# Comparing 2 Dial-Up Services



## Rick (May 10, 2002)

I would like to compare the way similar pages would load on my original iexpres ISP and Localnet- the one I am testing now.

Localnet caught my eye with an ad in the local paper claiming it is 6x faster. It also costs 4 bucks more per month. Truth is it isn't any faster on secure pages such as gmail, and I had to download the express software- and spend an hour with a techie tweeking my system.

Any suggestions for a valid way to compare the 2?

Rick


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## 14yearpcmaker (Mar 11, 2007)

Is DSL service available in your area?
For a valid way to test, which connects faster?


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## freeinalaska (Jan 21, 2005)

Run a speed test from http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/default.asp. One problem with ISP's is they may be giving you 45 kbps with dial up of 1 mps on DSL or other highspeed to their NOCC, but are oversubscribing their link out. All ISP's are using statistical multiplexing and oversubscribing their outbound link, but at a point it's too much.

The speed tests from pcpitstop and like sites test from their server, wherever that may be, over the www to your PC.

If you are comparing two ISPa make sure to test both at different times of the day, particularly at peak usage time from four to eight PM.


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## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

If they're both using dialup, all they're probably doing is tweaking compression algorithms, decreasing the quality of downloaded images, etc.


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## Gary in ohio (May 11, 2002)

dial is dialup. There is little they can do to speed up the speed. WHat most do is compress or worse yet cache images from a site. This way it appears to load faster. Unless the web site has a lot of graphics you will not see the difference.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Gary's right. All ISP have peering agreements for dialup service. It wouldn't make sense for any of them to have their own dialup racks these days. For example, if your area is serviced by Level3 then all of the dialup providers will likely use the same Level3 dialup rack. It wouldn't matter which ISP you use, the Level3 rack treats everyone the same.


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## Rick (May 10, 2002)

freeinalaska said:


> Run a speed test from http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/default.asp. One problem with ISP's is they may be giving you 45 kbps with dial up of 1 mps on DSL or other highspeed to their NOCC, but are oversubscribing their link out. All ISP's are using statistical multiplexing and oversubscribing their outbound link, but at a point it's too much.
> 
> The speed tests from pcpitstop and like sites test from their server, wherever that may be, over the www to your PC.
> 
> If you are comparing two ISPa make sure to test both at different times of the day, particularly at peak usage time from four to eight PM.


Thanks for the website. The new, "fast" (compressed etc.) ISP downloaded at 477 KB per second, vs the old "standard" ISP was 263 per second. I can avoid the 4 to 8pm time.

DSL will never make it into this holler- we are the only customer on over a mile long line.

Thanks for the comments, folks.


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## pixelphotograph (Apr 8, 2007)

56 k is 56 k no matter how you cut it. You cant get any faster on dial up PERIOD END OF SENTENCE.
They use different ways to trick you into thinking you are faster. For instance Earthlink caches popular webpages on their local servers so it loads faster instead of having to make several jumps thru several servers across the nation to get to one site you make one jump directly to them. This is what AOL did for years. You really arent visiting the site you typed in you are visiting a cached page of it on the ISP server. This is ok if you visit the same sited everyday. but if you randomly surf it takes longer because it still has to find it cache it in case you use it again and your second or third trips to that site will be faster since it has now been cached either on your drive or your isp server.
Frankly dont waste yout time or your money get the cheapest darn isp for dialup you can its just not worth the extra money . I cant believe aol held out as long as it did charging 24.95 a month for dial up CRAZY. I paid 9.95 a month for years and it was fine. There are even cheaper out there now.
If you want speed the only thing to do is break down and go dsl or cable. if you cant get it in your area you could try satellite but its way expensive and not good for third person shooter games.

Also I dont like cached pages because sometimes they arent updated as often as the real page so news or stock prices could be several minutes to several hours old compared to the real site. As far as I know there is no way to tell if your ISP is cacheing popular sites unless you work at the ISP and know for a fact. They often dont like to tell customers this information.


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## 14yearpcmaker (Mar 11, 2007)

I will say that Peoplepc is faster than AOL or Netzero.


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