What Do I Need for Wi-Fi at Home?

They also compress the graphics more, I think AOL does this as well and it breaks some sites.
 
Dial-up is so slow once you start dealing in images (web pages, family photos etc.) that dial-up is almost unusable unless you drink a lot of tea!! I have only used dial-up in an emergency, and that only about three times in the last four years since I went on broadband. Even 512 b/band was getting slow for software updates and iMac.

I think that so few people use the dial-up modem that it is not really worthwhile installing one any more. I've had my iBook for 6 months now and the dial-up is not even configured. Most places I've been when away from home have had wi-fi.
 
bobw said:
And don't expect the iConnect ISP to be 5 times faster than a normal dial up. The speed is limited to 53k on any dial up connection. They'll just cache pages so they load faster.
And that makes it download/work/go/seem/be faster. That's all that matters. :D
 
I know my dad really wants to get an iPod. If he goes with dial-up connection (even a "super fast" one like iConnectDirect), will downloading MP3 files be at least doable ... or so painfully slow that you'll want to jump off the Empire State Building onto a bicycle with no seat?
 
Those don't benefit from the compression, so it will be slow. One neat thing is that you can easily estimate the time to download them though. A 128 bit MP3 will take about three times as long to download as to play, a 196 bit MP3 about 5 times. That is because you can expect to pull about 40 kbs of real data through your modem after you pay the overhead costs. Then divide the MP3's bit rate by 40 and you get the "download vs. playing multiplier".
 
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