High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses telephone lines. The user's computer or router uses an attached modem connected to a telephone line to dial into an Internet service provider's node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then used to route Internet Protocol packets between the user's equipment and hosts. The term was coined during the early days of computer telecommunications when modems were needed to connect terminals or computers running terminal emulator software to mainframes, minicomputers, online services and bulletin board systems via a telephone line.