My wife is staying at the Sheraton Algarve next week on business. I enquired about the avaialbility of high speed internet in the rooms and was advised that the rooms only have "anologic lines" and that high speed is available only in the business office 24 hours a day.

Is my assumption that "analogic line" means simple phone line?

Thanks

Ed

Yes. It's usually called an ANALOG line.

Yes, that's exactly what an analogue/analog line is.

Actually, there are two kinds of phone lines a hotel room might have. An analog(ue) line is the good kind: you can plug in a modem and it will work. Digital lines, on the other hand, will fry it (instantaneously, before you try to connect or can even react). To make things worse, you can't tell from the plug if a line analog or digital - a plus for people selling or installing digital phone systems, since otherwise switching to digital would require replacing all the jacks, but a bad thing for the visiting modem user.

If you want to be certain you have an analog line before you risk a $200 repair bill for your laptop, you can get a line tester for about $20 from lots of places. You get a green light if it's safe to use the line. (I got mine at the Magellan store in Ventura, Calif.)