Mouse Clix

By Hobie Lunin

Faster than a speeding bullet!

Sorry Superman, faster than a bullet doesn't cut it these days. I am frequently asked what one can do to speed up the process of getting on-line and surfing the Internet.

You know how it goes. You click on your dial-up icon and then there is a short delay, then you hear the phone dialing. Then there are a few rings and then that electronic screech can go on for a while. Then there is a message saying the your password is being authenticated and then there is a bit more of a delay and then your home page starts to show up on the screen. If that page has a photo in it, you wait while it starts at the top and slowly goes down the screen until the whole page is loaded. The whole process may take several minutes unless you have gotten a busy signal and then it takes it takes even longer.

All this sound familiar? How can you speed up the process? If you have browsed around on the Internet you probably have run across a few sites which claim to be able to reduce your access time. Often it can be time and money spent on a very minor improvement.

If you really want to see something a magnitude faster, you might think about switching to cable.

My own experience with dial-up access included an increasing problem of noise on my phone line. The noise would cause me to suddenly disconnect from my ISP causing even more frustration, as I had to go through the dial-up several times on each of my sessions. The phone company came out twice but was unable to solve the noise problem.

That's when I noticed the Suburban Cable (now Comcast) was offering free installation. And so I went for it.

The process took very little time after the appointment day arrived. The installer had to make some changes in the hardware on my cable both inside and outside, and install an outlet on a wall near my computer. We had to add an Ethernet card (cable is really a network connection) and then add a cable modem which sits externally, next to my CPU.

They quickly changed the settings in my computer to accept this network link and there it was. Now, about the cost:

As I had installed a separate line for my Internet dial-up connection and was paying about $18 per month for my ISP, the total cost per month was close to $40, the same amount that this new service was adding to my cable bill. So, I called it a "wash". It was not costing me any more than what I was paying but the results were very noticeable.

The cable connection is always on. I just click on my browser icon and there it is. No dialing, no waiting. When I come to a page with photos or graphics there is no wait while they load up. The graphics pop up like bread out of the toaster. When I download a program from a site on the Internet that says it will take 15 minutes to complete, the download is over in just seconds. It gives a whole new meaning to the word speed, when talking about the Internet. It eliminates so much of the frustration in waiting for things to happen. As I was and still am big on sending photos up to my websites, the time being saved on this process alone is enormous.

How can you determine whether you can get cable in your home? Call Pyramid Computer at 215-949-9170 and they will tell you if you are in an area where it is available now or how long it will be before you will be able to get it.

Some of the other advantages on being on Comcast@home are having an @home mail address, space to put a web site and easy access to help.

Another problem I was having with my previous Internet server was frequent down time especially with the e-mail. Although Home.com occasionally will have that problem, it does not take them long to repair it and when you call their toll-free number you usually will get a message indicating where the problem is so that you know that it is not a problem in your own computer.

One way to experience the speed of a cable connection is to try it out at your library. My local branch uses cable and you see this immediately when you click on the blue "e" icon on the desktop and you are "on-line" immediately. Then browse around to some sites where there are photos and just see how fast they appear. As fast a turning a page in a magazine.

Make your computer experience more fun and not spend much more money than you are spending now. Take time to do the arithmetic. The installation and monthly fees are available from Pyramid.

Remember the connection is "ON" all the time, there is no dial-up. It does not effect your TV viewing in any way. If, on the other hand, the TV cable is out for some reason, your Internet connection will be as well.

Cable is not only faster than a speeding bullet, it makes you feel like you are leaping over buildings in a single bound.

For more information about cable, go to http://comcast@home.com. .

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant, and can be reached at hlunin@email.com. To see previous articles, point your browser to http://mouseclix.tripod.com