A little understood fact about the Internet is that website owners have to
pay for the bandwidth provided at the server end. This is extremely expensive
and therefore they keep bandwidth to a minimum. Therefore, no matter how fast
the user's connection, they are limited by the bandwidth provided at the
server and at any 'bottle necks' along the way, such as trands-Atlantic
connections.
Here's an example. If you subscribe to AOL whose servers are all loctaed in
the USA you expect the service to be busy in the early evenings and therefore
slow. You might try getting up early to connect but if you do you will often
find the service even slower. It seems likely that AOL cut back on the
bandwidth they purchase during what they estimate are low demand times. I
would expect other providers to do something similar (to be honest, I think I
would if I were them)
Also, try the Census database, demand for this is so high that it's very
difficult to get onto to it at anytime.
Depending on where you are, what you want to look at and the 'finacial
accumen' of your service provider and the lack of funding of the website
provider, broadband can be a waste of money. You simply cannot generalise
that paying for the extra bandwidth at the user's end will always guarantee
them faster access.
Mick Trott
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