A cheap alternative to broadband?

[arpan911]

Are you a dial-up user looking for a faster connection,but don't like Broadband prices? If so, you should take a look at a new service called OnSpeed, which has received rave reviews in Internet technology publications.

What OnSpeed does is to re-route web pages and email viaits own servers, compressing the data on the fly prior to sending it onwards to your PC. A small program then decompresses the data, so that you can view it in the normal way via your browser or email client.

In my own dial-up tests, with a modem running at a nominal49kb/s I appeared to get speeds close to that of my normalbroadband connection of 598 kb/s - very impressive. Image quality is often reduced but the compression for this can be improved, though with an adverse effect on the speed of course.

Some file types like MP3 also cannot yet be compressed. Thecompany is working on these issues however and expects tofind solutions soon.

Unfortunately I was unable to use email in my tests, dueto a 'port' conflict with a spam filter that I was using. Thestandard advice on the OnSpeed site for such cases is to disable the offending program. Not a constructive approach - to saythe least - so I hope that the relevant instructions will be changed soon.

More significantly, the problem persisted even when Iswitched off the OnSpeed application on my PC; in the end I had to remove the program to get the spam filter working again. I expect that this fault can be resolved, but clearly there are issues in this area that need to be addressed.

The software is easy to install, and is available for Macas well as Windows PCs. On the whole the service is surprisinglygood, and a lot cheaper than broadband. Unlike other 'speed-up'techniques that tweak your computer's settings but result inlittle noticeable improvement, OnSpeed really works.

I can recommend OnSpeed for dial-up users who can't justify theexpense of broadband, or who are not located close enough to asuitable exchange. OnSpeed is also stated to be great for mobileor PDA users, as GPRS (wireless) speeds can be boosted by as muchas 8 times. It even helps with broadband if you can only get areduced service in your area.

My overall rating is 4/5 - very good, but the email support needsto be improved.

If you want further details of OnSpeed, please visit http://www.On-Speed.net.

[humpty]

Image quality is often reduced but the compression for this can be improved, though with an adverse effect on the speed of course.

Some file types like MP3 also cannot yet be compressed. Thecompany is working on these issues however and expects tofind solutions soon.

I think this alone makes the option pretty much a bad one, rather spend a little on broadband and get it all don't you think so??

[kelliez]

yeah, what's internet without broadband

ya wanna wait for ages just to load a streaming movie?
or downloadings of songs?

what about internet radio?

all these are not that great if ya ain't got broadband rite :)

[astros99]

Most everyone has broadband now. Dial up is too unbelievably slow. But the price of the internet speed has been going down for a while. I remember back when I first had broadband they charged $50 a month. Now I've seen broadband as low as $20. As the internet progresses more I look for the price to drop for. So at some point it will be affordable for everyone looking for high speed.

[kelliez]

broadband or any future technologies which are better are definitely the way to go, i heard there's a 4g thing coming up too, wonder if that'll beat broadband in the long run as more n more people use internet on a mobile basis now

[astros99]

Yeah the internet has really grown over the past few years. I mean first there were people on a 28kbps connection, then 56, then broadband. It just shows how much the internet has grown. With the rapid growth of technology, it will continue to get better. Once other alternatives are out, broadband will definitely be cheaper.

[sbhuvan]

hmmm astros u r right man

[mini_0]

Not about the price , but ISDN is a good alternative to broadband . Broadband ISDN is a standard for transmitting voice, video and data at the same time over fiber optic telephone lines. It can support data rates of 1.5 megabits per second (Mbps), but it has not been widely implemented because not a lot of areas are wired to fiber optic.ISDN is capable of speeds up to 64kbps, or up to 128kbps with both B channels bonded. Just like most connections, it is subject to line overhead.