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Does anyone know of a dial up speed booster connection or device (not DSL) for Mac? they have several for Windows. I have broadband at my main location but only dial up at another, infrequently used space, so I'm looking to improve speed without paying the cable company again.
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Dial up speed booster for Mac?
#1
eastwood21 
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Posted 30 September 2003 - 01:41 PM
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#3
Nobody
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Posted 01 October 2003 - 09:43 AM
Speed bosters aren't all craked up to what they say they are.
You use software on your computer that connects with software on your ISP's server. This allows two things:
1) Compression to move data faster... Still if you have a bad modem connection you could end up in the same slow boat you've always been in.
2) Cache... The server and your local software share information about which pages are stored on your computer. When you load one of those pages it will SEEM to load faster becasue it's already been download on your computer. It's just being read off your local hard drive.
Caching causes problems:
1) What if the page you want to go to hasn't been cached yet? Well, it will download at the same old speed it used to. The theory of these booster programs depends on the fact that you visit certain pages frequently and other ones infrequently.
2) What if the page you want to download changes frequently? Cache or no cache, speed-boosting won't work. The page will have to be re-downloaded at the same old speeds... or else you'll get stuck looking at the same outdated version of the page over and over again even though it's changed since the last time you saw it.
3) What about all that space on your hard drive that these cached pages takes up? If you have a small disk you could feel the pinch!
Honestly, I'm not that interested in "Speed Booster" programs. To me, they're more trouble than they're worth. Your mileage may vary. You decide on your own situation. It may help you. It may not.
You use software on your computer that connects with software on your ISP's server. This allows two things:
1) Compression to move data faster... Still if you have a bad modem connection you could end up in the same slow boat you've always been in.
2) Cache... The server and your local software share information about which pages are stored on your computer. When you load one of those pages it will SEEM to load faster becasue it's already been download on your computer. It's just being read off your local hard drive.
Caching causes problems:
1) What if the page you want to go to hasn't been cached yet? Well, it will download at the same old speed it used to. The theory of these booster programs depends on the fact that you visit certain pages frequently and other ones infrequently.
2) What if the page you want to download changes frequently? Cache or no cache, speed-boosting won't work. The page will have to be re-downloaded at the same old speeds... or else you'll get stuck looking at the same outdated version of the page over and over again even though it's changed since the last time you saw it.
3) What about all that space on your hard drive that these cached pages takes up? If you have a small disk you could feel the pinch!
Honestly, I'm not that interested in "Speed Booster" programs. To me, they're more trouble than they're worth. Your mileage may vary. You decide on your own situation. It may help you. It may not.
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