Dial-Up Connection Speed

[Zulithe]

NetZero, PeoplePC and several other dialup providers do offer super-speed dialup connections that supposedly increase the loading time of pages, but cheap DSL is only slightly higher than these technologies and will give speed increases which are many times over what ANY dialup connection will give you.

That 5 or so extra dollars per month goes a LONG way. Consider investing in it

 

[silvermane]

A $50 computer can do it as well, with Linux or Win95.

 

[trancejeremy]

As the original poster mentioned, DSL is not an option for those of us in rural areas. The only option we have is Sat, which is insanely expensive. Like $500 for the modem, then like $50 a month, or $100 a month for a rental. (And given my experience with the Sat. TV, probably won't work well in bad weather. And it's apparently useless for online gaming).

Anyway, I have PeoplePC and their accelerator. Basically what it does it help compress graphics and while it works, AFAIK, it only really works well with IE, which I don't use (I guess it uses a proxy, but they don't bother to tell you the settings, they just set it up automatically to work with IE. Though now that I copy the proxy settings from IE to Firefox, it seems to work very well. Why I didn't do this a month ago, I dunno. ).

I've heard that electric companies have started testing broadband through electrical wires. So hopefully that will be a long term solution for those of us unable to get DSL/Cable.

 

[trancejeremy]

Actually, the ram thing is not a joke. I often use an older computer to surf the web, because my new one happens to be somewhat noisy and have lots and lots of lights on it for some reason I don't grok. It's a P2 400 with 256 megs of ram. It really struggles on sites that use Flash animation.

 

[Thanee]

That 5 or so extra dollars per month goes a LONG way. Consider investing in it

Well, he said there is no broadband available for them (other than via sat)...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Zulithe]

Well, he said there is no broadband available for them (other than via sat)...

Bye
Thanee

Canada is the most wired country in the world. It won't be long before it gets to his area, I'm sure. Even the smallest towns here in Missouri I've been to have some form of broadband available (discounting sattelite, which I agree is insanely overpriced and unreliable)

 

[Brother Shatterstone]

Actually, the ram thing is not a joke. I often use an older computer to surf the web, because my new one happens to be somewhat noisy and have lots and lots of lights on it for some reason I don't grok. It's a P2 400 with 256 megs of ram. It really struggles on sites that use Flash animation.

I wouldn't really consider flash animation as surfing the web... but to each their own. (I skip every flash intro I see.)

 

[Arnwyn]

I'd spring for high speed Internet such as DSL or cable if it's available in your area. I know Verizon and SBC offer a "cheap" package.

1) The OP noted that he lives out in a rural area.
2) Those are American companies.

 

[Mercule]

As long as we're on the topic of speed, I'm gonna ask about DSL. I've got DSL, and it used to sing. Lately, though, I've been noticing a bit more lag in things. Is there something I can tweak to speed things up, or is this likely a line/load/provider issue?

 

[mojo1701]

Actually, the ram thing is not a joke. I often use an older computer to surf the web, because my new one happens to be somewhat noisy and have lots and lots of lights on it for some reason I don't grok. It's a P2 400 with 256 megs of ram. It really struggles on sites that use Flash animation.

Reminds me of the computers in my old High School library (which was under two years ago).