Faster Dial Up

Carlo1

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I was reading about some new software that speeds up a dial up connection to close to broad band levels today in Internet Advisor magazine. The company providing the software can be found at http://www.onspeed.com

The review in the magazine was very positive but it seems a bit too good to be true. Has anyone on here used this software and if so is it really as good as it says.
 
Actually it doesn't have to do anything - with the level of take up of broadband now, those of us on 20:1 or 50:1 contention levels could be better off going back to a 56K modem :)

Seriously, there are times when I do miss my old 128K ISDN connection. It's no coincidence either that the ISPs are starting to promote their higher speed, lower contention, and of course much more expensive broadband options.

KenN
 
Knorrie



I was interested to read that having got broadband you miss your ISDN. I have ISDN and could now get broadband but have hestitated to do so. It will be more expensive and people do seem to have problems at times with it, and say if their are problems they can take some time to fix. Do you think I am just as well to stay with ISDN?

Jean
 
JeanM - that's not an easy question to answer, there's quite a lot to consider.

You need to think about the potential benefits of broadband, such as speed, convenience, ability to phone while surfing, no time/bandwidth restrictions - against the disadvantages, such as increased cost (which may not in fact be the case), increased threat of being always online, and the variable performance due to contention ratios.

In my case, I was using 128K ISDN about 2-3 years ago, before flat-rate came along, so I was paying for the cost of the calls. This was just about fast enough for me, but of course I'd have to drop down to 64K to use the phone at the same time. It was also quite pricey - I work at home so use the Internet a lot, and when flat rate came along, I jumped at the chance. However this was only available at 64K - I guess 128K is now available, but I haven't checked this out recently. ISDN 64K is fine for browsing, but too slow for large file transfers, which I need to do quite often.

Also, when the ISPs started scaling the flat rate according to how many hours per week you used online, broadband actually became more cost effective for me. BTW I use the Home Surf option from PlusNet, which at £18.99 p.m. is great value, but some evenings the speed does drop off considerably, well below what 128K ISDN can do. But I'm mostly online during office hours, where the performance is usually fine, and I wouldn't go back to ISDN, *unless* they start to introduce time or bandwidth restrictions, which I can see happening before too long. Even then, I would probably just pay the extra for a better level of service, such as 10:1 contention or whatever.

We all have different needs and circumstances - try to work out what all the pros and cons are for you.

KenN
 
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