There are many ways to speed up your Internet connection. It costs several hundred dollars to get set up and you are charged per minute, but it is available in many areas that DSL and Cable are not. Both dial-up and subscriber line options are available. A 128 Kbps ISDN line offers integrated voice, data, video and image transmission over a single telephone line, with vastly increased quality and data due to digital transmission. There are many pros and cons to this service.
Cable modems are relatively expensive, but there are no per minute charges.
Although a cable modem is capable of providing downstream transmissions of 500 Kbps to 30,000 Kbps, there are limiting factors that will significantly reduce these speeds, including your computer's ability to handle Internet traffic, and the number of users using the cable. The practical limit is currently about 200 Kbps which still very fast. The down sides are that DSL modems are more expensive than regular modems and service is not available in many areas. The advantage is that DSL users can receive voice and data simultaneously, so small offices can leave computers plugged into the Net without interrupting phone connections. Network Utility is still under development, but has the potential to speed up any Internet connection without special modems or phone lines.