High-speed dial-up works by using acceleration servers that speed up the handshake protocol and compress files being sent over the connection. The servers compress text, images and recompress already compressed files to reduce file sizes. They also filter out unnecessary data like pop-up ad parameters to reduce bandwidth usage. Through these techniques, high-speed dial-up can provide faster page loads than standard dial-up connections.

1. Introduction to How High-speed Dial-up Works
the average file size for Web content is getting larger and larger
The handshake protocol, as the name implies, begins the
conversation that allows data to be sent to and from your computer
using the Internet.
High-speed dial-up providers can't do anything about the modem
handshake, but they can speed up the software handshake.
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2. Acceleration Servers
you can get the idea of the back-and-forths that need to occur in the
handshake protocol before information can be sent or received.
high-speed dial-up providers have come up with some pretty clever
ways to open up that bottleneck.
By loading special software into a server, they turn it into what they call
an acceleration server.
Once it finds that server, the two machines start talking and exchanging
the information you need.
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3. File Compression
• For text files, including the HTML text of a Web page and the text in an e-
mail message, the acceleration server compresses the text on the fly and
sends it down your modem line. Typically, text will compress at least 50
percent using on-the-fly techniques.
• For image files, including GIF and JPG images on Web pages as well as
many banner ads, the acceleration server reads the image from the Web
site and recompresses it to reduce its size. Typically, the image file size
shrinks anywhere from 50 percent to 90 percent in the process.
• In many other files, including video files, Zip files and MP3 music files,
compression has already taken place. The acceleration server will not
touch these files -- it just passes them through as-is.
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4. Filtering and Caching
In order for the pop-up to pop, that hidden code must display
parameters that tells your machine what size the ad is, where on the
screen it should appear, and other details about the ad. These ads
take up valuable bandwidth, slowing down the transmission of data to
your machine.
filtering and caching are the three key steps in dial-up acceleration
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5. The Bottom Line
HowStuffWorks came up three times faster with high-speed dial-up
For the complete results, see the chart below.
These advances serve to prolong the life of dial-up Internet and
provide an alternative for those who are tired of standard dial-up but
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6. Conclusion
It would seem that a clever combination of fairly straightforward
technologies has helped to overcome some of the speed bumps of
dial-up Internet.
These advances serve to prolong the life of dial-up Internet and
provide an alternative for those who are tired of standard dial-up but
not quite ready for the leap to broadband.
If these advances continue, dial-up may be here to stay for quite a
while.
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