Why is my dial up SOOOOooOOOoOoOOoo slow?
If you are using dial up internet and your connection is connecting at less than 40kb/s or has a high connection speed but all your pages still load slowly, you came to the right place! Here are some things to check before you throw your computer out the window.
Low Connection Speed:
Old phone lines
If your phone lines are old, then you may have to call your phone company and complain until they come out to fix them. It is hard for your computer to establish a good connection with your ISP if it has to go through lines that are in bad shape. If you have new phone lines outside your house, your lines in-house may still be old. Replace these and you should be good to go.
Noisy phone lines
Along these same lines (no pun intended) are noisy phone lines. If you notice static on the line when you make normal phone calls, then your computer won't be able to establish a good connection with your ISP. Sometimes the phone company can install filters on the lines to reduce noise.
POP server/phone number
Many times your ISP does not actually own the servers your computer is connecting to. They lease them from other companies. These servers are called Point of Presence servers, or POP servers for short. If one is down or overburdened, then your connection will not go through, or will be slow. Try a number with a different POP server.
Typically each POP company reuses the last 4 digits of phone numbers, so try a completely different number than the one that was slow. For example, if the number 555-1234 is slow, don't replace it with any other numbers ending in ###-1234. These are most likely on the same POP server. Try something that ends in ###-2351, for example.
Routing issues
This issue is rare, but can still happen. In the network of phone lines that your connection goes through, one line can be down or be slower than others. The solution to get around this is to try another phone number that hopefully takes a different path.
Modem drivers
Your modem is basically the phone inside your computer and the driver is what tells your computer how to use your modem. If your drivers are out of date, then your modem may not be running as efficiently as it could be. Look online for your modem drivers. The manufacturer's website is a good place to start.
Phone cable is too long
If you have a 100-foot phone cord between your computer and the wall jack, then that may be what is slowing down your connection. Use as short a phone cord as you can.
If your connect speed is good, but your internet is still loading slowly, here are some things to try:
Accelerated/unaccelerated
Most ISPs offer a form of a dial up accelerator. Typically it does three things:
- It blocks pop-up ads
- It caches pages on the computer
- It compresses files (text, pictures)
These three things can speed up your browsing experience by making it more efficient. You should note, though, that upload and download speeds are the same, so video and audio files will usually take a while to load.
Viruses
If your computer has a virus then your whole computer will probably run more slowly. You should be regularly updating your antivirus software. If you don't like paying for it, then at least use a free program like AVG. There's no excuse to have an out of date virus scanner. Consider it like having the oil changed on your car. Keep in mind, though, that your connection will be slower while downloading updates.
Spyware
There's a fine line between a virus and spyware/adware, but spyware can clog up your system pretty badly if it gets out of control. It can record how you use the internet, give you a lot of pop up advertisements, and record the information that you type and send it all to another computer. Programs like AdAware (note the program name is adAWARE and not adware) and Spybot S&D do a great job at eliminating these nuisances. Like your virus scanner, though, these programs need to be updated regularly.