Finding an ISP

There are many ways to find an ISP. Asking friends and co-workers for recommendations is probably the best way to find a reliable ISP in your area. The Mac OS X setup assistant can also help you find an ISP if you don’t already have one when you set up your Mac.

Deciding between broadband and dial-up

If you’re a casual Internet user and don’t mind tying up your telephone line while connected to the Internet, a dial-up connection may be a good choice. However, if you’d like to access the Internet and not tie up your phone line, broadband connections to the Internet are comparable in price, and offer higher speeds, which means faster downloads. If you travel a lot and need to access the Internet from various locations, you may want to go with a dial-up account, or find an ISP that offers a broadband connection for your home and dial-up numbers for when you travel.

Connecting through an existing network

If you connect to the Internet at your school or office, you probably connect through an existing network. In this case you simply plug an Ethernet cable from the wall into the Ethernet port on your computer, or you connect wirelessly through a wireless network. If you are unable to connect to the Internet this way, you will need to contact your network administrator or help desk for additional information.

Your ISP might provide software to connect to the Internet

If your ISP provides you with customized software to connect to their service, use a Mac OS X version of the software. In most cases this kind of software isn’t necessary, all you need is the correct settings from your ISP.