Well, lessee. We'll assume a brand-new Dell computer (the kind you see advertised on TV for $369). It only runs Windows 98. And we'll make the modem a Winmodem (CPU does all the DSP). Tip in a really inefficient, top-heavy web browser (IE, since it comes with W98). And a stripped-down frame-buffer style graphics card (hey, you don't get a $400 GeForce card in a $369 computer). Slow dynamic RAM, with CPU refresh. 50MHz frontside bus. 13 clocks/instruction, average. A very register- poor CPU. You know, it's quite possible that a brand-new Dell computer would, in fact, be unable to max out a 56K modem.
Actually, I'm guessing their software does some combination of a) skipping part of the IP stack, b) caching, and c) compression. There could also be static content (known ads, backgrounds, scripts, etc.) that is accessed locally instead of fetched over the modem, and perhaps some sort of filtering. Also, there could be some user experience management going on, where it loads the stuff you can see, and gets the rest of it while you're reading the first part (something real browsers have been doing for a long time).
There could also be static content (known ads, backgrounds, scripts, etc.) that is accessed locally instead of fetched over the modem
I guess those would be the same ads I don't retrieve at all, thanks to an ad- (and pop-up)-blocking proxy (privoxy, but there's others). That really sped up my dial-up surfing.
Windows unable to keep a 56K modem busy?
on TV for $369). It only runs Windows 98. And we'll make the modem a Winmodem
(CPU does all the DSP). Tip in a really inefficient, top-heavy web browser (IE, since
it comes with W98). And a stripped-down frame-buffer style graphics card (hey,
you don't get a $400 GeForce card in a $369 computer). Slow dynamic RAM, with
CPU refresh. 50MHz frontside bus. 13 clocks/instruction, average. A very register-
poor CPU. You know, it's quite possible that a brand-new Dell computer would, in
fact, be unable to max out a 56K modem.
Re: Windows unable to keep a 56K modem busy?
I wonder what their "turbo Internet" software actually does, and whether it has any effect if there's a real modem instead of a Winmodem.
Re: Windows unable to keep a 56K modem busy?
part of the IP stack, b) caching, and c) compression. There could also be
static content (known ads, backgrounds, scripts, etc.) that is accessed
locally instead of fetched over the modem, and perhaps some sort of
filtering. Also, there could be some user experience management going
on, where it loads the stuff you can see, and gets the rest of it while
you're reading the first part (something real browsers have been doing
for a long time).
Re: Windows unable to keep a 56K modem busy?