dial-up - technical definition

Refers to using the regular "dial-up" telephone network to send data from a computer to a remote network or to a remote device. The computer's digital data are converted to analog signals in the same frequency range as human voice by a modem. At the other end, another modem converts the analog back to digital.

For home users, dial-up was the first Internet access service available. It was followed by ISDN, cable and DSL. See modem and dial-up network.