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Re: [IRCA] (OT) High Speed internet update
- Subject: Re: [IRCA] (OT) High Speed internet update
- From: Rick Kunath <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:51:03 -0500
Patrick Martin wrote:
> I need to check to make sure the phoneline connections aren't slowing
> things down too.
Yep.
Un-needed loading coils on the line will do that, as will unterminated
runs to elsewhere both in home and out in the telco POTS plant,
Paralleled phones in the home can sometimes slow down speeds, as can
certain telco line protectors and surge suppressors. The paralleled
phone issue can be eliminated by feeding the phones from the phone
output of the modem, as this is disconnected during a dial-up call. This
also eliminates the possibility of a disconnection when someone picks up
a phone in the home.
And all modems are not created equal either.
Lots of cheaper modems will fail to re-train upwards after a downward
speed shift. Some get into a spiral of death to slow speeds with time.
Winmodems in general are poor performers.
The best dial-up or leased-line modem in the known universe is the U.S.
Robotics Courier. I have lots of them on dial-up access and leased line
service and there is nothing I have found that will beat them for
training up after a slowdown or hanging at a high rate under trying line
conditions. I get better speeds from a Courier handling a connection on
a leased line halfway around the world than I do with one of the
Winmodems I have here on a local call. Another good performer is the
U.S. Robotics Sportster (real and not win-modem model), the full
controller-based model. Look for Linux compatibility on the box and
you'll know it's a full controller-based modem. The Sportster is no
Courier though.
The Couriers show up pretty cheap sometimes, and any of them can be
flashed to the latest firmware revision.
The other hint to speeding up dial-up is to locally cache DNS lookups
and locally cache web page elements (and OS and other application
updates). This has the effect of delivering unchanged content on
previously visited pages at high speeds, while fetching over dial-up
only those elements that have changed since the last page view. it can
make a world of difference on a dial-up connection.
Lastly, the reported dial-up connection speed is only the speed at the
initial connect. It is not the current speed. Most modem makers bias
this to a high value to make the user think he is getting a good
connection. Shortly these train downward and the reported speed is no
longer valid.
Rick Kunath
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