dial-up
/DY-ul-up/ · adjective · Hacker Culture · Origin: 1979
Definitions
A method of connecting to the internet by using a modem to place a telephone call to an ISP's access number. Characterized by the iconic handshake screech, agonizing speeds (typically 28.8–56 kbps), and the inability to use the phone while online. Dominated home internet access from the early 1990s until broadband displaced it in the mid-2000s.
In plain English: The old way of connecting to the internet by making a phone call with your computer — painfully slow and it meant nobody else could use the phone.
Example: You haven't experienced true patience until you've waited 45 minutes for a single MP3 to download on dial-up while praying nobody picks up the phone.
Etymology
- 1958
- AT&T introduced the Bell 101 modem, enabling data transmission over telephone lines at 110 bps. Early mainframe terminals used dial-up connections to reach remote computers.
- 1979
- Hayes Microcomputer Products released the Smartmodem, which could dial phone numbers automatically. This made dial-up accessible to personal computer users.
- 1990s
- Dial-up internet became the dominant way to get online. Services like AOL, CompuServe, and local ISPs connected millions of homes at 14.4, 28.8, and eventually 56 kbps.
- 2000s
- Broadband (DSL and cable) rapidly displaced dial-up. The characteristic modem handshake screech became a nostalgic cultural memory of early internet access.
Origin Story
The Sound of the Internet Waking Up
Dial-up internet access, the method of connecting to the internet by using a modem to dial a phone number over standard telephone lines, defined the online experience for an entire generation. The technology traces back to the late 1970s when Dennis Hayes and Dale Heatherington created the first PC modem, the Hayes Smartmodem, in 1981, which could be controlled by software commands (the AT command set). Bulletin board systems (BBS) used dial-up connections throughout the 1980s, but the technology reached mass adoption in the 1990s when internet service providers like AOL, CompuServe, and EarthLink offered affordable dial-up plans. The characteristic screech-and-hiss of a modem handshake became one of the most recognizable sounds in technology history. At its peak in the early 2000s, dial-up served over 100 million users worldwide. The maximum speed of 56 kbps (limited by FCC regulations on signal power over phone lines) meant that loading a single high-resolution image could take minutes. Broadband connections through DSL and cable began replacing dial-up in the mid-2000s, though dial-up persisted in rural areas for years afterward. The experience of waiting for a page to load, hearing the modem negotiate, and being kicked offline by an incoming phone call shaped how a generation understood the internet.
Coined by: Dennis Hayes and Dale Heatherington (modem technology)
Context: PC modems emerged in the early 1980s; dial-up internet access became mainstream through ISPs in the 1990s.
Fun fact: The 56 kbps speed limit was not a technical constraint of the modem hardware but an FCC regulation limiting the power level of signals transmitted over public telephone lines. In theory, modems could have gone faster.