There are four types of internet access generally available to the public.
Dial-up is slow. Last time I checked it maxed out at 52 k although most of the ISPs (like NetZero) offer "accelerator" software. This does not give you a faster connection, it just caches pages more efficiently than most browsers so that they load faster...most techies can tune a PC and the browser so that it does just as well.
Satellite--I don't remember the rated speed but it is faster than dial-up and slower than the next two. Requires a lot of hardware, some tricky networking if you have multiple PCs on a LAN, and it stops working whenever it rains.
DSL is offered over phone lines. As fast as it gets for the general public. The phone companies only offer it in areas where their infrastructure is in place, so if you live in the sticks, or in a neighborhood that was not heavily populated at the time they put the infrastructure in it will probably not be available...yet. DSL is a dedicated line, meaning your PC or LAN is the only one using it (in theory...the network will play games with routing).
Cable comes over the TV cable. As fast as DSL. Also like DSL, it is available only where the infrastructure exists. It is not a dedicated line, so if you live in a well-populated area with a lot of neighbors also on cable access you will all slow one another down.
If you think you are not part of the general public a fifth option is to have your own dedicated line (T1 or higher) put into your site. The phone companies will run a T1 pretty much anywhere you ask them to, but it will come at a price relative to your distance from their point-of-presence. Last time I looked (which was a couple of years ago, maybe different today) T1s were running about $300/month, after installation costs.