proxy servers

[2x3i5x]

And the smiley means he knows it's most likely a waste of time but he's just doing it for the sake of doing it. 

[Rob Pomeroy]

what does proxy server have to do with optimizing internet connection? As far as I understand, proxy server is just to simulate an IP address on your pc so that the end that is receiving the IP does not read it as the actual one you have.

So let's say you are downloading two files from a website that allows only one single connection and you have two pc's connecting to it from same internet connection. Perhaps proxy can make 2nd pc appear to be a different connection so that it bypasses the redundant ip check.

Proxy servers may be used as a way of surfing the internet anonymously (or bypassing certain country-based IP restrictions, penetrating the Great Firewall of China, etc.) but that is not in fact their primary purpose.  (See above.)   Proxy servers can implement all kinds of strategies to accelerate web browsing - downgrade the quality of graphics, retrieve pages using multiple threads, "readahead" (caching all links off a web page prior to the user clicking on those links), etc.  A well configured proxy can predict what a user wants and get it before the user requests it.

I've lost the point though - what are we trying to achieve here?

[Aegis]

Thanks, Rob -- I knew proxies had more to do with helping a business better manage their traffic, but your explanation give some basics as to how and why.  (Compared to the "cheat the system" stuff on which most seem focused.)

[hot dog]

Proxy servers may be used as a way of surfing the internet anonymously (or bypassing certain country-based IP restrictions, penetrating the Great Firewall of China, etc.) but that is not in fact their primary purpose.  (See above.)   Proxy servers can implement all kinds of strategies to accelerate web browsing - downgrade the quality of graphics, retrieve pages using multiple threads, "readahead" (caching all links off a web page prior to the user clicking on those links), etc.  A well configured proxy can predict what a user wants and get it before the user requests it.

I've lost the point though - what are we trying to achieve here?

Well, my mom has an old Gateway computer with Windows XP Home, SP. 3, 256 MB RAM, Pent. 3 Processor (I realize it could use more RAM  )......Her dial Up modem is a 56 Kbps modem but it's only giving 28.8 Kbps.....  I thought maybe going through a proxy would ease the load of downloading files from the Internet, not necessarily optimize it...I'm sure, however, trying other things could optimize the connection speed... I've actually got a list that I can follow, here:  http://www.56k.com/trouble/connect.shtml     

Anyway, thanks for all the info.!

[2x3i5x]

28.8 kbps internet is really really slow. I think that it'll not help at all to attempt optimization using the proxy servers!!

[Aegis]

28.8 kbps internet is really really slow.

It's all relative.  I remember when 28.8 was really, really fast!

Hey, Block, what's the rating on that modem?  I wonder if you replaced the modem, if it would help -- at least get closer to 48K!  (You can try a 56K modem, but most phone lines are rated, at least by the old tariffs, to 53K, so you won't get 56K, but you might get in the 40's, thereby almost doubling the speed.

[2x3i5x]

It's all relative.  I remember when 28.8 was really, really fast!

Hey, Block, what's the rating on that modem?  I wonder if you replaced the modem, if it would help -- at least get closer to 48K!  (You can try a 56K modem, but most phone lines are rated, at least by the old tariffs, to 53K, so you won't get 56K, but you might get in the 40's, thereby almost doubling the speed.

Last time I checked, US Robotics has good reliable modems!!

[hot dog]

It's all relative.  I remember when 28.8 was really, really fast!

Hey, Block, what's the rating on that modem?  I wonder if you replaced the modem, if it would help -- at least get closer to 48K!  (You can try a 56K modem, but most phone lines are rated, at least by the old tariffs, to 53K, so you won't get 56K, but you might get in the 40's, thereby almost doubling the speed.

It IS a 56 Kbps modem, I don't recall any other details about it at the moment....I suspect that the problem here is a configuration problem.  I won't be able to get over to my mom's house for about another weak, but I intend to follow the troublshooting guide in the link I posted......I believe there are a number of variables that could be contributing to the lack of speed in this situation, according to the list

I'll keep ya'll (as they say in Texas) posted

[Aegis]

It could just be the phone line, too.  You may not get any more out of it.  If it's a voice line, there's no guarantees about speed of data, so don't even try to bark up that tree.

[Rob Pomeroy]

Aegis speaks truth.  Also note that the reported speed of an analogue modem is usually only the handshake speed - not the true live throughput.

You might be able to appear to speed things up by using the FasterFox extension with Firefox, but honestly, the internet is so media rich these days that nothing is going to be quick over analogue.

[hot dog]

thx guys

I'll keep this stuff in mind...............and will post back

[2x3i5x]

of course, I had dialup back in the day and I moved to a new apartment. The old apartment I lived in gave a 28.8 kbps speeds while at the new apartment, I got consistent aournd 45.2 kbps speeds. Hmm .... nothing else changed, just the location and phone line.

[Aegis]

Yes, good point, 2x.

I mean, it might be worth pursuing with a different modem.  Now, if a case can be made for poor voice quality, or if there is truly static on the line or some such, perhaps the line can be repaired, and it may just improve the data throughput - a long shot, but I just wanted to mention it.

[hot dog]

I really think the problem could be the phone lines, like you guys are implying.

My mother lives out in the country, and the community is very old.  Most likely the phone lines are ancient...

[Helpmeh]

Distance is almost irrelevant on the internet.  Latency is the issue.  Your connection is only as fast as the narrowest most contended pipe between your PC and the destination (proxy) server.  A proxy server literally next door to you that everybody hits, sitting behind a 128kb upstream connection is going to be a lot slower than a proxy server in Outer Mongolia behind a synchronous 10Mb pipe with only one user...

Like the chain is only as strong as its weakest link, internet is only as fast as the slowest connection.