You don't have to have a computer at home to access the internet. Many public libraries have terminals you can rent by the hour, and there are internet cafes in many towns offering the same service on a more commercial basis and with a cup of coffee thrown in. But if you are going to be a regular user these are not cheap options and, unless you can get away with using your office internet connection, you are going to have to set yourself up with an internet account at home.

For this you will need a computer, a modem, a phone line, the right software and an account with an internet service provider (ISP). Costs vary, but a new PC will cost about £600-£1,000, (a decent laptop will cost about £1,500) the modem, if it is not built in to your computer, will be another £100 or so, the software almost nothing at all and the ISP account between nothing and £120 a year.

Virtually any computer you buy new nowadays will be fine for connecting to the internet. Pick up some of the computer magazines, such as What PC? and PC Buyer, to see what's on offer. Don't forget Apple iMacs - more chic but more expensive - which claim to be able to have you surfing the net within 20 minutes of taking the thing out of the box.

A depressing but accurate rule of thumb when buying computer equipment is that, whatever you buy, there will be something twice as good and half the price in six months' time. But all that means is you should buy the fastest computer available within your budget. If you wait for the next model, you will wait for ever.

Computer speed is gauged in terms of the processor speed, which you will see described in megahertz (MHz). This is the speed at which the computer's "brain" can perform calculations (and everything is a calculation to a computer). Don't consider anything under 350MHz. You will also see computers described in terms of memory (or Ram) and disk size. These are simply two ways, one temporary, one permanent, in which the computer stores information. You should be looking for at least 64 megabytes (MB) of Ram and a hard disk of 5 gigabytes (GB) or more. Apple Macintosh computers require less memory and disk space to perform the same functions as their PC counterparts, but most come with 64MB of Ram and a 6GB hard disk as standard.

The modem connects computer to phone line and allows it to "talk" to the internet - sending and receiving information as required. Many PCs and Apple Macintosh computers come with modems built in. You simply plug one end of a lead into your phone socket and the other into the back of the computer. If the modem isn't included with your computer you have to buy a separate unit. Modems vary in the speed with which they can transmit data between computer and internet. This is measured in thousands of bits per second (kbps), a bit being the smallest unit of computer data, and you should be looking for a modem with a top speed of at least 33.3kbps and preferably 56.6kbps; otherwise the web pages you look at will download frustratingly slowly.

Finally, whatever computer you have, using the internet will involve looking at the screen for long periods, so make sure you buy one you are comfortable with. If you are buying by mail order, find out what screen will be supplied and go and take a look at it in a shop. The sharper the screen, the more it will cost, but the better for your eyes it will be.

There are about 1,000 ISPs in the UK at the moment. All allow you to send and receive e-mails and access web pages - usually by dialling a local phone number from your computer. Many provide you with the facility to create web pages of your own. Some offer extra services such as being able to send faxes via your internet account.

ISPs make money in three ways. Some, such as Demon or Easynet, charge a monthly subscription - usually around £10-£15 - and give you an ordinary local-rate number to dial when you want to connect. Others are "free", in that you pay no monthly charge, but you still have to dial a local number to connect. Others still are free in that you pay no monthly charge and dial a (free) 0800 number to connect. They make their money by selling advertising which you see when connected.

It may seem the obvious choice to sign up with a free, 0800-number provider. But beware. ISPs vary in reliability and there's no point in saving money if your provider is always busy or out of action when you want to download e-mail or check a news website. What's more, some ISPs charge up to £1 a minute for calls to their technical helplines. You can find lists of the best and worst ISPs in magazines such as Internet and, if you already have access to the web, at www.ispreview.co.uk.

Almost all the software you need is available free of charge and most ISPs provide it as a matter of course. As well as a small program that does the dialling and connecting, you will be using an internet browser - such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator - and, most likely, a program to send, receive and organise e-mail, such as Lotus Notes or Microsoft's Outlook Express. Your browser allows you to view any number of the 1bn or so web pages on the net, though it would take you about 475 years to view them all.

If you don't know the address of a page, you can search for a topic using one of the internet's search engines. There are about 3,000 of these, including www.google.com, www.altavista.com, www.ask.co.uk and www.excite.com. All work in similar ways: you type in what you are looking for and click on the Search button. You then get a list of relevant web pages, underlined so you can click on them and be taken straight there.

With so many pages to look at, from there the net is your oyster. Soon you will be creating web pages of your own. But in the meantime, happy surfing.

Broadband

ISPs have started marketing very high-speed internet connections to homes throughout most of the UK, either through cable subscriptions or down phone lines via a process known as ADSL. These broadband connections offer data-transfer rates ten times higher than a standard modem. Until July 2001, however, when BT loses its monopoly in this area, ADSL internet connections will be relatively expensive, at about £50 a month, and technical difficulties mean many homes won't be able to get them for a while. It's probably worth waiting until the range of products increases and the costs come down.

Wap

Wap, or wireless application protocol, lets you access certain websites and send and receive e-mail from your mobile phone. Don't expect too much: Wap is slower than the slowest modem (the maximum speed is 9,600 bits per second) and as a result Wap websites are usually text only. Over the next two years, two newer technologies are expected to enhance Wap capabilities. General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) promise much higher connection speeds and the possibility of video direct to your phone. In the meantime, Wap has some way to go. As one retailer puts it: "Right now, it's not a lot better than Ceefax."