From: Nyssa@logicalinsight.net
InterLinked wrote:
> 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.
You can find a list of POPs on their website. I'm in the 804
area code, if that helps.
The company leases groups of "local" networks from other
companies; it doesn't maintain their own. It's a relatively
small company, so there's no way they could do their own
over the entire country and keep costs reasonable for users.
My speed limitation (I've never gotten anything neart 56k!)
is the crappy local phone lines. They were orginally GTE
lines and now Verizon has them and does zero maintainance
on them. Verizon is trying to steer landline users to
a product they call "AirConnect" which is simply a home-
based cell service. I was offered it just last month and
told 'em no way. :P~~~~ Their cell service out here isn't
all that great even if I didn't need an analog landline
for dialup.
The other dialup service I tested before I went with Du4L
connected at only 23Kbps max, so I rejected them immediately.
The only others at the time were NewZero and AOL with their
proprietary interfaces that didn't grok Linux.
Have fun with your experiments.
Nyssa, who will get along with what she's got as long as
she can
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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