I'm switching from dial-up to DSL. When I watch someone elses cam will I notice a difference? Will the guys watching me see a difference? Or will there be no change at all?

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It depends on the service you're using. If you're connecting directly to the originating camera, it should go at the maximum speed both ends can support. If you're relaying via an intermediary, you'll be limited to whatever limits it may have, or delays it introduces. Some services are completely transparent, where others throttle throughput, giving higher speeds to paying customers and something like slow-mo for freebies.

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Even using an intermediary, like WebCamNow, you WILL see a difference.

But don't expect TOO much.

When I went from dial up to cable -- the results were fantastic. Direct cam to cam is outstanding. Using a central server slows you down.

But if you use WCN, you can purchase their Speedster option, which will bump you up to one frame per second (when viewing other folks who have high speed cams -- dialups... not so much of a boost, even with Speedster). If this is something you really enjoy, it might be worth the small charge for Speedster. It's monthly, though. I forget how much -- I think ten bucks.

Overall, however -- high speed is the way to go. You are going to be thrilled with the net from now on. Many new things will open up for you even outside of porn -- but let's face, faster porn is BETTER porn, too!

Have fun. You'll NEVER go back to dial up.

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With most DSL, unless you pay for the premium service. your up load is much, much slower than your download rate. Check your provider and I'm sure you will find that true in your case. Has something to do (I think) with FCC regulations. It was the same with your dial up. You could dl up to 56k, but upload was limited to a slower rate. The insturctions that came with your modem made that clear.

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Nope. The "premium" service you're referring to is SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line). The typical consumer service is ADSL (Asymmetric Digtial Subscriber Line).

Without getting into a chiphead dissertation, they're variations of the same technology. ADSL is (relatively) less costly to implement, and generally works well with the existing POTS ("plain old telephone service") copper to most premises, so that's why the telcos push it for consumer/small business use. SDSL requires more sophisticated technology and "cleaner" local loops (such as a separate circuit just for the service).

The lower upstream speed is not a regulatory mandate. It's a technological and economical tradeoff necessitated by the characteristics of the POTS infrastructure, and the rationale that most residential/small biz users are pulling more data than they're pushing back out. ADSL is also a "best effort" service, meaning there can be considerable inconsistencies in speed, and the provider really isn't obligated to ensure the theoretical maximums can be reached or sustained. Typically, as long as you are getting at least 70% of the advertised/rated speed, that's all you can hope for. Biz ADSL may have SLAs (service level agreements), but they primarily cover circuit availability (uptime), not throughput. For "industrial strength" use, one would need SDSL, or dedicated data loops.

If you want to know more about the ins-and-outs of DSL, check out broadbandreports.com.

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