Why is the forum so slow???
Reply #16 –
You mean sending, or receiving? I'll assume receiving, for now.
They do get here a lot faster. Even the big header pics at the top of the page (which for some reason are coded to not be cached, so they re-download every single freaking time!) don't slow things down too much.
Dialup uses audio frequencies, and needs a clean (quiet) line to go fast. That means no noise, static, snaps, pops, buzzes, etc. Every noise can cause data errors, requiring data "packets" to be resent, slowing things down. If it gets too noisy, the modems will shift their send/receive speeds up or down until they get a good signal again. If the line really goes to hell, the modems may even have to do a full "retrain", sometimes reconnecting slower than they were.
Examples from my USR's diagnostics function:
May 24, I was on for 4:23:54, speed 49,333, and had only 33 packets resent, 1 retrain, and no speed shifts. Nice clean line for the most part.
June 8, on for 3:47:24, speed 45,333, 2571 packets resent, 2 retrains, 13 upshifts, 11 downshifts. Dirty, noisy, nasty line!
The best dialup speed I get on a "clean" line is 50,666 bits/sec.
The standard "up to" speed on my DLS Lite is 128,000 bits/sec.
50666 / 8bits = 6333 characters/sec
128000 / 8 = 16000 chars/sec
The best Lite speed is more than twice the best Dialup speed.
Upload speeds are twice as fast too. 64k vs 32k.
Since my ISP's current promotion is a discounted price if I sign up for 1/2/3 years at a time (I think they ran out of digicams, iPods and LCD monitors), it ends up costing me $5/month less than it used to, plus a couple of free months, plus I'm "online" 24/7, plus it doesn't tie up the phone line.
Those folks on here with actual HIGH-speed access (1.5Mb and up, 12+ times faster than me) that still complain about slow speeds, well, they're probably the ones that call you on their cell phones and start screaming and foaming at the mouth if you don't answer on (or before) the first ring. 
Okay, that's all I have to say for now. 
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