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General discussion

dial-up problems / Cox Cable / Mac G-5

Mar 2, 2008 12:58PM PST

I have been getting extremely slow connection speeds for quite awhile on my G-5 IMac, when I used to have a nice, fast dial-up connection - now, I get frequent disconnects, and have to slow my modem down to the 33K speed to keep a more solid connection. When I use CNet's bandwith meter tester, I often find it connecting at 6.1, or 6.3 - extremely, agonizingly slow. I tried replacing the external USB modem that Apple uses, no difference.

I have had Cox cable out, they claim it is the ISP, the ISP says there is no problem. I am with fastermac.com, which is owned by Other World Communications.

I feel Cox cable is trying to force me into their high speed internet, as they state that "dial-up is almost dead" - which I don't buy.

Any thoughts?

Dennis in San Diego, California area.

Discussion is locked

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Sadly, dial up is dead.
Mar 2, 2008 8:32PM PST

There is no efforts being made to fix modem farms and more. The story here is grim and more grim. Yes I know many have dialup but the problems are going to get worse.

Bob

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Advice
Mar 3, 2008 12:45AM PST

Most likely issue lies on the line, contact with your ISP once again and request test your line for noise, as well ask them how far away you are from local exchange.

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Agree on dead dial-up. . .
Mar 3, 2008 8:02PM PST

It's going the way of the dinosaur. Same with analog TV.

For me, the choice between 33.6 Kb/s and 10 Mb/s was a no brainer. I moved to Comcast/Time Warner several years ago. I do not miss dial-up.

BTW, Cox wasn't trying to "force you" into anything. It's your choice. Stay with snail slow dial-up or move to incredibly fast cable.

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more on dial-up
Mar 4, 2008 1:12PM PST

I actually have tried Cox hi-speed twice - both times found it annoying in many ways, no tech support unless you use IE (which I haven't used in years) - for the money, dial-up is the no-brainer for me - normally my dial-up is not "snail slow" - though of course it depends on what you are using your computer for. What burns me up is paying ten bucks a month for a digital phone line, which should give you better connections for a computer also - I feel that Cox is disinterested about whether their phone line performs well for a computer - since they sell hi-speed internet.

For the many people on fixed incomes who need reliable, low cost internet access - dial-up needs to be maintained - I bought my mom a computer a year or two ago - since she moved to a retirement apartment in Missouri, it stays boxed - because she can't afford to pay internet access, and doesn't want her kids to pay that also. Many people are in that boat - for me dial-up costs about $8 per month, and used to perform excellent in my area. Right now it is very sporatic - tonight I have a nice, fast connection, and for what I use the computer for page loading is as fast as Cox was -though I suspect loading lots of pics would be slower.

The bottom line - people need low cost internet access, at reasonable speeds.

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Then I suggest what my mom does.
Mar 4, 2008 9:32PM PST

We got here a newish laptop with wifi. She goes to free wifi hotspots and the public library.

Can you beat that cost?

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thats an idea -
Mar 5, 2008 5:40AM PST

What gets me is that I have noticed recently that this problem is much worse during the day - at night recently I have my nice, fast connection - which leads me to think it is a physical problem with the phone line, or with Cox cable - particularly since my cable reception is often crappy also -

Dennis