As well as being 10 - 100 times faster than dial up, broadband is also a permanent connection.
This means that you don't have to 'dial in' every time you want to use the internet. You just start your computer and open a web browser to start surfing.
Dial up access is fine for receiving e-mail, but it takes such a long time to download things like music, video or photos, most people give up before it arrives.
New content
As well as web pages loading pretty much instantly, new types of content like video and music become something you can enjoy.
Downloading things with a dial up connection is slow and frustrating
Having a broadband connection opens up online activities like the new BBC Interactive Media Player (iMP) which will be launched later in 2005.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
Broadband - a permanent, high-speed internet connection. It receives information between 10 and 100 times faster than a dial up modem and is "always-on".
