Dial-up
But many of the 63 million U.S. households that have super fast broadband Internet connections may be surprised that more than 20 million Americans still use much slower dial-up modems, according to the Telecommunications Industry Association.
Yes, dial-up is cheaper -- about $30 per month cheaper -- but customers pay nearly ten times as much per second for each data download than with broadband.
Dial-up plans cost about $10 per month for a top speed of 56 kilobytes per second, or about 18 cents per Kbps. Broadband customers pay about $40 per month for speeds averaging 2,000 Kbps, or about 2 cents per Kbps.
So why stick with dial-up? Some users don't have the option while others don't need faster speeds.
"Some are stuck in areas where there's no broadband, and for others, it's a cost decision," said Carl Howe, analyst at Yankee Group. "[Dial-up] is not a service for a lot of us that are in the 'things have to get done now world,' but there are some people who have the time."
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