There are a number of compromises we can make so that a computer that does not have a direct connection can still have some type of relationship with the Internet. Many companies and most universities have one or more mainframes or other large computers with direct connections to the Internet. Members of that organization are give accounts on those huge machines, with a small amount of hard drive space dedicated to that individual. These large computers are also frequently attached to a bank of modems. People with modem - equipped computers at home and accounts on these large computers can use special software to have their home computer call the larger machine. Once the communication is established, the home computer becomes a terminal to the large one. Note that this is functionally very similar to telnet. The only difference is in the type of connection. Telnet is between two computers which BOTH have IP numbers and connections to the Internet. In a dial - in connection, only the large computer has an IP number, and the home computer does not exist as far as the Internet is concerned. All transactions happen in the CPU and drive space of the LARGE computer. The home computer is nothing more than a terminal. If you used such a connection to download a specific piece of software, for example, that software would be stored in your drive space on the LARGE computer. You would need to use other strategies to copy it from that large computer to your computer at home. Obviously, this is a bit of a disadvantage. Another disadvantage of this type of connection is that a dial in connection usually implies only command - line interfaces, which are a bit ugly and difficult to work with. No matter how nice the graphics and sound capabilities of your home computer might be, they are tied to your own CPU and will not be utilized when you are using a dial - in style connection. Still, dial in connections are very popular because they are extremely inexpensive to maintain, provide the most important Internet services, and work with even very limited home computers. Most universities give all students at least limited dial - in service.