3x faster internet access over dialup - Are these guys for real?

[stoner87]

First off, here's the link. It's a company called CWO and here's what they're claiming:

Add 3XS to a Coastal Web account and Triple your EXISTING Modem Connection speed!
Three times the speed of your current modem connection at a reasonable price.
With 3XS, your speed will triple and sometimes quadruple!
if your modem gets 52k, 3XS will increase it up to 156k,
if your modem gets 44k, 3XS will increase it up to 128k,
if your modem gets 36k, 3XS will increase it up to 112k,

They require at least a 266Mhz computer, and you have to install their software. It looks like the information is compressed on both sides of the dial-up connection - yours and their modem server's end. Service is $8 on top of the normal $20 per month for standard ISP service. Has anyone else used this or seen it before? Google didn't return any results when I tried searching for reviews on this. I'm considering it, since I'm BARELY out of range of DSL service, and I'm jones'ing for some better than 56k.

Also, if I'm using ICS or some other source of NAT, would my "host" computers see this as a transparently faster connection? Or is it all hype and a waste of money?

Thx for the opinions.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

I don't believe that.

Your modem is always 56K max, US' telephone line is capable of 53K max.
Whatever how fast is your ISP connecting to the Internet, from your ISP to your computer is always 53K max.

If you want to make dial-up faster - actually more efficiently, use NT or 2000, or use some web accelerator program for win95/98.

 

[Garion]

Well, the 53K max throughput is raw data. If you're compressing it then transmitting it you don't change the raw packets transmitted, just how much data is squeezed into them.

I'd be extremely hesitant at their figures of 3X. A lot of your time browsing is just simple modem-induced latency and delays. Most of the rest is graphics, which are usually pre-compressed and you won't be able to squeeze them any tighter. Place you'd see performance would be in big text documents - ebooks, etc. Most things you download are also pre-compressed and you probably wouldn't see much improvement.

If you do sign up, make very sure you're not under a commitment or that you have an escape clause for non-performance in the agreement. Good money says it won't work like advertised, except under certain conditions.

- G

 

[Garion]

Double post. Proxy problems. *grumble*

- G

 

[Kingofcomputer]

.. but there is V.42bis such protocol for data compression, the modem is already using data compression scheme.

what I think this 3x faster internet access is just a scam.

 

[Agamar]

They are most likely using web compression software. We have a compression server here on our campus. We need it because we are currently limited to a single T1 line coming into the campus. This line is strained as it is. Putting the compression server in place (and clients on the desktops) allows our web browsing labs to have good speed without using up much bandwidth. Unfortunately, it cannot compress movies or audio, only static pages / graphics.

Still, the claim of 3x may be justified for the average customer. After all, we get close to 75% compression nearly all round on our server.

 

[stoner87]

Well, I actually called the provider today. He said it is just a compression software that acts between the ISP and client before the modem. And even though the website says "Free 7-day trail for new users", it's not really free - you have to sign up for a month to try it, I'm not really sure where those free 7 days come in. He also told me that it will not work over a shared connection, just on the computer with the modem on it. I'm not sure if he knows what he's talking about, since he's just a salesman, but I think I'll pass. My main reason for getting a faster connection would be for the media and large file downloads, not HTML/text browsing, and I doubt a zip, mpg, mp3, or jpg could get any more compressed than it already is.

Thanks guys!

 

[Kingofcomputer]

<< He said it is just a compression software that acts between the ISP and client before the modem. >>

I doubt that compression software would be better than v.42bis.

The V.42bis Compression Standard was proposed by the International
Consultative Committee on Telephony and Telegraphy (CCITT, now ITU-T) as
an addition to the v.42 error-correction protocol for modems. Its purpose
is to increase data throughput, and uses a variant of the
Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) compression method. It is meant to be
implemented in the modem hardware, but can also be built into the
software that interfaces to an ordinary non-compressing modem.

V.42bis can send data compressed or not, depending on the
data. There are some types of data that cannot be
compressed. For example, if a file was compressed first,
and then sent through a V.42bis modem, the modem would not
likely reduce the number of bits sent. Indeed it is likely
that the amount of data would increase somewhat.

from http://www.faqs.org/faqs/compression-faq/part1/section-10.html