quickly as it is; it seems Americans are willing to pay the price for the perk of faster, more efficient Internet usage.

If you’re interested in learning more about satellite Internet service or other broadband options, the Internet is a great place to find all that you’re looking for. There are plenty of articles on the topics and some websites even provide real-time speed comparisons so dial-up users can experience the difference between dial-up and broadband Internet first hand. For the deals on satellite Internet, satellite TV or a combination of the two, a consumer comparison shopping site like BroadbandNational.com is a good place to start. The site lists many of the current promotions for services and even offers discounts and rebates on select equipment and services.

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