Activity: Compare isPs

These are short characteristics of ISPs chosen by compuTalk forum members to compare.

ISP: AT@T SPEED: 1.5 Mbps COMMENTS: I know I don’t have the fastest connection, but it suits my needs. Downloading an ISO CD file doesn’t take long (about half an hour to an hour).

ISP: Tista online SPEED: 21kbps COMMENTS: Very slow and very cheap. It is dial up…I pay only $7 for that

ISP: DC.lv SPEED: 60kb/s COMMENTS: Very cheap, but not very fast and not so reliable at all…

ISP: Rogers Cable SPEED: 128kbps COMMENTS: Very slow, and my parent’s are too cheap to get the faster plans.

www.computalk.com

Make a top-list of the ISPs, ordering the best first and the worst last. If you need additional info – go Google!

Practice Translation

R ead the text:

Going online with an isp

There are many ways to use a computer to access the Internet. On-line organizations such as America On-line or Compuserve offer connection as well as many other services like magazines, chat areas and information retrieval and storage. Some Internet Service Providers only offer dial-up or cable connections to the Internet. Usually, their services may cost more if charged by the minute or by the amounts of traffic but on the other hand ISPs can offer annual fees and those services are cheaper.

Well, if you don't have a computer and a modem (or a motherboard netcard), get one. Your computer can act as a terminal, and you can use an ordinary telephone line to connect to an Internet-linked machine. If you're on a campus, your university may have direct "dedicated access" to high-speed Internet TCP/IP lines. Apply for an Internet account on a dedicated campus machine, and you may be able to get those long-distance computing and file-transfer functions. Some cities, such as Cleveland, supply "freenet" community access. Businesses increasingly have Internet access, and are willing to sell it to subscribers. The standard fee is about $40 a month -- about the same as TV cable service.

Questions:

1. How does one get connected to the Internet?

2. What services do ISP offer their customers?

3. How can one get access on a campus?

Provide a written translation of the text into Russian.

Activity: Exploring your local isp market

Find most popular ISP in your area on the Internet and answer the questions:

• How many ISPs are there in your area?

• Which of them provide the cheapest/most expensive/most reliable connection?

• What services do they offer?

• How much does the access to the Internet cost on average throughout your area?

• Is it the same in the capital/province?

Provide a short printable report for your research results in document format.

Read and Talk

ISP and TCP/IP

1. Provide the Russian equivalents for the following:

sign up with an ISP	install the software	set up the login
service guide	transmission control protocol	point to point protocol driver
install wizard	file manager	the content of a page
hypertext-based system	hypertext markup language	utility
retrieve documents	file transfer protocol	click on keywords
Hypertext Transfer Protocol	navigate through the Web

2. Practice the conversation.

− I signed up with an ISP, and they sent me the dial-up service guide. How do I get on-line? − You need the TCP/IP software that will let you connect to your ISP. − I found some on a CD-ROM in the back of an Internet magazine. − After you've installed the software, you have to set up the login. Usually, this means a login name and password and telling the software the name of the name server, mail server and news server. − It sounds difficult. − Not really, the install wizard will do the hard part.

3. Read the text and prepare a summary.