This provides much faster speeds, and often even exceeds those offered by a conventional, dedicated T1 circuit. Set-top boxes come in varying flavors, depending on the level of service. Some merely enable users to use their current analog television sets to decode digital broadcasts. An Internet enabled set-top box enables a television set to interface with the Internet. The service to which the set-top box is attached may be through a telephone line as, for example, with WebTV, or through a cable TV company.
Downstream traffic is carried via coaxial cable and upstream traffic via regular phone lines.
Users have to dial into the local WebTV access number. In case WebTV does not have a local number to dial into users can dial into their local ISP's number. The following is a hypothetical situation for a user interested in using WebTV in a small rural community, Libby, Montana, where WebTV does not provide a local number to dial into. The local community based ISP is KooteNet. Within four months of its being in operation, it had 120 subscribers and was able to pay back this amount.