As previously stated, this chapter focuses on Internet communications that use the PSTN networks to provide connectivity between remote users. PSTNs are based on circuit-switching with dedicated capacity to transfer and route traffic throughout the PSTN.
Data communication on the Internet, however, is based on packet switching, designed for high throughput of all communications, including data, audio, and video. Packet-switching networks provide the highest rates of data transfer available; however, the Internet relies on PSTNs to deploy the packet-switching technologies. You can select different PSTN line services that will support data communications on Internet, and to support WANs and local area networks (LANs).
The next two sections describe the transmission technologies and telephone connections that you can choose to connect to the Internet. After you select a telephone line service that provides the amount of bandwidth you need, use the Windows NT Hardware Compatibility List to identify the hardware devices that you can select that will support the line service you chose.