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Minimum specification

If you’ve bought your computer in the last three years, you should have very little trouble connecting to broadband.

For Microsoft Windows based machines, the minimum specification for a PC to connect to broadband is as follows:

• Operating System: Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000/XP
• Processor speed: Minimum of 266 MHz
  (400Mhz recommended)
• RAM: Minimum of 64MB of RAM (128MB recommended)
• 1 free USB or Ethernet port
• 150MB free hard drive space
• 4-speed CD-ROM drive
  (if software is required from your ISP)

(Source: various ISPs online information)

Do check with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), as this information changes with each organisation. The point to remember is that old PCs running Windows 95 were not even designed to connect to the internet, so connecting to broadband would not be supported by many ISPs.

Many older machines do not have USB or Ethernet ports, which is how the broadband modem connects to your computer.

The newer the computer, the greater the RAM, the faster the processor speed, the better your experience with broadband will be.