it is internet on a phone line.
here is a conversation that someone asked about the Earthlink
dial-up internet access.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r2585169...

That's if your laptop has a telephone jack, next to the ethernet jack.
You plug it into a telephone land line and subscribe for like $10 a month.
(Google search dial up internet.)
It's very slooooooow............
Check your email.
Forget streaming anything...

This is how everybody used the internet in the days when the movie,
"You've Got Mail" was released. Most people had AOL dial up.