Telstra 3G twist

I have reported on this blog that my Telstra 3G connection speed goes south every now and again, then comes good again for no apparent reason. I thought that it might be at times of high demand, like in the evening, which is sometimes the case, but sometimes it can be unusable all day.

Three times recently when it has happened, I have tried an experiment. I booted Windows, ran Internet Explorer, and hey, full speed was back! On one of those tests, I booted Windows then ran SeaMonkey, super slow, then ran Internet Explorer, suddenly fast.

The third time I have run this experiment is right now. Pages were not even loading, timing out (running Wary). So, I booted up Windows XP on my old laptop, which connects to the same Telsta wi-fi wireless module (which allows up to 5 computers), ran IE, got fully speed. Then, over on my new laptop running Puppy, suddenly found that SM is loading fast again.

Coincidence?

I am wondering if Telstra is using some kind of prioritizing system that favours IE. The next experiment, when this problem occurs again, will be to try SM with user-agent set to pretend it is IE.

---

Comments

Telstra ... prioritizing IE
Username: Sage
Check the boardroom members, including non-execs and consultants, of both companies! They might be breaking local as well as international laws if your suspicions are confirmed? One of the reasons I've used Opera since it started is that it offered IE aliasing. [But can't find that function recently]. Could be a new avenue for your considerable coding skills. Reverse engineering is not illegal if the perpetrator is breaking the Law. But you might need the services of a super computer to dismantle the mish-mash of 'doze.

Win-centric puzzles
Username: Raffy
"Other than your observations, there are some other Win-centric quirks that I encountered. 1. My new test machine, AMD Fusion E-350 laptop (emachines d443), can't run the new Puppies, as they crash after X loads (I suspect, when power management kicks in). The solution = boot Win7 then run any new Puppy. I guess that the laptop's Win7 drivers initialize some devices right, which Puppy inherits at reboot (???). But why is it that only the new Puppies are affected by this? Could it be an ACPI setting problem? 2. There is one wireless router in my new office that Win7 easily connects to, but Puppies find troublesome connecting to. Yesterday, I clicked on the "Test" button in Puppy's Net-connect wizard instead of the "Auto-DHCP" button, and voila, the connection trouble by Puppy was over. (To connect Puppy with other routers, it is sufficient to load a profile then go straight to "Auto-DHCP".)

IE Wine
Username: 01micko
"Hi Barry I just wonder how wine's incarnation of IE would go. Worth a test?

reverse engineering
Username: disciple
"> Reverse engineering is not illegal if the perpetrator is breaking the Law. Is it illegal at all?

Tags: general