Depending on where you live, you're usually limited to a handful of options for getting Internet access. In 2022, the options available are somewhat different from what was available 10-20 years ago; but most places still just have two, maybe three ISPs to choose from. Here is a review of what was, and what is available now.
Any of us who were online in the 1990s, remembers the modem connection “song”. Over the past twenty years, analog phone lines have been slowly phased out; with phone providers focusing on their cellular service offerings. The UK and other countries have begun official phase-outs as well; with the UK going to full VOIP for telephones in 2025. Alarm services have typically used dedicated phone lines, but newer systems are Internet-based, so that transition is also underway. Also, in the 1990s and onward, bonded digital phone lines (ISDN) and full digital phone line trunks (T1) were offered to businesses for high-speed, bidirectional Internet & computer networking; these services are also impacted by the phase-out of traditional phone lines. None of this was any faster than 1 Mbit.
ADSL and related services have been largely available for the past twenty years. They're several times faster than T1 lines (on download anyway); but are limited by the quality of phone line, and distance, going back to the “central office”. Closer to the "COs", one can expect up to 12-24 Mbit download, 1Mbit upload. In the recent decade, VDSL has become an available option in a lot of places: it takes the work put into phone lines and older DSL methods and provides cable-like speeds to subscribers (50-400 Mbit download, 3-400 Mbit upload).
Cable Internet's been around since the late 1990s, after many providers switched to using fiber lines for providing service. In many places, it's the default option for getting Internet; with speeds varying based on how good the lines are, but the average seems to be 300 Mbit download, 100 Mbit upload. Services may have usage caps, that will force a significant reduction of speed once reached.
Since the mid-2000s, Internet via phones has been useful for both mobile use and tethering to PCs/Macs/whatnot. EV-DO and EDGE were earlier standards for “3G” service; now supplanted by “4G” LTE. "5G" is an evolution of this: it uses the frequencies from the older standards, and also adds new ones that are shorter-range, but higher bandwidth. A lot of IOT devices (including cars, medical devices, etc.) make use of LTE; and full 5G service isn't available in a lot of areas (especially with the high-speed offerings); so, the two will co-exist for the considerable future. Speeds for either service will usually be slower than VDSL, Cable, or Fiber; but will be faster, or the only-option, in a lot of rural areas; conversely, there tend to be usage caps much smaller than ones on Cable services.
Fiber-optic cabling has been an under-pinning of all modern telecommunications. In the past twenty years, it's slowly made its way to residential and business use. Some cities have undertaken full rollouts to be their own ISPs, and/or offer dark fiber to other ISPs and businesses. Speeds are usually going to be 200 Mbit to 1 Gbit bidirectional: with some places offering 2 Gbit, or even 10 Gbit. Pricing seems competitive with cable and 4G/5G options.
In places with office towers and mountainsides, fixed-wireless providers can communicate & relay with multiple users at the ground level. These services have speeds comparable to lower-end cable and fiber offerings, but also bidirectional and possibly cheaper too. If you live in an apartment, you might see ads for one of these providers as an alternative to their cable installs.
A number of cities offer their own WiFi for public areas and commercial districts. It can be a mix of free and/or paid service.
Businesses may have access to high-speed “Metro Ethernet"; which may use copper, fiber, or fixed-wireless for service provisioning. High-speed, highly reliable, and highly expensive.