- Joined
- Mar 1, 2002
- Location
- Texas
56kers Unite - TPC's Dial-Suck Survival Guide
Moderator Note: This sticky is an amalgamation of several sticky worthy posts which fall under the category of "Tips, Tweaks, and Downloads". Below is a table of contents for this sticky, as well as links to the full original threads the posts appeared in. Please direct any comments and questions to the original thread -- any new posts appearing in this thread will be deleted.
Don't forget to check out su root's "list o links" thread for tons of tweaking/benchmarking info:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130380
Fact: 90% of internet users still employ dial-suck modems.
Most of these people are only there to check their e-mail and download the newspaper.
Alot of these people are lucky enough to have broad-band access elsewhere.
Some of these people are in countries that know nothing better.
Hell, one or two of these people are actually *happy* with the "blazing fast" downloads of a 56k or less.
But what about the group I didn't mention? What about those of us who long for the freedom of broad-band, but are choking and held to the ground daily by this damned dial-suck internet access?
Dial-up blows, I know. I've dealt with it all my life. I've had three machines that I could see being hooked up to a high-speed cable modem... but it never happened. It's dial-suck for me until I go to college.
So that's what this guide is for. If you're fed up with corrupted downloads, slow IM reconnects or missing pictures on webpages, then I suggest you read this before you go tossing that modem out the window.
Section 1 of 2
I use several programs to help get over my dial-suck blues.
CiDial - A very clean, efficient, no BS app that redials automatically in the event of a disconnect. Asoblutely wonderful, especially when working in conjuction with BulletProof FTP. Connection dies, CiDial reconnects silently, and BPTFTP resumes my download. I use it on my Win95 laptop, my Win98 Penitum, and my Win2kPro Athlon (well, DID use it... see sig). Wonderful. You download it from CNET here:
http://download.com.com/3000-2155-3293014.html?tag=lst-0-1
Bullet Proof FTP - Automatic resume for all FTP downloads, so long as the server supports it. How do you think I downloaded 1.3GB of Linux ISOs in a week on my 56k? It's not because I was up every six hours, making it reconnect to the server...
http://www.bpftp.com/
Download Accelerator Plus - If you don't have it... GET IT! It's a wonderful shareware app that downloads quickly and efficiently. It has problems with dropped connections, however - it doesn't reconnect to the server automatically. This really isn't a problem with me, as I almost never download anything larger than 60MB at a time (about what I can move in 5 or 6 hours). This program works even better on a broad-band line. But for our fellow dial-suck users, it has customizable dial-up extensions, including the ability to hang up the connection when the d/l is finished.
Downloadable here:
http://www.speedbit.com/
7/7/03 Edit - DAP comes with AdWare, not SpyWare. There's a difference. The huge ads can become annoying, especially if you're stuck on a slow machine that runs at 800x600 or less. Plus, when it's time for new ads, your download assumes the back-burner position until the new ads are downloaded.
So, while I never had any problems with the program itself, you can try:
GetRight - Just like DAP, with a better interface, no AdWare, and works better for broad-band connections too. GetRight supports multi-segmented downloading, and with enough mirrors, you can get up to 10 connections going at once. On the line in the dorms, I got 730 KB/s using just 4 connections. With my dial-up modem, I'd maybe squeeze another half KB out of the download speed.
Priority downloading, scheduled downloading, download speed caps, GetRight has what DAP does, and more. Certainly worth a try, especially if you have access to a broad-band machine.
http://www.getright.com/
Trillian - Screw ICQ. ICQ = a resource hogging, slow-conecting, six-ways-to-do-anything app that I refuse to run anymore. Trillian works great for me. Five different chat protocols - IRC, YIM, AIM, ICQ, and MSN. All of these connect within 5 seconds of my hitting the "Global Reconnect" option. Besides the fact that it emulates some Windows XP features even on Win95 systems, I like it because it automatically reconnects on it's own, after CiDial has done it's business. ICQ used to just ***** that "The ICQ network is unavailable.". My @$$. You're just a trashy piece of coding, ICQ.
Trilian 0.74 & Trillian Pro 1.0 is available here:
http://www.trillian.cc
You can import your YIM, AIM, IRC, ICQ, and MSN contact lists from old installations of the five afore-mentioned IMs. Also, TP 1.0 isn't free - but it's worth the $25.
KazaaLite - We've all got the run-around by spyware at one time of the other. While cleaning a bud's machine the other day, I found over 300 spyware components!!! After a good few minutes spent cleaning, the system ran all around better. Kazaa is a great P2P file-sharing app, complete with auto-logon and auto-resuming after CiDial does it's business. Unfortunately, spyware components laced throughout the program can choke your computer literally to death (software death - reformat). KazaaLite is a modified version of Kazaa. It's just like Kazaa, only all of the spyware components have been extracted and/or disabled completely. You can download it here:
http://www.kazaalite.tk
Note: If you run Ad-Aware, if *will* find a CyDoor spyware component within the KazaaLite directory. DO NOT DELETE IT! It is a critical part of both Kazaa and KazaaLite. Rest assured, though, CyDoor DLL will not affect your system's performance, as it has been rendered useless to anything other than KazaaLite.
Another note: The new KazaaLite "K++" version prevents fellow Kazaa-ers from using the "Find More Form Same->User" (or however it goes) option. Draw your own conclusions, but this is there for a reason.
Section 2 of 2
WinModems - ...suck. WinModems aren't modems (IMO). They're parasites on your system; in short, they use main processor power to do their housework, as opposed to "keeping it on your own card". The result? Lower connectivity rates, less reliablility, and more chances of data corruption. (Yes, data corruption. ) Got a crappy line? Your WinModem will spew all over itself trying to connect. Trying to hit above 20kb/sec downloads? Impossible. (I've hit 18.7kb/sec on my WinModem - because apparently, ISO images compress well). So why, do you ask, do they continue to MAKE these horrible things!?
Money. They're cheaper and more cost effective to manufacture than real hardware modems. Chances are, if you open up a pre-built system (Compaq, Dell, etc.), you'll find a WinModem inside. Hardware modems are mucho expensive, and people would rather save a few bucks by lowering transfer rates.
If you're aching for more speed, go get yourself an internal/external hardware modem. Specifically ask the salesman, "Is this a winmodem, or a hardware modem?" if he's not sure, then find someone who is. Be careful, some salesmen will just BS you into buying a crap modem, so it's best to bring someone who knows modems along with you as well. Almost all external modems are hardware modems.
Multi-modem Connectivity - Windows has an option for this, built right in - it's called Multilink. Got more than one analog internal or external modem? Set your connection to use both at once, and theoretically double your transfer rates. To access this option, open your Dial-Up Networking folder, and right-click the connection you want to modify. Hit the Multilink tab. There, you can add devices to the connection, which will dial simultaneously along with the other modems on that connection, when you dial in.
However, this requires one phone line per modem (obviously), and some ISPs don't like it if you attempt you use more than one modem per username and password combo. Before you go spending cash on mucho modems to dial-in with, ask your ISP if they support Windows' Multilink function, and test a bud's modem in your machine if they do.
RAM, Defrag, and other Machine Maintenance - Defrag your HD, get some more RAM, and in some cases, update/downdate (lol) your OS. For example, with Windows 95, I get better connectivity rates than I do with 98SE, but both OSes are owned by Win2kPro's dial-up extensions. Windows 2000 also seems a little more stable when it comes to dealing with modem hardware failures. Defraging is standard maintenance, you should do that anyway. A little more RAM never hurts, unless you're running Win9X with more than 256MB of RAM already.
Hope that helps those who want to get over 56k... it certainly helped me pass the time while I wait for the FedEx truck.
10/7/02 Edit - fixed spelling errors, updated Trillian section, corrected awkward sentences.
Drivers for Conexant modems, along with a modem ID utility:
http://www.conexant.com/customer/md_driverdownload.jsp
Moderator Note: This sticky is an amalgamation of several sticky worthy posts which fall under the category of "Tips, Tweaks, and Downloads". Below is a table of contents for this sticky, as well as links to the full original threads the posts appeared in. Please direct any comments and questions to the original thread -- any new posts appearing in this thread will be deleted.
- Posts 1, 2, 3, 6 -- 56kers Unite - TPC's Dial-Suck Survival Guide (original thread)
- Post 4 -- Get your browsers here! (original thread)
- Post 5 -- A word on BROWSERS, and MAIL. (original thread)
- Post 7 -- Official FireFox Tweaks Thread (original thread)
Don't forget to check out su root's "list o links" thread for tons of tweaking/benchmarking info:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130380
Fact: 90% of internet users still employ dial-suck modems.
Most of these people are only there to check their e-mail and download the newspaper.
Alot of these people are lucky enough to have broad-band access elsewhere.
Some of these people are in countries that know nothing better.
Hell, one or two of these people are actually *happy* with the "blazing fast" downloads of a 56k or less.
But what about the group I didn't mention? What about those of us who long for the freedom of broad-band, but are choking and held to the ground daily by this damned dial-suck internet access?
Dial-up blows, I know. I've dealt with it all my life. I've had three machines that I could see being hooked up to a high-speed cable modem... but it never happened. It's dial-suck for me until I go to college.
So that's what this guide is for. If you're fed up with corrupted downloads, slow IM reconnects or missing pictures on webpages, then I suggest you read this before you go tossing that modem out the window.
Section 1 of 2
I use several programs to help get over my dial-suck blues.
CiDial - A very clean, efficient, no BS app that redials automatically in the event of a disconnect. Asoblutely wonderful, especially when working in conjuction with BulletProof FTP. Connection dies, CiDial reconnects silently, and BPTFTP resumes my download. I use it on my Win95 laptop, my Win98 Penitum, and my Win2kPro Athlon (well, DID use it... see sig). Wonderful. You download it from CNET here:
http://download.com.com/3000-2155-3293014.html?tag=lst-0-1
Bullet Proof FTP - Automatic resume for all FTP downloads, so long as the server supports it. How do you think I downloaded 1.3GB of Linux ISOs in a week on my 56k? It's not because I was up every six hours, making it reconnect to the server...
http://www.bpftp.com/
Download Accelerator Plus - If you don't have it... GET IT! It's a wonderful shareware app that downloads quickly and efficiently. It has problems with dropped connections, however - it doesn't reconnect to the server automatically. This really isn't a problem with me, as I almost never download anything larger than 60MB at a time (about what I can move in 5 or 6 hours). This program works even better on a broad-band line. But for our fellow dial-suck users, it has customizable dial-up extensions, including the ability to hang up the connection when the d/l is finished.
Downloadable here:
http://www.speedbit.com/
7/7/03 Edit - DAP comes with AdWare, not SpyWare. There's a difference. The huge ads can become annoying, especially if you're stuck on a slow machine that runs at 800x600 or less. Plus, when it's time for new ads, your download assumes the back-burner position until the new ads are downloaded.
So, while I never had any problems with the program itself, you can try:
GetRight - Just like DAP, with a better interface, no AdWare, and works better for broad-band connections too. GetRight supports multi-segmented downloading, and with enough mirrors, you can get up to 10 connections going at once. On the line in the dorms, I got 730 KB/s using just 4 connections. With my dial-up modem, I'd maybe squeeze another half KB out of the download speed.
Priority downloading, scheduled downloading, download speed caps, GetRight has what DAP does, and more. Certainly worth a try, especially if you have access to a broad-band machine.
http://www.getright.com/
Trillian - Screw ICQ. ICQ = a resource hogging, slow-conecting, six-ways-to-do-anything app that I refuse to run anymore. Trillian works great for me. Five different chat protocols - IRC, YIM, AIM, ICQ, and MSN. All of these connect within 5 seconds of my hitting the "Global Reconnect" option. Besides the fact that it emulates some Windows XP features even on Win95 systems, I like it because it automatically reconnects on it's own, after CiDial has done it's business. ICQ used to just ***** that "The ICQ network is unavailable.". My @$$. You're just a trashy piece of coding, ICQ.
Trilian 0.74 & Trillian Pro 1.0 is available here:
http://www.trillian.cc
You can import your YIM, AIM, IRC, ICQ, and MSN contact lists from old installations of the five afore-mentioned IMs. Also, TP 1.0 isn't free - but it's worth the $25.
KazaaLite - We've all got the run-around by spyware at one time of the other. While cleaning a bud's machine the other day, I found over 300 spyware components!!! After a good few minutes spent cleaning, the system ran all around better. Kazaa is a great P2P file-sharing app, complete with auto-logon and auto-resuming after CiDial does it's business. Unfortunately, spyware components laced throughout the program can choke your computer literally to death (software death - reformat). KazaaLite is a modified version of Kazaa. It's just like Kazaa, only all of the spyware components have been extracted and/or disabled completely. You can download it here:
http://www.kazaalite.tk
Note: If you run Ad-Aware, if *will* find a CyDoor spyware component within the KazaaLite directory. DO NOT DELETE IT! It is a critical part of both Kazaa and KazaaLite. Rest assured, though, CyDoor DLL will not affect your system's performance, as it has been rendered useless to anything other than KazaaLite.
Another note: The new KazaaLite "K++" version prevents fellow Kazaa-ers from using the "Find More Form Same->User" (or however it goes) option. Draw your own conclusions, but this is there for a reason.
Section 2 of 2
WinModems - ...suck. WinModems aren't modems (IMO). They're parasites on your system; in short, they use main processor power to do their housework, as opposed to "keeping it on your own card". The result? Lower connectivity rates, less reliablility, and more chances of data corruption. (Yes, data corruption. ) Got a crappy line? Your WinModem will spew all over itself trying to connect. Trying to hit above 20kb/sec downloads? Impossible. (I've hit 18.7kb/sec on my WinModem - because apparently, ISO images compress well). So why, do you ask, do they continue to MAKE these horrible things!?
Money. They're cheaper and more cost effective to manufacture than real hardware modems. Chances are, if you open up a pre-built system (Compaq, Dell, etc.), you'll find a WinModem inside. Hardware modems are mucho expensive, and people would rather save a few bucks by lowering transfer rates.
If you're aching for more speed, go get yourself an internal/external hardware modem. Specifically ask the salesman, "Is this a winmodem, or a hardware modem?" if he's not sure, then find someone who is. Be careful, some salesmen will just BS you into buying a crap modem, so it's best to bring someone who knows modems along with you as well. Almost all external modems are hardware modems.
Multi-modem Connectivity - Windows has an option for this, built right in - it's called Multilink. Got more than one analog internal or external modem? Set your connection to use both at once, and theoretically double your transfer rates. To access this option, open your Dial-Up Networking folder, and right-click the connection you want to modify. Hit the Multilink tab. There, you can add devices to the connection, which will dial simultaneously along with the other modems on that connection, when you dial in.
However, this requires one phone line per modem (obviously), and some ISPs don't like it if you attempt you use more than one modem per username and password combo. Before you go spending cash on mucho modems to dial-in with, ask your ISP if they support Windows' Multilink function, and test a bud's modem in your machine if they do.
RAM, Defrag, and other Machine Maintenance - Defrag your HD, get some more RAM, and in some cases, update/downdate (lol) your OS. For example, with Windows 95, I get better connectivity rates than I do with 98SE, but both OSes are owned by Win2kPro's dial-up extensions. Windows 2000 also seems a little more stable when it comes to dealing with modem hardware failures. Defraging is standard maintenance, you should do that anyway. A little more RAM never hurts, unless you're running Win9X with more than 256MB of RAM already.
Hope that helps those who want to get over 56k... it certainly helped me pass the time while I wait for the FedEx truck.
10/7/02 Edit - fixed spelling errors, updated Trillian section, corrected awkward sentences.
Drivers for Conexant modems, along with a modem ID utility:
http://www.conexant.com/customer/md_driverdownload.jsp
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