Web Surfing Made Faster
As I pointed out in a recent column (http://www.pcanswer.com/broadband2002.htm), only about 10 percent of Americans have signed up for a cable modem or DSL even though such broadband services greatly increase the speed of surfing the Net. Some people just don't want to spend the money -- typically between $39 and $50 a month -- while others live in an area where service isn't available.
Now there is an alternative that, though not as fast as broadband, is at least twice the speed of a standard modem. And you don't need any special lines or equipment to use it.
Propel (www.propel.com) is a subscription service that can dramatically increase the speed of a standard dial-up connection. For $5 a month, the service connects you to the company's server, which, along with software you download to your PC, helps speed things up. Even though you're connecting to the company's server, Propel isn't an Internet service provider. The service works with just about any ISP, including AOL, as long as you have version 6.0 or higher of the AOL software.
Installation is a breeze. I had the software installed and was enjoying the extra speed in a matter of minutes. The service works on Windows XP, 98, ME, 2000 and NT 4.0, but it doesn't yet work with the Mac.
Unlike many programs that claim to speed up Web surfing, this one actually works. It does it in three ways. First, it compresses graphics and text so that they are delivered more quickly to your PC. It also caches (stores) frequently used Web pages so that they pop up almost instantaneously. Finally, while you're online, the Propel software maintains a persistent connection between your PC and the company's servers so that you don't have to re-establish a connection each time your browser makes a request.
There is nothing unusual about any of these technologies. Internet Explorer and Netscape already cache pages, and there are lots of programs out there that will compress graphics. Yet Propel is able to do these things far more intelligently because of the cooperation between the software on your machine and the company's servers.
I tested Propel with both AOL and Earthlink and noticed an improvement in both cases. My AOL performance was about twice the speed while the performance on Earthlink was about three times as fast as it would have been without Propel running. The company claims that "web pages load an average of 3 to 5 times faster," but in my initial tests I noticed an improvement of about 2 1/2 times the speed using AOL and about three times the speed using Earthlink. However, as I used it a bit more, things started to speed up because the intelligent caching system was storing an increasing number of Web page elements from the sites I visit the most.
I usually focus my reviews strictly on the products, rather than the personalities involved, but the founder and CEO of Propel is a pretty unique guy. Steve Kirsch (www.skirsch.com) has been around Silicon Valley since the early '80s and was the founder and CEO of Infoseek, which was later acquired by Disney and transformed into Go.com. He's also a philanthropist (he co-founded the Kirsch Foundation, which supports several social causes) and political activist who, among other things, has been funding and waging a campaign against spam and junk faxes.
His company's service is not magic. It won't speed up your e-mail or downloading of files and it won't turn your dial-up connection into a DSL or cable modem. Still, if surfing the Web is annoyingly slow and broadband isn't in your immediate future, this is a worthwhile option. You can get a free 30-day subscription to try it for yourself.
A syndicated technology columnist for nearly two decades, Larry Magid serves as on air Technology Analyst for CBS Radio News. His technology reports can be heard several times a week on the CBS Radio Network. Magid is the author of several books including "The Little PC Book."
Got a PC question? Visit www.PCAnswer.com.