With the explosive growth of the Internet and the desire of users to connect to the Internet from home either for pleasure or work-related reasons, the microcomputer-to-Internet layout continues to grow steadily. Originally, most home users connected to the Internet via a dial-up telephone line and a modem. This arrangement allowed for a maximum data transfer rate of roughly 56,000 bits per second 56 kbps. The connections do not actually achieve 56 kbps, but that is a discussion we will have in Chapter Eleven. Computer repair miami no longer is the dial up modem the most often used layout. Today, a majority of home users either connect to the Internet using digital subscriber line DSL or access the Internet through a cable modem service. In comparing the various data transfer rates of services and devices, we will use the convention in which lower case k equals 1000. Also as part of the convention, lowercase b will refer to bits, while uppercase B refers to bytes. To communicate with the Internet using a dial up, DSL, or cable modem connection, a user’s computer must connect to another computer already communicating with the Internet. The easiest way to establish this connection is through the services of an Internet service provider ISP. In this case, the user’s computer needs to have the necessary software to communicate with the Internet. The Internet “talks” only TCP/IP, so users must use software that supports the TCP and IP protocols. Once the user’s computer is talking TCP/IP, a connection to the Internet can be established. Because the local area network is a standard in business and academic environments, it should come as no surprise that many organizations need the services of multiple local area networks and that it may be necessary for these LANs to communicate with each other. For example, a company may want the local area network that supports its research department to share an expensive color. Toward the end of the twentieth century, a new form of network appeared that interconnected businesses within a metropolitan area. Typically, this interconnection uses only fiber-optic links at extremely high speeds. These new networks are labeled metropolitan area networks. A metropolitan area network is a high- speed network that interconnects multiple sites within a close geographic region, such as a large urban area. Metropolitan area networks are a cross between local area networks and wide area networks. They can transfer data at fast LAN speeds but over larger geographic regions than typically associated with a local area network. Computer repair miami already seen that the local area network is commonly found in business and academic environments. If a user working at a microcomputer connected to a local area network wishes to access the Internet a wide area Satellite and microwave layouts Satellite and microwave layouts are continuously evolving technologies used in a variety of applications. If the distance between two networks is great and running a wire between them would be difficult if not impossible , satellite and microwave transmission systems can be an extremely effective way to connect the two networks or computer systems. Examples of these applications include digital satellite TV, meteorology, intelligence operations, mobile maritime telephony, GPS navigation systems, wireless e-mail, worldwide mobile telephone systems, and video conferencing.