U.S. home broadband and dial-up internet connection usage 2017

Data about computer and Internet use were collected by asking respondents to select "Yes" or "No" to each type of computer and each type of Internet subscription. Therefore, respondents were able to select more than one type of computer and more than one type of Internet subscription. The category "Broadband of any type" refers to those who said "Yes" to at least one of the following types of Internet subscriptions: Broadband such as cable, fiber optic, or DSL; a cellular data plan; satellite; or a fixed wireless subscription. An Internet "subscription" refers to a type of service that someone pays for to access the Internet such as a cellular data plan, broadband such as cable, fiber optic or DSL, or other type of service. This will normally refer to a service that someone is billed for directly for Internet alone or sometimes as part of a bundle. Examples of "Internet access without a subscription" include cases such as free Internet service provided by a respondent's town or city or free Internet service a university may provide for their students. "Internet access" refers to whether or not a household uses or connects to the Internet, regardless of whether or not they pay for the service to do so. Data about Internet access was collected by asking if the respondent or any member of the household accessed the Internet. The respondent then selected one of the following three categories: "Yes, by paying a cell phone company or Internet service provider"; "Yes, without paying a cell phone company or Internet service provider"; or "No access to the Internet at the house, apartment or mobile home". Only respondents who answered "Yes, by paying a cell phone company or Internet service provider" were asked the subsequent question about the types of service they had access to such as dial-up, broadband (high speed) service such as cable, fiber-optic, or DSL, a cellular data plan, satellite or some other service.