how fast/slow is your dial-up

[scottie12]

how is it possible , in the worlds only sure-power nation , in the age of infomation, in the land -of -freakin -plenty, that a communication system as profitable and useful as the internet can be neglected to the point of near uselessness to so much of its market .?

so i'm trying to connect today and I get a connection speed of 12. 6 almighty kilobits per second ,so i retry several times with similar results (this is all too typical for a weekend) .

I finally got a 21.6 kbps connection which still sux .

I'm wondering why should I pay this ISP , a monthy rate for such service . ?

if they refuse to upgrade my service by using a portion of the profit that they are extorting from me , why shouldnt the rotten *********s have do put a darn bandwidth meter on my service and charge me only for the bandwidth that their lousy service provides ?

why should i pay for 30 days of service when on 8 days of the month (weekends ) My service is almost useless?

Why would The U.S not invest in rural internet , to give ppl income opportunities ?

I hear that it only costs $1 million to put a sattelite in space , ; given that so many ppl are willing to pay a reasonable(very profitable) fee for satelite internet service, Why are we not doing this ?

I would be willing to invest in it myself .

I think that if something isnt done about this situation that internet service should be socialised and managed by the local govt .

anybody got any thoghts on this ?

[American_Infidel]

A for profit company is only worried about the bottom line, they don't see any way to boost profits by upgrading.
That is why I like co-ops. My electric company is a co-op as well as my phone company. Five years ago, the phone co-op sent out a letter/survey stating that they had paid off some federal loan and now had a load of extra money to do something with. The survey part had I think five choices to spend the money on. New network and cheaper rates were the big two that I remember. The following year, they started replacing thier entire phone network to fiber optic lines. Now I have DSL and cable service out here in the sticks where before it was 15k dial-up and antenna.
The only options you have are to move (not reasonable) or look for alternatives. Before I got DSL I seriously looked into getting my internet through sattelite.

[gunslinger2006]

I'm in a similar boat here. Dial-up is 26.4 to 28.8 on a good day. I've looked at satellite, but it just cost too much for now. The phone company has said that they will get DSL out here each year for the last 4 or 5 years. The liars! At this point I don't believe we'll ever get DSL and I'm not sure I'd want it from the phone co. as others I know who have complain about it. The electric coop has made some mention of carrying internet access over the power grid, so maybe that'll be an option. Sigh ::) :-/

[scottie12]

______________________________________________
American Infidel said"

A for profit company is only worried about the bottom line, they don't see any way to boost profits by upgrading.

Scottie Says '

well I dont buy that completely cuz if that were true , we would still be driving model T'S , fishing from canoes, watching tv in black and white , etc.
______________________________________________
american says'



That is why I like co-ops. My electric company is a co-op as well as my phone company. Five years ago, the phone co-op sent out a letter/survey stating that they had paid off some federal loan and now had a load of extra money to do something with. The survey part had I think five choices to spend the money on. New network and cheaper rates were the big two that I remember. The following year, they started replacing thier entire phone network to fiber optic lines. Now I have DSL and cable service out here in the sticks where before it was 15k dial-up and antenna.


scottie says'
ya gotta be kidding me ? got some links to those company websites?
______________________________________________

american says'
The only options you have are to move (not reasonable) or look for alternatives. Before I got DSL I seriously looked into getting my internet through sattelite.

Scottie says'

so lets start a satelite internet provider service corporation right here.

lets see , we need 10,000 potential (life-long customers ) to chip in $100.00 to cover the cost of putting the satelite up there , and then we could just give the darn thang to a company thats already in the business of satellite internet delivery , as long as they give us free service forever .

Only in the "land of the free " would this be a bad idea.

[scottie12]

I'm in a similar boat here. Dial-up is 26.4 to 28.8 on a good day. I've looked at satellite, but it just cost too much for now. The phone company has said that they will get DSL out here each year for the last 4 or 5 years. The liars! At this point I don't believe we'll ever get DSL and I'm not sure I'd want it from the phone co. as others I know who have complain about it. The electric coop has made some mention of carrying internet access over the power grid, so maybe that'll be an option. Sigh ::) :-/
________________________________________________

Seems like satellite service will always cost too much as long as it is a monopoly .

care to be the 2nd person to chip in $100.00 toward the purchase of an orbiting satelite , c'mon ya know ya want one .

gotta website for that electric co-op?

[gunslinger2006]

I always wanted a satellite...lol ;D the web site is http://www.aecc.com/ but I couldn't find anything about them providing internet access with a quick search of the site.

[American_Infidel]

This company used to be called DirecWay and are now called www.hughesnet.com.
www.scrtc.com is the url of my local telephone co-op.

[CarolAnn]

I am SO hooked on cable high speed, I'd give up telephone before I'd give it up.

Gunslinger, DSL isn't all it's touted to be, either. It only works within so many feet of their equipment - less than a few miles, I think - and the farther out you are, the worse it is.

We have DSL for our network at work - and even though the DSL equipment is right outside the building, it's often as slow as dial up. The wires are stressed, or the boards go bad, or some dang thing is always happening.

Satelite now, that would be the thing. "DSL = Direct Satelite Link?!" Not yet - but soon, I hope!

[CarolAnn]

If you want to check your speed, go to:
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

It's not only for DSL - it works for any type of connection.
Just click on the city closest to you for your test and wait for the results to come up.

At work, mine just clocked at 2156kbps in and 422 kbps out. That's about average, but I've seen it over 3,000 kbps in, or as slow as 350 kbps in on a real bad day.

At 12.6 I'd be a hooting, scratching, lamp-swinging chimpanzee in no time at all!

[scottie12]

If you want to check your speed, go to:
http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

It's not only for DSL - it works for any type of connection.
Just click on the city closest to you for your test and wait for the results to come up.

At work, mine just clocked at 2156kbps in and 422 kbps out. That's about average, but I've seen it over 3,000 kbps in, or as slow as 350 kbps in on a real bad day.

At 12.6 I'd be a hooting, scratching, lamp-swinging chimpanzee in no time at all!

scott says;
hi carolAnn:
thanks for the link- I've tried that b4 -it didnt work-but today it did.
I had download speed of 20kbps
I had upload speed of 88kbps
Doesnt that seem bass-ackwards ratio-wise ?

sometimes my statistics on my media player will jump to 250 + kbps with no change in quality or anything else that I can percieve . I wonder if its even possible to achieve that on dial-up ?
I'm thinking I'll have a dish soon !

[pinetreefarm]

Scottie,

I am one of the owners of an internet company. We do dial-up, DSL, webhosting, design and customer repair.

Contrary to popular opinion, we do care about our customers. We provide technical support from 8AM to 10 PM 7 days a week. You get a live human being to talk to without going through the punch 1 for idiots, etc.

If you have a slow speed contact your ISP. If they are unable to help you perhaps it is time to select another.
Our equipment is upgraded on a regular basis as is most ISP's. There can be several reasons for your slow speed. Location, telephone lines, your own computer to name a few.

Pine Tree

[scottie12]

hi pinetreefarm- been there - done that .
apparently my speed is typical for the area due to techical things that 'cant be identified '.becuz no-one cares to identify it .And no-one can make them identify it .
But my last ISP was much much worse .
and its become quite apparent to me that the only solution is to pay for an over-priced satelite feed.
i wonder if you would know if my download vs upload ratio is unusual (as posted above ) ?
And is my download speed typical for your dial-up service ?

[JakeLeg]

i would gather to bet that the service providers are not sinking any more money into dial up. ISDN was around years ago, DSL has been around commercially for at least 7 or 8 years - same with cable. in many areas DSL costs less today than what dial up cost 10 years ago.

i wouldn't be surprised if dialup ceased to exist in the next 5 years.

same thing happened to analog cell phones. see those around any more?

[gunslinger2006]

There might not be any analog only cell phones on the market but the network they used is still there because some tri-mode phones can still use analog signal. As for dial-up, who knows, they'll have it as long as there is money to be made. The real issue may be how long the phone company's will maintain the rural network that dial-up and dsl work over. Those networks are federally mandated for now but the phone companies really don't make money on them, and thus are loath to spend any money on them to provide broadband service.

[CarolAnn]

Pinetreefarm! Good on you! I like hearing about an IP that actually cares about their customers! (So there's at least ONE out there that does . . .)

I bet it's not a big company yet, though, is it? Because my expeirence has been that when companies are small and hungry, they do try harder. Once they get to a certain size, that's gone. When I first tried People PC, they seemed great. Within a year, all their money was going into ads, and NONE into service. Net Zero started free, then started charging, then started screwing people over. It's an ugly trend - but I hope its not universal!

Our company got DSL from Ameritech/ATT last summer. Every morning between 6 and 8 it got almost as slow as dial-up. They tried and TRIED to find what was wrong. After months of dinking around, they "discovered" a large school in our building was dumping huge amounts of data at those times. They couldn't figure that out?! Too bad they waited until we had the T-1 lines ordered (from somebody else) to figure it out!

The point is: the only thing that will ever get reasonable service for people is competition in the market place. Even then, it's chancy!

[gunslinger2006]

And that is the essence of the problem in rural areas, no real competition. Oh well, maybe it will get better. CenturyTel has said once again we are in line to get DSL, but I'll believe it when I see it ::) :P

[Catalpa]

Same problems here. I get maybe 16.8 to 19.2 on my dial up most days. I've called and called and searched and searched, but rual areas are simply ignored when it comes to high-speed internet. I end up doing most of my surfing from work (where we have medium-speed) on my lunch hour.

Not sure I'd trust the sattelite guys....we don't have cable here, so I went with sattelite tv. It goes out whenever there's a heavy rain or snow. Wouldn't the same thing happen for internet?

And I've heard of the cable/phone/internet bundle from like Verizon or SBC, but that seems to me like putting all your eggs in one basket - if the company screws up, you end up unhappy with all of your communications. I don't know, they're not available in my area so I can't check them out.

I do know I've been unhappy enough with my local phone provider, and the complete lack of any tech support or line upgrades in the area that if I didn't need dial-up, I'd dump the land line in a minute. I get good coverage with my cell phone for less cost than the land line.

Anyone tried wireless internet? Broadcast from a tower, rather than a sattelite?

[ericknowschrist]

All I could get was 12.6 for years. Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) said - it was my settings. Nope. Eight years, more than a half dozen PCs (visitors etc) and no dice. About a year ago we started connecting at 14.4 and now we get 14.4 consistently. I think my wife said she connected at 16.? one day but I have never seen anything faster than 14.4

No southern horizon view, so no Satellite internet even if I were willing to put up with the cost and poor service.

DSL was supposedly coming - they upgraded the equipment beyond me, (the lines run through my property) but I am still out of reach! I was fit to be tied! I was introduced to the local field manager, who told me I might get it in a few years, but the guy looked like he was hedging his bets, as he kept suggesting Satellite.

:'(

[Ultrasnd]

I have the added problem of trying to find a "backwoodshome" in Idaho or Montana in which to semi retire AND make sure I can get broadband to continue my home business on a limited basis. Not sure I can. Especially difficult looking at acreage and not being sure you can get even a phone line in for dialup. I don't mind paying the high fees for broadband satellite, but everything I hear, it has major problems. The three providers I did research on, HughesNet, Wild Blue, and Starband, I actually found several hundreds of complaints. Does anybody here have good dowload rates and minimal dropouts using satellite? Anybody here with a home in the boonies that have found a way to get satisfactory connect times using DSL? PS: HughesNet sales reps have assured me that there service is excellent, so can everything I have read on the net be wrong. Am I missing the "untold story" out there, from satisfied satellite users?

[12vman]

We use these units at work for data and voice and they seem to work well..

http://www.telepointinc.com/home2.htm

Look under Products/Analog/SR20

[gunslinger2006]

Well I have finally gotten DSL here and it has been great. Not the fastest but a world better than the dial-up I had before and for about the same amount of money. It did have the side effect of cutting me off from this site for some reason. I finally figured out that I could get back on by using a proxy server but that has its own issues.

[woodburner]

I am stuck with dialup too - part by lack of DSL and part by not wanting cable - but I consistently get 49-51K speeds. Luckily my ISP has a local number to the same CO but all local calls do not gauramtee the same speed. As long as your call is local (unlimited access amount and times) try other numbers to your ISP - sometimes the speed is more dependant upon the phone company than the ISP.
keep keying ::)