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Earthlink Tries, Fails To Make Dial-Up Interesting
New 'faster site finder' seems a little sad...

Earthlink lost $80 million on their attempt to offer citywide Wi-Fi, their investments in broadband over powerline (BPL) have gone nowhere, they can't share access to next-generation broadband networks (with the sole exception of Time Warner Cable as a condition of the AOL merger), and their effort to run an MVNO (Helio) flamed out spectacularly. Now they're trying everything in their power to at least retain their remaining dial-up customers.

With their recent "hey, a recession is a great time to switch to dial-up!" marketing push not going particularly well, Earthlink is using a new marketing wrinkle to try and keep existing dial-up customers while attracting new ones. According to an announcement, Earthlink's miraculously speeding up dial-up "by up to 80%":
quote:
Click for full size
EarthLink today announced three improvements which increase the speed of the online experience for dial-up Internet access users by up to 80%. Most notably, EarthLink has launched a proprietary "faster site finder" feature for its EarthLink Toolbar that automatically alerts a user when a faster version of a requested website is available. The company has also made improvements to its my.earthlink.net portal and EarthLink webmail which increase the speeds of those applications by 15% and 20% respectively.
What's the "faster site finder" toolbar actually doing? It's directing dial-up users to mobile mobile versions of existing websites, where users can experience all the annoyance of highly crippled mobile websites from the comfort of their own home. "We see this as a significant development for EarthLink's more than one million dial-up Internet users," says Earthlink, who reminds those people who are snickering that there's still more than 10 million poor souls still on dial-up connections.
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SLD
Premium Member
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA

SLD

Premium Member

I miss

I miss the modem sound...
NOT!

Cjaiceman
MVM
join:2004-10-12
Castle Rock, WA
(Software) pfSense
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-PRO

Cjaiceman

MVM

Re: I miss

said by SLD:

I miss the modem sound...
NOT!
Just for you

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· AQcGGSec

antonio010
join:2002-11-24

antonio010

Member

Re: I miss

HAHAHA!
That was great man!

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude to Cjaiceman

Premium Member

to Cjaiceman
said by Cjaiceman:
said by SLD:

I miss the modem sound...
NOT!
Just for you

(youtube clip)
And »www.lazylaces.com/56Kmodem/ ...
jc10098
join:2002-04-10

jc10098 to SLD

Member

to SLD
Modems are far from useless man. Hence the "FAX" part of a modem. One can still use send documents =).

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran to SLD

Premium Member

to SLD
In the dialup days I used to worry when I -didn't- hear that sound. If a modem was quiet, I couldn't tell it was doing anything! I'd try my damndest to make sure the modem made noise when attempting to connect.

Otherwise I'd be sitting there staring at Trumpet, and later the "Connecting.." box on Win95, wondering if the modem was doing anything at all.
jc10098
join:2002-04-10

jc10098

Member

Re: I miss

HAHAHH the modem sound rocks... I mean thats the "OLD DAYS"..

Modems ruled the roost for about 20 years. I mean from the early to mid 80s until around 2002-2003.. most people still utilized dialup....

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

4 edits

Transmaster

Member

Beavis and Butthead...

Said it all.....You can't polish a turd....Ya ya ya but it would be cool if you tried.

This apparently is Earthlinks present business model.

P.S. they actually did polish a turd on Mythbusters, as I recall some sort of Japanese thing.

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

Re: Beavis and Butthead...

said by Transmaster:

Said it all.....You can't polish a turd....Ya ya ya but it would be cool if you tried.


AlexNYC
join:2001-06-02
Edwards, CO

AlexNYC

Member

The battle of the dinosaurs !!!

Earthlink vs Netzero vs AOL

The battle of the dinosaurs. Lets see who dies first.

fatmanskinny
Premium Member
join:2004-01-04
Wandering
·AT&T FTTP

1 edit

fatmanskinny

Premium Member

EarthLink can be turned around.....

They should get out of the internet business in terms of connectivity and become an internet property company.

EarthLink, for one, need to drop that name. It's synonymous with failure. Second, they need to pool whatever money they have left and become a major player on-line.

Although I personally would never work for EarthLink as they are again or be a customer, they could come back if they get solid visionaries in place who are also grounded in reality but I doubt that will happen.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

1 edit

Sammer

Member

Re: EarthLink can be turned around.....

said by fatmanskinny:

EarthLink, for one, need to drop that name. It's synonymous with failure.
Since they already own the name how about MindSpring?
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Re: EarthLink can be turned around.....

Or Prodigy. They own that too right?

Frank
Premium Member
join:2000-11-03
somewhere

Frank

Premium Member

Re: EarthLink can be turned around.....

said by iansltx:

Or Prodigy. They own that too right?
Nah,

att owns prodigy.
hrobins
Premium Member
join:2000-10-15
White Rock, BC

hrobins to fatmanskinny

Premium Member

to fatmanskinny
said by fatmanskinny:

They should get out of the internet business in terms of connectivity and become an internet property company.

EarthLink, for one, need to drop that name. It's synonymous with failure. Second, they need to pool whatever money they have left and become a major player on-line.

Although I personally would never work for EarthLink as they are again or be a customer, they could come back if they get solid visionaries in place who are also grounded in reality but I doubt that will happen.
That makes two of us fatmanskinny. But you know as well as I do, they don't have any solid visionaries left.
dagg
join:2001-03-25
Galt, CA

dagg to fatmanskinny

Member

to fatmanskinny
how exactly are you going to work for them when at last count around 80% of their workforce was outside the U.S.?

unless of course you are posting from Cebu or Bangalore?

on a serious note, i would not work for them ever again... having worked there previously when they decided to ship all their jobs overseas and having to watch how horribly they mis-managed that.

fatmanskinny
Premium Member
join:2004-01-04
Wandering
·AT&T FTTP

fatmanskinny

Premium Member

Re: EarthLink can be turned around.....

said by dagg:

how exactly are you going to work for them when at last count around 80% of their workforce was outside the U.S.?

unless of course you are posting from Cebu or Bangalore?

on a serious note, i would not work for them ever again... having worked there previously when they decided to ship all their jobs overseas and having to watch how horribly they mis-managed that.
Lol. I actually worked at their corporate offices in Atlanta. It was an interesting experience. Like most corporations, it was one of the "who you know and not how great your work is" environments.

I am glad I left when I did. It was time to say goodbye.

pac
@charter.com

pac

Anon

Re: EarthLink can be turned around.....

I worked for Earthlink for over 5 years, beginning when they were small startup on Los Feliz Blvd in Glendale, CA. I was there in the mid to late 90s when they moved to their Pasadena HQ, gobbled up Mindspring, Internet in a Box and went public. I still have my 100,000 member t-shirt and some coffee mugs with the old logo on them. I left in late 2001 before they imploded and moved everything to Atlanta, but to this day I still consider it one of the most fun jobs I ever had. Actually being allowed to play games during work as long as you could work helpdesk at the same time and the monthly parties held in the NOC parking lot across the street (along with free beer). I held several positions there, eventually ending up in tier 2 domain support before leaving. I really do miss it.

I'm glad I left when I did too. The Pasadena building was vacated shortly after I left and heard it all went downhill from there. I did make a nice chunk of change selling stock options though.
public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA

public to fatmanskinny

Member

to fatmanskinny
said by fatmanskinny:

They should get out of the internet business in terms of connectivity and become an internet property company.

EarthLink, for one, need to drop that name. It's synonymous with failure. Second, they need to pool whatever money they have left and become a major player on-line.

Earthlink CEO pressed the self destruct button in early 2004. Since then dumber than a lamppost senior management has done little to inspire confidence in the company.
Maybe the rename thing is their most powerful turnaround tool.
47717768 (banned)
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL

47717768 (banned)

Member

EarthLink Dial-Up is crap

Hell Earthlink Dial-Up is a joke i have seen a lot of people complain how so low EarthLink Dial-Up is it's only connects @36K

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

Re: EarthLink Dial-Up is crap

said by 47717768:

Hell Earthlink Dial-Up is a joke i have seen a lot of people complain how so low EarthLink Dial-Up is it's only connects @36K
»/r0/do ··· 6/bs.gif »/r0/do ··· 6/bs.gif »/r0/do ··· 6/bs.gif

That's the Telephone Company's Line that is causing the slow connection as Earthlink has all High Speed Modems. You and whoever you heard that from just don't have a clue as to what you are talking about and if you have no personal experience you are simply posting hearsay which is 100% useless crap.

This is what I get every time that I have to use dial up with Earthlink for the last 5+ Years. 49,333 bps (49.3 K) to 50,666 bps (50.7 K).





And showing back to 2004.


47717768 (banned)
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL

47717768 (banned)

Member

Re: EarthLink Dial-Up is crap

Well it is 2004,but not 2007 and up.When i use other Dial-Up provider connection is around 42kpbs.

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

Re: EarthLink Dial-Up is crap

said by 47717768:

Well it is 2004,but not 2007 and up.When i use other Dial-Up provider connection is around 42kpbs.
What are you mumbling about? The first posted image clearly shows a 2008 connection (the very first image if you are paying attention) and I get 49 K to 50 K every single time, not 42 K that shows you have a line problem or distance problem which is your Telephone Company, NOT the ISP. It would help if you knew how to diagnose such basic things, but you don't and it shows.

tomkb
Premium Member
join:2000-11-15
Tampa, FL

tomkb

Premium Member

I don't get it?

What is dial up anyway?

fonzbear2000
Premium Member
join:2005-08-09
Saint Paul, MN
·Verizon Wireless

fonzbear2000

Premium Member

Re: I don't get it?

said by tomkb:

What is dial up anyway?
Are you serious? »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Di ··· t_access
Expand your moderator at work

Z80
1 point 77
Premium Member
join:2009-08-31
Amerika

Z80

Premium Member

No next gen? Tell that to DSLx

DSL Extreme was able to negotiate reselling FiOS. Why can't Earthlink do the same?

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

Robert

Premium Member

Re: No next gen? Tell that to DSLx

said by Z80:

DSL Extreme was able to negotiate reselling FiOS. Why can't Earthlink do the same?
Because Earthlink sucks at reselling anything.

Z80
1 point 77
Premium Member
join:2009-08-31
Amerika

Z80

Premium Member

Re: No next gen? Tell that to DSLx

You mean $50.00 for $30.00 DSL isn't a good deal?

Radio Active
My pappy's a pistol
Premium Member
join:2003-01-31
Fullerton, CA

Radio Active to Z80

Premium Member

to Z80
said by Z80:

DSL Extreme was able to negotiate reselling FiOS. Why can't Earthlink do the same?
Because Earthlink blows goats.

I have proof.

Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30

Doctor Olds

Premium Member

Re: No next gen? Tell that to DSLx

said by Radio Active:

Because Earthlink blows goats.

I have proof.
You are greatly confused, Must be a self portrait. Earthlink rules with $35 per month for my 6 Mbps DSL.




•••
praetoralpha
join:2005-08-06
Pittsburgh, PA

praetoralpha to Z80

Member

to Z80

Before I went off to college(~4 years ago), I found Earthlink's deal here on dslreports. Got it, and everyone's been happy with it.

Sure it goes through Time Warner's network, but this is a small town neighborhood with no developments nearby, so the speed is fairly steady throughout the day.

Running Vonage over it. Yes, I realize how easily this whole setup could "pop".

C0deZer0
Oc'D To Rhythm And Police
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Tempe, AZ

C0deZer0

Premium Member

Re: No next gen? Tell that to DSLx

Way back before FiOS and before I moved out here in Davenport, we did have a choice between cable and *DSL, and among the cable was RoadRunner, ELN and AOL. Strangely enough, even though they were physically on the same lines, the EarthLink Cable service had significantly more consistent latencies for gaming, and didn't suffer any "peak hour hangups" in my neighborhood the way RoadRunner did.

Never could explain it, but I enjoyed it while I had it available to me.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx

Member

Mmm dialup

Done right (for example with AT&T WorldNet's v92 numbers which have hardware compression enabled and sync at 53.3 kbps) dialup is liveable. I used it a bit this past summer when my phone died and I wanted to continue surfing.

Unfortunately Earthlink doesn't seem to be harping on the actual network technology end of things. I'd be willing to bet that 99% of their users have v92 modems, but in many places I'm pretty sure that Earthlink doesn't have v92 numbers. Not so hot.

As for Earthlink's speed improvements on their websites, congrats. Google does that sort of thing all the time, and the speedups are apparent on broadband as well as dialup. For the mobile site finder, WRONG WAY FORREST! Though OTOH Flash-heavy desktop-centric broadband-only sites aren't terribly cool either.

Here's another thought: most computers have Winmodems, which are pretty standard driver interface wise. Why not cook up your own special at-the-hardware-level protocol that figures out how to cram more bps onto a phone line? I'll bet you could get a bit closer to 64 kbps that way, and you might even be able to improve performance on lower-quality lines. The nice thing about all this is it could be done in software...a $29 USB WinModem could do it.

Personally, there are better/cheaper/faster dialup providers than Earthlink. TOAST.net for example is $10 per month, includes a Google Apps email account or two, has the excellent SlipStream accelerator software, and includes access to dozens of dialup networks nationwide. When on the trip I was able to connect to a few dozen local numbers across a variety of providers (AT&T, Level3, GlobalPOPs, Verizon, PAETEC). Actually got a passable connection out of some of 'em, with comparable latency to 3G cellular.

Hmm, maybe Earthlink should buy AT&T's dialup numbers, GlobalPOPs' dialup numbers and...leave AOL's craptastic ones to rot. Yuck, 19.2 kbps connection.

•••

Vchat20
Landing is the REAL challenge
Premium Member
join:2003-09-16
Columbus, OH

Vchat20

Premium Member

In reality...

At the price many of these dialup providers are charging, even Earthlink, many DSL/Cable providers offer tiers that give them a run for their money in both speed and price. Time Warner here does offer a lite tier for $24.95/mo which offers speeds of 768k/128k which is much more bearable than dialup any day.

Our household has been terribly cash strapped lately and dropping broadband for dialup hasn't even been considered for this exact reason. The minimal savings being traded off for massive headaches from the speed just isn't worth it. 3 computers in the house would not make it on dialup, period. But even the 768/128 tier is perfectly usable with all 3 going at once (unless you try to do Netflix, youtube, etc.. Browsing and small downloads are fine.)

knightmb
Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN

knightmb

Member

Re: In reality...

said by Vchat20:

At the price many of these dialup providers are charging, even Earthlink, many DSL/Cable providers offer tiers that give them a run for their money in both speed and price. Time Warner here does offer a lite tier for $24.95/mo which offers speeds of 768k/128k which is much more bearable than dialup any day.

Our household has been terribly cash strapped lately and dropping broadband for dialup hasn't even been considered for this exact reason. The minimal savings being traded off for massive headaches from the speed just isn't worth it. 3 computers in the house would not make it on dialup, period. But even the 768/128 tier is perfectly usable with all 3 going at once (unless you try to do Netflix, youtube, etc.. Browsing and small downloads are fine.)
I have to agree that tighter wallets have really picked up our wireless business. We offer at the lowest tier 1024k/200k Internet connection for $9.99 a month (includes 3 accounts for 3 computers at the same with no bandwidth sharing, all get the same speed)

Covers basically all the web surfing, youtube, e-mail, that most people want or need. Faster tiers available of course, but usually only the power users really want the extra bandwidth.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran to Vchat20

Premium Member

to Vchat20
Except that many of the folks on dialup probably can't get broadband at that price, if at all.

My grandfather lives out in the boonies, and has two choices: Earthlink dialup, and a WISP that's too expensive.

stbrandon
@charter.com

stbrandon

Anon

don't forget

Don't forget to add the cost of the phone line in addition to that 10 or 15 dollars per month dial up service. Now you are paying for something very useless.

zoom314
join:2005-11-21
Yermo, CA

zoom314

Member

dialup?

I haven't used that since 1992, Has It been that long in dying?

FastiBook
join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA

FastiBook

Member

The answer....

Partner with whomever, resell u-verse out west, and fios in the east.

- A
Brisk6
join:2003-07-11
Denver, CO

Brisk6

Member

I have to be honest...

I laughed at the very sight of this.

It's like saying "We just don't really care anymore. Please, take the pain away."
I hope that we're all being trolled, otherwise, Earthlink is deeeead.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Re: I have to be honest...

said by Brisk6:

I laughed at the very sight of this.

It's like saying "We just don't really care anymore. Please, take the pain away."
I hope that we're all being trolled, otherwise, Earthlink is deeeead.
I thought the same when I first read it, but I think there might actually be a market for this. There are still a LOT of homes where broadband simply isn't an option. And while dial up was slow 10 years ago, its REALLY slow now. Not because it's actually gotten slower, but because websites are now designed around broadband. More and more data has to go through that tiny "tube".

So if you find yourself in the situation where dial up is your only option, a service that directs you to the lower-bandwidth-required mobile version might actually come in handy.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

cherry pick frontier's geography

it's readily apparent that at least some of frontier's geography has merit for ROI. earthlink should cherry pick the best and compete against frontier for getting broadband speeds up to par (which these days is around 15-20 megabit for entry level, not 1-7mbits). spending 80mil on a worthless effort could have wired half a small city in frontierland using non-union and even illegal immigrant labor (not that I condone such a practice-- but it's basically a one-shot deal to get things done on the cheap). small carriers should be given a little lee-way to get infrastructure deployed as the major carriers don't even want these geographies. I would even go as far as to say even AT&T is carefully cherry picking it's current landline geography on where to make the investment for uverse and fttn/p deployments. at&t doesn't want to be put in a broadband race with cablecos the way verizon has with cablevision. now they're stuck contemplating higher rates that customers won't pay or capping service and setting the progress of adoption back 15 years.

There was a time when RCN was just the carrier to do the job, but they were sabotaged by then Bell Atlantic rboc and pumped too much cash into legacy equipment copying the cable company model. Another reason is they had no plan for expansion, just alot of heated rhetoric.

I think being a content provider today (as some suggest) is risky to those who are not truly innovative to begin with. There is profit to be made for getting dialup into the broadband era. Verizon conceded that one size can not fit all and sold it's unprofitables to frontier. This is an OPPORTUNITY for another company to come in and be SMART about the technology use to get the job done... whether it be FTTX, Coax, Copper, Wireless, etc. Consumers don't care how.. they just want what everyone else has for a similar price point. So, why not give consumers what they want when they're willing to pay for it!?
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

Sammer

Member

Re: cherry pick frontier's geography

What financial resources are Earthlink supposed to use when Frontier (and cable companies) fights such action through lawyers, lobbyists, etc. The incumbents have already shown they're willing to throw roadblocks in the way even in areas where they have no immediate plans to increase the costs for potential competitors.

DrStrange
Technically feasible
Premium Member
join:2001-07-23
Bristol, CT

DrStrange

Premium Member

Never mind dialup and hokey marketing.

My advice, once again, should Earthlink want to pay attention:

Instead of wasting your dwindling financial resources on marketing gimmicks and downright silly schemes like hoping people will drop broadband for dialup when the price difference between the bottom tier of broadband and dialup is negligible [and in some cases zero or less!], try hiring a new US-based tech support team for your broadband and VOIP customers and LISTEN TO THEM WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO FIX. Let them post here and we'll welcome them with open arms. Then you can get rid of the world-class embarrassment that is your offshore support system.

You might not be the next Microsoft or Google, but after a year or so you'll be in much better shape than you are now.
hrobins
Premium Member
join:2000-10-15
White Rock, BC

1 edit

hrobins

Premium Member

Re: Never mind dialup and hokey marketing.

said by DrStrange:

My advice, once again, should Earthlink want to pay attention:

Instead of wasting your dwindling financial resources on marketing gimmicks and downright silly schemes like hoping people will drop broadband for dialup when the price difference between the bottom tier of broadband and dialup is negligible [and in some cases zero or less!], try hiring a new US-based tech support team for your broadband and VOIP customers and LISTEN TO THEM WHEN THEY TELL YOU WHAT YOU NEED TO FIX. Let them post here and we'll welcome them with open arms. Then you can get rid of the world-class embarrassment that is your offshore support system.

You might not be the next Microsoft or Google, but after a year or so you'll be in much better shape than you are now.
Problem is DrStrange they won't care, when I worked there they said they could save money by outsourcing their tech support. The writing was on the wall the very day they decided to outsource.

DrStrange
Technically feasible
Premium Member
join:2001-07-23
Bristol, CT

DrStrange

Premium Member

Re: Never mind dialup and hokey marketing.

I don't expect them to listen to my advice now, but I expect others to remember my consistent advice throughout the recent history of Earthlink when the time comes for them to pay the piper for their penny-wise-pound-foolishness.