"On my dial up accelerator, I can talk and surf at the same time, right?" Oh, boy!

[greensinestro]

Dial up accelerator software is pretty nice, for those that want something just a tad faster than their current provider. By why is it after I explain to a customer that "this is a dial up program that allows you up to five times the speed of regular dial up", my customer will come back with, "So, that means I can talk and surf at the same time, right?" And, when I explain that no, they cannot and that this is still dial up, they always come back with, "But I was told this is like having DSL!"

Or, later on, when this was all explained to them, I like the ones that call back with "My internet is still too slow. I was told this would be so fast that I could download music and files at lightning speed." What do these people expect? Dial up is dial up. It's getting to be as ancient as the dinosaurs, even though there are some that are perfectly fine with that.

[protege]

Dial up is dial up. It's getting to be as ancient as the dinosaurs, even though there are some that are perfectly fine with that.

I'm surprised that companies still offer dial-up, and haven't forced people to at least get DSL. After I moved, I had dial-up for awhile...but quickly dumped it. Taking hours to download software updates is *not* how I wanted to spend my evenings

[greensinestro]

I'm surprised that companies still offer dial-up, and haven't forced people to at least get DSL. A

Actually, you can't force a customer to take DSL if they don't want it, any more than you can force a customer with Windows 95 to upgrade to XP. And some areas still don't have the DSL facilities needed, or if they do, they're maxed out.

[Boozy]

"I was told this would be so fast that I could download music and files at lightning speed."

This is called advertising copy, sir. Its not a contractual obligation on the part of the service provider. The term "lightning speed" may have been your first clue that this was not a legal document.
You may also have noticed that, despite the brewery's promises to the contrary, drinking Budweiser has not actually made you more attractive to members of the opposite sex.

[IlovemyGeek]

Oh geez, all the accelerators do is cache pages so they come up quicker, people just don't get it do they? If you want fast internet you have to have to have high speed and even THAT isn't super fast anymore. We have a business line to our home and it STILL can be slow (but to be fair we run about 6 or 7 computers off of that)

[Aressel]

Oh geez, all the accelerators do is cache pages so they come up quicker, people just don't get it do they? If you want fast internet you have to have to have high speed and even THAT isn't super fast anymore. We have a business line to our home and it STILL can be slow (but to be fair we run about 6 or 7 computers off of that)

The ones offered by the companies in my area also degrade the quality of images so that they are smaller and thus download faster. I tried one and removed it the same day. How am I supposed to read my comics if I can't make out either the words or the action?

[Polenicus]

Why would they force people to DSL?

DSL costs, on average, $30-50 a month, right? That requires extensive infrastructure to make work, new-ish wiring in the house and the surrounding area, only a certain distance from the switching box, etc. At the same time, high speed only has a limited bandwidth, so after a certain number of customers on the system, they have to make more expensive physical upgrades. Cable is much the same.

With Dial-up, you can use the same crappy equipment you've been using for a decade, which is now dirt-cheap because the demand for it is dead. It works regardless of how crappy the phone line is (Of course, crappy phone line=crappy internet, but you can weasel out of that being your problem) and if you bundle it with some crummy front-end browser, a dial-up accelerator engine (Which are a dime a dozen these days) and some useless licensed shovelware, people will pay $12-20 per month for it.

Think the providers want to give up dial up just yet?

[bigjimaz]

Actually, you can't force a customer to take DSL if they don't want it...

Actually this happened to me. In the town I live in, which is pretty remote and small, you had 1 choice for internet, (Local dial-up service was 26.99/mo. ) one choice for telephone service. (that became practically useless when the wind reached 10mph) Both were local, in-town services. None of the national companies had a local access number for their service, not even AOL, NetZero or PeoplePC. (this has now changed) When Verizon bought out the phone company and began offering DSL service, they drove the local dial-up service out of business. So now if you live in my town and you want to access the net, you had to have Verizon DSL or you have nothing. But I have to say that after having my T1 connection, I would never go back to dial-up service. It's worth the extra 10.00 a month.

[Primer]

some areas still don't have the DSL facilities needed, or if they do, they're maxed out.

I'm surprised that companies still offer dial-up, and haven't forced people to at least get DSL.

I'm in an area where I feel lucky to get a 26.6 Kbps dial-up connection for about $11 per month. I'm too cheap to pay for satellite, which is extremely unreliable out here (according to my neighbor, who had it), and nothing else is available. Heck, even directions to my house include, "after the pavement ends...!"

So, yeah, dial-up will still be here for quite some time...

[Bluenomi]

They can't force everyone to get broadband since it isn't avaliable everywhere. I live in an apartment and we can't get ADSL installed in our building since it doesn't have any of the required cabling and the body corportate won't fork out to get it installed. We can't get the fancy digital pay TV for the same reason

[JustADude]

Heck, even directions to my house include, "after the pavement ends...!"

Okay, Primer, I apologize in advance, but you reminded me of a Jeff Foxworthy line...

If, anywhere in the directions to your house, there's the phrase "...then you turn off the paved road,"... you might be a redneck.

[protege]

If, anywhere in the directions to your house, there's the phrase "...then you turn off the paved road,"... you might be a redneck.

Sounds like *most* roads in Pennsylvania, right MadMike? I still find it amusing that most of the dirt and gravel roads around my grandmother's farm were in better shape than many of the main roads. Oh wait, that's because PennDOT doesn't "fix" them

[MadMike]

Sounds like *most* roads in Pennsylvania, right MadMike?

Roads? You mean those little pieces of interstate that are scattered throughout our pothole system?

[Primer]

Okay, Primer, I apologize in advance, but you reminded me of a Jeff Foxworthy line...

If, anywhere in the directions to your house, there's the phrase "...then you turn off the paved road,"... you might be a redneck.

No offense taken!
I have 6 dogs, 3 cats, and a home-made deck...yep, I'm a redneck!

[Andara Bledin]

They can't force everyone to get broadband since it isn't avaliable everywhere. I live in an apartment and we can't get ADSL installed in our building since it doesn't have any of the required cabling and the body corportate won't fork out to get it installed. We can't get the fancy digital pay TV for the same reason

I have an apartment, and I couldn't get ADSL because of the wiring in my place. It wasn't that the wiring couldn't handle it, however. When I change my phone over to Earthlink, I magically become able to get ADSL. [/sarcasm]

^-.-^