Dial-up ISP speeds?

[Boomyal]

Are their any noticable differences in speeds between dial-up ISP's?

My 96 y/o Pappy has virtually stopped surfing and emailing because the performance is so dismal. He has a fairly local ISP service.

I know that DSL is available to him but after the first year introduction rate, you might as well have popped for Cable. What a sham!

The whole issue is that my Dad can't really afford the $50/mo for cable, anyway. That is why I am asking about alternative Dial-Up services.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

On dial up (at work) I use net zero with their web accelerator, a marked improvement over a standard dial up. The speed is acceptable, cost me $4.00 a month for unlimited time. But that deal was only offered when I called to cancel their service. I use DSL at home, it's noticeably faster than the afore mentioned but not light speed faster.

 

[troypolla]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

some isps are better than others. what about walmart if you just want internet access. I think its about 10 bucks a month or so. I have used it before not too too bad. Or if there is a University in the area call them and see if they offer dial-up. My old university did this for like 8-10 bucks a month. pretty fast since they were only a few miles down the road.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

I googled 'web accelerators'. There is a bunch of stuff out there. Google has one but states it's designed to work with cable, not dial-up.

Here is a link for an accelerator offered by an ISP. Sounds similar to LT's Net Zero.

http://www.centurytel.com/residential/internet_access/web_accelerator.cfm

My dad is currently paying 9.95 /mo. Going to a server with an accelerator would undoubtedly cost more, which is ok if gives substantial speed improvements.

If you get DSL, do you have to pay for an ISP as well or is that included in the price of the line service.

 

[i386]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

ISPs are not created equal. Having said that, many poor dialup connections are due to old phone lines. If that's the case it'll be bad no matter what. It's been a long time since I relied to dialup but another factor was the modem itself. Some are more compatible with the modem on the other end than others. Some even required some cryptic awful init string to work at all.

If his number qualifies for DSL there's probably some good lines out there but it doesn't mean he has one of them. The phone company will normally test the lines when a customer orders DSL and put them on a better pair if they need to. If you get in good with your local phone guy (Bellsouth here) he can tell you if you're on a good pair and even switch it for you.

If you have a laptop, take it over there and see if you can get any better performance. That'll somewhat eliminate the computer/modem from the equation. Next you can try several free/cheap dialup ISPs and so on. It's a PITA no matter which way you look at it.
I would try a couple free/cheap dialup ISPs and see if there's any differe

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

What ever happened to the technology of cable service through your electric lines? I thought they had made signifigant progress with that and that trial areas were in operation.

I haven't heard a whisper about it lately. We could sure use a third high speed option. With DSL rates pushing the price of cable, they need to be dealt a humbling blow.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

Caution, It's Only a Joke,.. Caution, It's Only a Joke,.. Caution, It's Only a Joke,..

I googled 'web accelerators'. There is a bunch of stuff out there. Google has one but states it's designed to work with cable, not dial-up.

Hmmmmmmmmm,.... I Wonder if that might Work here at iboats.....................d



Caution, It's Only a Joke,.. Caution, It's Only a Joke,.. Caution, It's Only a Joke,..

 

[nothreat]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

My father has dialup out in the sticks. He has two computers, one which is several years old and one new one. The old one consistently connects at 40K+ and the new one connects at 26K. I swapped the modems and the speeds followed the modem, so modems can make a huge difference. As for the power line access, it is pretty expensive to implement for the utility. You have to have special equipment at the substation and then at the customers. From what I have read unless you are in a pretty densely populated area, it just costs too much to do. Municipal utilities with several (8+) houses per mile might do it, but if you live out where you get to one or two houses per mile of line it isn't economical - yet. At least from what I have read about it.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

yeah, I forgot about the connection speed. My dad already runs at a higher rate than I did before I switched to cable. That was several years ago. I still could not get DSL but he could. I still have never seen a 52k connection tho.

I know that in the passing years, web pages are written assuming more people have higher connection speeds. That's what makes dial-up even more puny.

 

[rwise]

Re: Dial-up ISP speeds?

Just because you connect at (whatever) doesn't mean you are running at that speed! The modem will speed up or slow down with conditions. When useing the line for a voice call, if you hear noises (other people, static whatever) it (the modem) will slow down, if the noise drops it will speed up. Modems make a huge dif, at your end as well as the ISP end. All of the modems I have seen lately are just crap!
Some of the problems with useing power lines is everwhere they cross a transformer there must be equipment installed for the data to bypass that transformer (in addition to each end). Another problem I have read about (this is not in my area) is that the power lines emit RFI so much that useing an AM radio (does anyone still listen to AM?) is wiped out when near a power line. There are lots of problems with this service, I don't see it making it here.