Forum Moderators: mack
I am about to get a new home connection for my PC. I need to know if a ordinary phoneline will be good enough to FTP my website using DW, or would I be better suited to getting Broadband connection and all the trimmings. Does Broadband really make that much difference to the webdesigner like myself who only wants to put relativley small amount of info each week or will Broadband shave hours off my upload time and make housekeeping painless.
I want to make the right choice as it could save me a few quid each month and I don't want to fork out for something i won't necessarily need.
Any advice welcome
Ta.
In the office we have a 4meg Fibreline and I have even picked up the laptop at 3 in the morning to do work online in the office rather than let the world drip in through my phone line.
once you have tasted broadband you would not go back.
DaveN
Edit bu Daven Thanks TOR
[edited by: DaveN at 11:14 am (utc) on Oct. 8, 2002]
Need to download the latest browser version to check your latest commission works?...takes minutes instead of hours.
The difference in cost between "unlimited" access dial-up and broadband hasn't been that great on the packages I've looked at and I'd happily hack a finger (or two) off to be able to get broadband at home. For some reason though - and even though I'm within the required distance of an exchange - I can't get it...such is life.
Recommended - definately.
the price in the UK between broadband and unlimited access is only about 30%-40% so unless the budget is very tight it's a no brainer.
advantages too in that the phone line (with adsl) is usable for telephone calls at the same time, so if you live with someone, no need for another line or arguments about missed calls.
once you have tasted broadband you would go back.
?
once you have tasted broadband you would not go back!
Seems as though that would be a resounding thumbs up for Broadband.
I am not sure if the MODS will let me ask this so feel free to delete if it breaks policy but does anyone have a opinion as to which ISP/telecomms company gives the best/most affordable Broadband connection (UK-north). BT is quite expensive and NTL are supposed to be a total waste of time.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Ritch.
I need to know if a ordinary phoneline will be good enough to FTP my website using DW,
All of the speed and enjoyment of a broadband connection notwithstanding, the question asked wasn't "is broadband faster?" but "do I need it?" And to that question, the answer is no. Many, many people use normal dialup connections to ftp websites, and using broadband, unless you're talking about huge flash files or something, is certainly not necessary to do so.
Of course it's great to have that high-speed connection, but you really don't "need" it and it won't "shave hours off your upload time." Minutes, yeah... and it will make more difference in the speed of your own web browsing, downloading email, etc.
If my ISP/the net can keep that up for 2 hours, I reckon I'd be FTP'ing not far off a 100Meg in the 2 hours I'm on before my ISP dutifully boots me.
Fast enough for me! :)
After tweaking my connection is not that far from T1 speeds. :)
dhdweb
Comparison:
1,000 K = ballbark download speed for broadband
56 K = modem download speed.
In sum, there is no comparison.
Keep this in mind too. Some people don't realize they are pay $35 - $50 per month just for 56K modem service. This is because they are paying a monthly fee for the second phone line and 56K ISP service. Cable modem service eliminates the need for the second phone AND the ISP service. So basically the cost of cable modem service is the same price as 56K service - but cable modem service is blazing fast.
does anyone have a opinion as to which ISP/telecomms company gives the best/most affordable Broadband connection (UK-north). BT is quite expensive and NTL are supposed to be a total waste of time.
NTL are a waste of time IF you have to contact their customer services - otherwise its good. I have NTL and have never had a problem - although friends have told me some nice horror stories when it all goes wrong.
Mind you, if your in the north not sure if NTL is an option - isnt it Telewest (BlueYonder) that has the cabling rights round there?
Blue Yonder sorry nothing good or Bad to say
DaveN
Here in the United States, this is a business expense, and we can write it off our taxes.
Is it worth it? Yes.
Do you need it?
Unless you're into self-sacrifice as a lifestyle: Yes, you need it.
Several people that I know have had good ADSL service from PIPEX. FreeUK gets good reviews in a couple of UK write-ups (but tie you to a minimum of 12 months). V21 are one of the cheapest apparently. There are already a couple of UK magazines covering only broadband topics.
As for speed, Norton AV updates are normally less than 20 second download. Complete new full Browser done in 3 minutes. Faaaaaast.
BT (i was with them previously) also a very good service, an occassional lost connection, more expensive but good support if needed, also a great recorded message helpline wich you can ring detailing any areas around the country that are having connection trouble and an estimated time of repair.
i hear stories too, but the above is my firsthand experience.
re taxes, if you have an home based internet business and are paying tax then the total cost of home broadband is claimable in the uk.
Broadband is the Daddy, I take great pride in winding up friends who are still on dialup ;-)
Receiving an email request for information and returning a quotation within minutes or faster.
Even better - calling them whilst they are still in your site :)
It also stops potential clients from looking at the number three and four listing in the Google serp, if they think they have been well served.
I have worked on the tech support desk,sales desk and the billing help for narrow band (dial-up), broadband and satellite broadband and I would go for ADSL if you can afford it, its on average double the price of a dial-up account which isnt to bad considering the amount of time you save!
Craig
Ta Ta
Limbo.
Maybe we'd see faster sites out there if everyone had to upload witha 56k :)
You would think that would be the case, however, when the whole world was on a dial-up people were still making those 80k pages.
I have noticed that the use of midis on webpages has nearly stopped unless of course you go to Geocities and every other site has a 50k logo and a midi playing in the background, usually with no way to turn the offending midi off. :)
Quite simply, it's almost impossible for me to work without a high speed connection. I do keep a dial-up to check load times, but for anyone that works on several sites for several clients a high speed connection is priceless.
In your opinion what would be the optimal file size for a webpage containing an 'average' amount of information. 10K? 20K? 30K?
* file containing HTML coding of about 10 to 40K
* JavaScript Code (in .js file, or inside .htm) 5 to 10K
* CSS - Style Sheets (in .css file, or inside .htm) 1 to 10K
* A main image or two, hopefully small, each about 20 to 40K
* Banner (site logo, or external banner advert) roughly 20 to 60K
* Multitude of Small Images (bullet points, Next Page arrows, mini-logos, etc)
any number from one or two to dozens, each one about 1 to 3K
Hmm, this is starting to add up to a lot!
On the XDA (PDA-like web browser) that I use, I have turned Images OFF, as they account for more than 50% of download, and the XDA downloads are paid by the MB, not by the time online.
I checked my internet connection speed (about 2 min back), and below are the results
4121.2 kbps Download
505.3 kbps upload
I think I am satisfied with this speed. (so far :))
