Rolling Back To Dial-up?
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When I first read this article, I actually found myself with shivers going up and down my spine. Frankly, the idea of being forced back to dial-up would drive me to other alternatives, such as taking a laptop to a coffee shop!
Now there is no question that the temptation of $10 dial-up could sway a great number of users here in North America. And it is also true that many current Lockergnome readers are using dial-up, although I suspect location is the driving force in this instance. But despite this, I have to ask. How in heck are you able to do ANYTHING on a dial-up connection these days with today’s rich content heavy Web sites?
Considering pretty much anything we see these days on the Web really requires a decent broadband connection, I am unsure as to how successfully one can be expected to use a dial-up connection to view this type of content.
Now most people will be quick to point out that with DSL and various WiMax type alternatives, there is no reason to take such an extreme step. Unfortunately, what so many people also fail to realize is how poor the DSL penetration rate is in many areas. So in this instance, your options are pretty much cable or nothing. And unlike DSL, cable Internet is priced to make people cry. Cable in general is rather inflated in my neck of the woods, anyway. So I am thankful I’m living in a FiOS ready neighborhood and that I am able to afford the level of service I require to be able to work from home.
For those of you forced to use dial-up currently, I would be interested in hearing whether this is a matter of location or cost involved? Hit the comments section; let’s hear your experiences on this.
7 Comments
Bob
March 30th, 2009
at 9:39pm
I’m still on dial-up — in my home office, where I WORK — sending photo files and text. Yes, I USE the Net — but as a tTOOL. It isn’t my life. IF I need to DL something large, I either go out for a beer while the ‘puter does its thing (Kinda like SAVing a file in the Commodore 64 dayz) or wait ’til I’m somewhere I can DL large files in mass.
While this is a practical matter — and one where money is a cnsideration — if I were using high speed internet I’d be wasting too much time and not getting work done…
Mike
March 31st, 2009
at 12:08am
As a tech, I see them all. The majority of people using dial-up are people who just don’t understand what they’re missing. The give the excuse they are in no hurry, but when I ask them how long does it take to download those pictures of the grand kids, I get the look of a person in pain.
I charge an average of $25 plus more per service call especially when I have to do updates from the web. I have even taken computers back to my bench to access high speed because I don’t have the extra half to one hour to waste trying to download updates for the protection programs I install. Of course, the more gas I use, the more it costs a customer.
So really how much do they save? I know money is tight, but $15 - $20 more a month is wasted on frivolous stuff by almost everyone. People who I have convinced to go high speed has repeatedly thanked me for years.
tom
March 31st, 2009
at 5:09am
it is location,
every day I am forced to drive 25 miles to work because
the local cable company says “not enough clients on that road”,
the local wimax provider says “not enough people in your area”
and
the local phone company representative actually said ” no reason to bring DSL because there is no chance that anyone will EVER bring competition to your area, so we won’t put in the equipment”
not because they cannot,
they just will not because they do not care
:-(
so instead of working from home I go to the office
Ralph
March 31st, 2009
at 5:24am
It’s very frustrating when you have no access to broadband. With most web sites being so media rich, it is almost pointless trying to do anything on line. Up until 2 years ago my house had no broadband access - and I am in NY 2 hours north of NYC - not exactly the most rural of places. I am beyond the reach of DSL, the cable company wouldn’t run a cable down my street because we only had 18 houses in a mile stretch, and a mountain blocks our access to satellite. We barely get cell phone access much less wireless internet. So, not everyone is using dial-up out of choice.
Jasper
March 31st, 2009
at 8:50am
I fully understand about dialup, one of my friends is stuck in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin were his only choices are dialup, satellite, and cell phone internet,
Satellite is pretty expensive considering the poor speeds that are not much better than dialup and the lattency that makes dialup seem fast.
Dialup is ok but it takes minutes to load sites and downloading anything takes forever.
Cell phone internet is his best option, as he has unlimited data plan he connects his cellphone to his pc and enjoys 200-300kbps speeds that are atleast livible.
The only disadvantage, non of these connections support any form of online gaming so he’s still left back in the stonage when we want to face each other at CoD4
John
April 1st, 2009
at 10:55am
The local telephone co. has a monopoly in this small town with various DSL packages and dial-up. For all but the highest-priced DSL package they block some ports, so although I have their basic DSL I have to use a dial-up connection for one specialized communication program I have that uses VoIP technology - they tell users they will not unblock the needed ports unless we buy their most expensive DSL package for 12 times the basic subscription price plus $200 installation. The only alternatives are satellite and air cards, but they cost 3-4 times more than the basic phone line DSL. European-style government control is appealing to me more and more.
HarryH
April 2nd, 2009
at 10:28am
I maintain a dial-up account with a cheap ($5.50/month) provider. I use it primarily when traveling. In Vegas recently, the WiFi connection was $10/day and required a credit card to access. There is a lot of risk to using such a WiFi connection. I should install a private VPN but those cost more $$. So I reverted to dial-up to get to mail. Surfing with dial-up is painful, partly because of the constant barrage of bots probing the network.
Other times when traveling, I’ve encountered hotels with marginal connections or the network was down for any number of reasons. But I still must access the net. Blocking images and Adblock within FF certainly helps a lot.