AOL - Slower page loading speeds when using IE or Netscape

[mittene]

I have a dialup connection that averages 26.4k and I’ve noticed that when connecting through AOL, most pages load more quickly when using AOL’s browser (version 6.0) versus IE 6.0 and Netscape 4.7. For many pages, Netscape and IE take about twice as long to load - this is even when selecting to display uncompressed graphics under the AOL preferences section. So is this something intentional by AOL? Is there some way to get Netscape and IE up to par with the AOL browser?

If I were to use another ISP with all 3 browsers, would the loading speeds of Netscape and IE then be roughly the same as AOL’s browser (I guess I would have to connect to AOL using TC/IP to find that out.)

I don’t know if this is a factor, but I have used EasyMTU 3.0 to maximize my AOL settings. Is there a chance that this adversely affected the performance of my other two browsers? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[DVOM]

Give NetZero a try. It's fairly fast and would answer your questions.

[jerryctx]

This wont help much but I've never noticed any speed difference between the browsers. I just tried a test of the AOL (AOL ver. 6) and IE (5.5) browsers and can't detect any difference. (I tried AOL first at one site, IE first at another site. Cleared the cache between each).

I didn't test Netscape because there are speed differences between IE and Netscape no matter what ISP you use. (I have Netscape 4.7 and 6 for testing my web site. Don't use either very often but never noticed any difference in speed).

I also use MSN and tried tests with MSN and AOL. Again, I can't see a difference.

Using 58k dial-in modem. Didn't check connect speeds but I usually get about 40k. I understand there are some issues with IE 6 but nothing related to AOL afaik.

As I said, not much help but I don't think its inherent in AOL.



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Jerry CTX
Computer (In)Security

[mittene]

Thanks for the replies so far. I was considering trying something along the lines of what DVOM suggested by using a local ISP that offers a free week of trial, but I first wanted to see if anyone knew for sure what the problem was, or if like Dodge, has a similar problem.

Have you tested the AOL browser vs. Netscape, Dodge? For me, Netscape 4.7 and IE6 are loading at around the same speed. I hope you can find something out when you talk to AOL. I want to hold back on toying around with settings before I really screw something up