Robin Williams Mac OS X Book, Jaguar Edition, The

You Need a Modem

Before you can get connected in the first place, you need a modem (if you don’t know what a modem is, and you care, see pages 488–489). The kind of modem you need depends on how you plan to connect to the Internet.

You have basically two choices. You will connect through:

Either a phone line with the modem that is built into your Mac, as explained below. (If your Mac is older and doesn’t have a built-in modem, you’ll need to buy one. Go to any office supply store or call MacWarehouse at 800.622.6222 and tell them you need a 56K modem for your Macintosh.)

Or a high-speed, broadband connection such as DSL, ISDN, cable, T1, T3, or satellite. The company that provides your service will sell you a special modem.

If you have a choice, ...