There are two main ways to connect to the Internet at home:

Broadband
Last year Broadband overtook dial-up as the most common way for computer users to connect to the internet. It’s not difficult to see why: broadband offers you an 'always on’ internet connection, it’s much faster than the dial-up method and doesn’t tie up your phone line while you are using the internet.

Broadband is available via ADSL, telephone line technology or through cable and satellite connections. A key factor when choosing a broadband supplier is to think about what speed of connection you’ll need.  The truth is that 2Mb is usually more than sufficient for most people’s needs – that is, surfing the web and sending emails. Only if you are keen on downloading movie and music files are you going to need a connection as fast as say 4Mb. And at the top end of the scale, 8Mb is only really needed by those who like to play online games – or sometimes if you are networking a number of PCs together for internet use.

Beyond that, it’s really just a question of putting the work in to compare the prices and deals on offer.  While you can of course do your own research, there are a lot of useful comparison websites out there, including the well-regarded www.uswitch.com, which offers impartial advice.

You might also want to consider whether you could save money by using your broadband connection to make phone calls over the internet.

In order to use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) you need to sign up with a service provider. Some – such as the popular Skype (www.skype.com) - allow you to make free phone calls to other subscribers.

On the plus side, other service providers do offer much cheaper call rates than conventional telephone providers, particularly for international calls, so it could well be worth investigating the best offers on the market.  A good starting point for understanding this technology is www.voip.org.uk. 

Dial-up and ISDN
For homeworkers whose internet needs are limited – to occasional web surfing and checking emails just a few times a day – a dial-up internet connection may still be the cheapest option. With this method you must dial up using a 56K modem each time you wish to connect to the net and are charged for every minute you are online. Think carefully before choosing this option although if your internet use does increase you can always make the switch to broadband.

For those areas where broadband is still not available (increasingly few parts of the UK) then ISDN – the original high-speed digital telecoms standard – may be the alternative. However, this method of connection – which has been in decline in recent years – is expensive.