Dealing with Dial-Up Internet: 6 Ways to Get By Without High-Speed Internet Access

While dialup Internet is much slower than more modern ways of getting online, some users still connect with dialup because the infrastructure for high-speed Internet isn’t yet available in their areas. Others choose dialup because it’s cheaper.

Because of dialup Internet’s limitations, however, those who routinely use it are forced to keep some tricks up their sleeves to make dealing with dialup easier.

There’s no escaping the fact that some things don’t work well with dialup and other things can’t be done at all, but it’s possible to perform many basic Internet functions without high-speed hookups.

Here are six ways of dealing with dialup Internet.

1. Choose good dialup in the first place.

Not all dialup access is the same. Choosing access from a reputable company like Earthlink, for example, means faster, more reliable service than is offered by extremely low-cost alternatives.

2. Use the mobile version of popular websites.

Many of today’s most popular websites have mobile versions that are less graphic intensive and easier to load using dialup Internet. Among these are Facebook (m.facebook.com), Twitter (mobile.twitter.com) and Amazon (amazon.com/access).

3. Start several things at once and walk away.

Although it seems counterintuitive, one of the best ways to cope with dialup is to start opening several desired websites at once, then do something offline while all of them load.

4.Take advantage of free wifi to do the things dialup can’t.

Plan to use a netbook or laptop to download files and surf content-intensive website while away from home. To make the best use of time, keep a list of sites to visit on a trip to a hotspot. Free wifi is available in many malls, most McDonald’s locations and at some coffee shops and bookstores.

5. Turn off images in emails.

Most email applications like Outlook and Thunderbird allow users to only load images on request. In most cases, images in emails don’t provide necessary information, and turning them off can turn an hour-long email check into only a minute or two.

6. Exercise a little patience and don’t reload.

Most images and even complicated website scripts will eventually load using dialup, so have some patience. Reloading a page starts the process over, so simply write an email, prepare a document or work on something else in another window while the slow Internet connection retrieves whatever it can.

Slow dialup Internet access is no substitute for high-speed web surfing, but it works well enough for many purposes.

Only having access to dialup doesn’t mean missing out on the Internet experience, it just means surfing more concisely and being willing to forgo some bells and whistles.