From: usenet@phreaknet.org   
      
   On 8/15/2025 8:54 AM, Nyssa wrote:   
   > InterLinked wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 8/14/2025 8:19 AM, Nyssa wrote:   
   >>> SH wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> On 12/08/2025 13:08, Nyssa wrote:   
   >>>>> Rich wrote:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote:   
   >>>>>>> In comp.misc, Lawrence D'Oliveiro     
   >>>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>>> Further to that, 34 years ago puts their start in   
   >>>>>>>> 1991, before CD-ROM drives became popular in PCs. I   
   >>>>>>>> think they were giving out floppy disks for those   
   >>>>>>>> first few years.   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>> Anybody remember seeing an AOL floppy?   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> Definitely. Better than CDs because you could just   
   >>>>>>> wipe and reuse them.   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1395721   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> Which I did for many an AOL 3.5" floppy.  Not for   
   >>>>>> anything valuable, but for a "copy file X from   
   >>>>>> computer Y to computer Z" use they worked just fine.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> The CDROM's were only useful to either join AOL (which   
   >>>>>> was never going to happen) or to make garden   
   >>>>>> scarecrows.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> I made coasters with them.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Nyssa, who believe it or not is still on dialup (not   
   >>>>> AOL) and has been for almost 40 years (not the same   
   >>>>> ISPs)   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> given the fastest dial up modems are 56 kilobits, it   
   >>>> must feel really slow viewing websites that rely on   
   >>>> broadband to fling audio or video or   
   >>>> Java/SHockwave/Flash at you?   
   >>>>   
   >>>> And downloading software must have taken days?   
   >>>   
   >>> Plus my local (rural) phone lines are crap. I get ~43Kbps   
   >>> on average. It was better when I lived in the Big City.   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> If I may ask, which ISP are you using?   
   >>   
   >> I've been doing some testing with several ISPs lately, all   
   >> of whom seem to resell GlobalPOPs these days (including   
   >> AOL it seems). The top speed I've gotten is 36000 a   
   >> handful of times, and usually I get 31.2 or 33.6 - very   
   >> difficult to get a V.90 connection anymore. They seem to   
   >> have done some kind of concentration where they've cheaped   
   >> out on their phone lines, doesn't seem to be real T1s   
   >> anymore.   
   >   
   > There weren't many to choose from, and probably even fewer   
   > now.   
   >   
   > I'm using one called Dialup4Less based somewhere out in   
   > the Pactific Northwest. The price has doubled since I   
   > signed up, but still a MUCH better value for me than   
   > anything else offered around these parts.   
      
   I tried a local access number in my area, and connected at 31.2. And   
   sure enough, it appears to be resold GlobalPOPs. It doesn't look like   
   Dialup4Less has their own dial-up infrastructure.   
      
   Do you mind sharing the specific access number you are using, and what   
   speeds you usually connect at? I wonder whether all of their access   
   numbers are deficient, or just some of them.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)