Broadband, of course, is the fastest type of Internet link, offering near-instantaneous connections and swifter downloads than slower — albeit cheaper — dial-up Internet service. Availability of broadband is growing, with virtually all cable-TV companies now offering the service and telephone companies wiring more neighborhoods for digital subscriber line (DSL) service.

In the magazine's spring 2005 survey of nearly 26,000 readers, the highest-scoring cable and DSL providers offered comparable, fairly high levels of satisfaction, while the least satisfactory of each received equally ho-hum ratings. Cost, meanwhile, was the main attraction for dial-up users: Prices ranged from $10 to $25 a month, compared with $40 to $50 a month for cable and $30 to $45 a month for DSL.

If you use the Internet mainly to check e-mail and occasionally to surf online, a dial-up connection may suffice. That said, even casual surfers will notice Web pages loading more quickly with broadband service. And the more time you spend online either downloading large files or uploading data to Web sites, the more you'll notice the speed differences with dial-up service.

While dial-up services are available nationwide, your choice in broadband providers will depend on where you live — right down to your neighborhood or even street, in some cases. Most cable companies now offer broadband, though they may not yet have wired their entire coverage area for the service. Major phone companies also typically offer DSL service in their most densely populated markets, but not yet in every neighborhood.

CR's survey showed a fairly narrow range in overall satisfaction for both cable and DSL providers. If high speed is your priority in an Internet connection, consider the cable service that's available in your area. Although cable will likely cost more than DSL, you'll probably realize some savings if you bundle cable-TV service with your Internet.

For the best value in broadband service, CR's survey points to two DSL providers: SBC Yahoo! and Verizon. Each costs about $30 a month, and there's a good likelihood that one or both are available where you live. (Note that Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, provides online content to — and sells subscriptions through — Yahoo!, AOL and MSN.) Neither SBC Yahoo! nor Verizon yielded the high satisfaction scores with service reliability and tech support of the better cable companies, yet both were reliable enough.

Reliability scores for dial-up providers were no better than average, while information about tech support was scanty. Overall, the magazine found the best value in dial-up service to be Juno which costs about $10 a month but satisfied CR subscribers as well as the pricier EarthLink.