WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.520 You've got mail. >> For millions of people, those three 00:00:03.360 --> 00:00:08.920 beautiful words were the next thing that we heard after. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:17.440 And with the early excitement around communication over the information 00:00:14.559 --> 00:00:22.720 superighway, it was almost a Pavlovian experience. But all good things must 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:28.880 come to an end. And on September 30th, 2025, AOL shut down their dialup 00:00:26.080 --> 00:00:35.440 internet service for good. Truly a dark day for the thousands of customers who 00:00:31.119 --> 00:00:39.440 still used it. Wait, thousands of people 00:00:35.440 --> 00:00:42.239 in 2025 were still on dialup internet. 00:00:39.440 --> 00:00:46.960 Not only were, but are. Believe it or not, for many people around the world, 00:00:44.239 --> 00:00:51.760 Dialup is the only affordable option for exploring the worldwide web, downloading 00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:57.440 over 121,000 software files, and investigating their special interests. 00:00:54.160 --> 00:01:00.879 And according to the 2023 census, over 00:00:57.440 --> 00:01:04.320 150,000 households, even in the US, are 00:01:00.879 --> 00:01:06.960 still cruising the USA at [music] 56K. 00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:13.119 But what can you even do on dialup these days? Can you browse Reddit? Actually, 00:01:09.360 --> 00:01:15.920 probably YouTube? I doubt it. What about 00:01:13.119 --> 00:01:21.119 gaming? Maybe. To answer all of those questions, [music] I did something that 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:21.119 I never thought I would do again. 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:29.840 Oh, it's for you. [music] Uh, it's a segue to our sponsor, 00:01:27.439 --> 00:01:34.000 >> Delete Me. Data brokers are out in the wild gathering and selling your personal 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:37.439 data to the highest bidder. Delete Me is there to help get your information out 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:43.600 of the wrong hands by removing it from hundreds of sites. Save 20% on your 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:48.280 DeleteMe plan at joineddeeme.com/ltt20 00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:48.280 with code ltt20 at checkout. 00:01:50.696 --> 00:01:52.716 >> [music] 00:01:54.399 --> 00:02:00.719 >> Can you even buy 56k modems anymore? Oh, 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:04.560 of course it would be start. Hard to find, made expensive. But how do we hook 00:02:03.119 --> 00:02:10.080 it up? We don't even have a phone line here at the office, do we? No. No, we 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:15.360 did not. which is why we're at James' house, who turns out also didn't have a 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:18.879 landline, nor did he even have his RJ11 jack hooked up at the panel in his 00:02:16.959 --> 00:02:22.560 garage. So, our new brighter wired it all up for him. And now that that's 00:02:20.160 --> 00:02:26.480 done, all we've got to do is disable our vastly superior connections, plug in our 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:30.959 modem, and then figure out where the devil the dialup networking folder is. 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:34.720 Network probably, right? Oh my god, there it is. It's right there. How have 00:02:32.720 --> 00:02:38.560 I never noticed it in all the years I've been using Windows 10 and 11? Now we 00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:44.560 just double check our phone number and our ISP provided username and password 00:02:41.040 --> 00:02:45.680 and then click connect. Oh, do the new 00:02:44.560 --> 00:02:49.560 modems not make the noise? >> You got to make the noise yourself. 00:02:49.760 --> 00:02:55.280 >> Now let's see how this bad boy handles some of the most popular websites on the 00:02:53.440 --> 00:02:58.800 worldwide web. Before you ask, by the way, yes, we have cleared our internet 00:02:56.959 --> 00:03:03.760 cash for the most authentic possible experience. For better or for worse, why 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:05.760 don't I Google Wikipedia? Oh god, this 00:03:03.760 --> 00:03:09.519 is actually way worse than I expected. I thought this was going to be fine. Oh, 00:03:07.519 --> 00:03:13.440 it timed out. Do I Do I have an internet connection in theory? 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:17.040 >> Oh god, 32 bytes. Request timed out. Did I just forget how horrible this was? I 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:22.239 may have tracked down our problem. While we did disable Windows update, MS Edge 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:26.159 Web View 2, whatever this is, is using anywhere from about 1 to 2 1/2 kilobytes 00:03:25.440 --> 00:03:32.000 per second, >> which on this beat of connection, it's a 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:34.560 real problem. No. MP defender core 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:37.040 service.exe. What is this? It's part of anti-malware. 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:41.200 >> Dude, I don't got enough speed to download malware. I'm just trying to 00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:44.720 load the main Wikipedia page. We did do a lot while we were waiting for internet 00:03:42.959 --> 00:03:49.360 things to happen. I would leave a CD worth of MP3s to download overnight. 00:03:46.799 --> 00:03:54.000 Hey, no wonder the homepage took so flipping long to load. It's got all 00:03:51.200 --> 00:03:59.120 these pictures and stuff on it. Sick. What would a non-narcissist 00:03:56.080 --> 00:04:00.560 look up on Wikipedia? My page should 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:05.627 theoretically be lighter. I think it only has one picture on it. Hey, there 00:04:02.239 --> 00:04:06.879 it goes. Wait for it. Wait for it. 00:04:05.627 --> 00:04:11.840 [screaming] Yeah, this is awful. And you know, as 00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:16.560 you would expect, the more multimedia heavy a site is, the worse it's going to 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:21.440 be. As we all remember from browsing for pixelated poorer coupons back in [music] 00:04:19.440 --> 00:04:25.840 the day. So, Wikipedia, if we're willing to wait a little bit, actually kind of 00:04:23.280 --> 00:04:29.520 usable. How about ltstore.com? We're trying an alternate phone number to see 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.639 if maybe we can get a little bit more consistency in our connection here. 00:04:31.280 --> 00:04:38.560 Store. Oh. Oh, >> I fixed it. I'm a genius. >> Oh, dude. Okay, we are getting more 00:04:36.479 --> 00:04:44.160 consistent network activity. And if we were to try to go to a site like say 00:04:40.960 --> 00:04:46.240 Amazon, it would only get worse, which 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:51.280 kind of makes sense given that rich media is such a huge part of any major 00:04:48.960 --> 00:04:56.880 online retailer strategy these days with Amazon plastered with not only photos 00:04:53.840 --> 00:04:59.040 like ours, but even animations and 00:04:56.880 --> 00:05:03.520 video. This hilarious by the way, we finally got one image loaded here. the 00:05:01.919 --> 00:05:08.000 cover image for the screwdriver. And check this out. Whoa, the mouseover 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:12.240 image for the backpack. So, it's very clear that the way that modern pages are 00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:17.680 designed and the way that modern browsers load the assets is just 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:20.000 inherently incompatible with a dialup 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:24.720 experience. Some sites are text only out of the box or have a texton version. 00:05:22.880 --> 00:05:27.919 Let's try old Reddit. As if anything posted on Reddit isn't an image or a 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:32.080 video these days. Anyway, I guess I could browse. Am I the Do I 00:05:30.479 --> 00:05:37.759 really want to know though? Whoa, hold on. I got a favicon. Oh my god, I'm so 00:05:34.479 --> 00:05:39.840 bored. I'm sunk cost fallacy as on this 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:44.880 right now. So much for this being text only as what is this? It's all pictures. 00:05:42.880 --> 00:05:50.080 Well, that is where browser extensions like images on off come in. Sticking to 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:53.759 one tab also goes a long way and so does turning off non-critical service while 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:57.840 you're trying to browse. Looking at you, Windows update. Turning off images 00:05:55.840 --> 00:06:01.759 directly within Chrome is also a thing. You just go to settings, content, 00:05:59.280 --> 00:06:08.479 images, and click don't allow sites to show images. This was faster, actually. 00:06:05.039 --> 00:06:10.800 Not a ton, but legitimately more usable. 00:06:08.479 --> 00:06:15.759 And another tech tip for dialup users is that download managers are also, it 00:06:13.280 --> 00:06:19.280 turns out, still a thing. These programs allow you to organize, prioritize, and 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:23.600 schedule your downloads. And they'll even let you pause and resume a download 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:26.720 without losing any data if you start a big one and you're not quite done and 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:30.400 you want to maybe I don't know browse the internet. Finally, I mentioned 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:36.080 earlier that there are textbased browsers that will display web pages as 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.240 well text. Let's fire up links, a text 00:06:36.080 --> 00:06:45.280 and guey browser that only works in Linux, which we can quickly access using 00:06:40.479 --> 00:06:48.000 Windows Subsystem for Linux. WSL.exe. 00:06:45.280 --> 00:06:52.960 No way. You have got to be kidding me. This is 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:57.199 so cool. Now we can see exactly what was taking so flipping long before. Like 00:06:55.360 --> 00:07:00.479 dude, it's not even trying to download anything yet. Makes it only slightly 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:04.560 less infuriating. >> I didn't even think of SSL being a 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:09.919 problem, but totally. Cuz that's a ton of data. >> Oh yeah. By these standards, that's a 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:13.039 flip ton of data. And not just with the website that I'm connecting to. Probably 00:07:11.520 --> 00:07:16.000 with every tracker that it's using. >> Every tracker, every asset, every 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:21.360 everything. >> Hey. Hey. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hey. Wo. Can 00:07:19.440 --> 00:07:26.800 Can I use the site like this? Like, is this Oh, yeah. It's done. It loaded. 00:07:23.039 --> 00:07:28.960 Wow. That is 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:33.199 something. This definitely explains why it took so freaking long with the 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:37.280 images. That's how long it takes just to get the text on the page. God, you 00:07:35.280 --> 00:07:39.199 remember when a download would fail like at the very end? 00:07:38.479 --> 00:07:43.520 >> Yes. >> Oh, heartbreak. Oh, it occurs to me at 00:07:42.240 --> 00:07:47.520 this point that while we have experienced dialup, we haven't actually 00:07:45.599 --> 00:07:51.479 measured it yet. Will a test site have too much imagery to load 00:07:58.080 --> 00:08:03.039 and it stopped even trying. This is the point where I feel like we need to 00:08:01.440 --> 00:08:07.199 adjust our plan a little bit because we did all the pre-esting for this using 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:12.240 Chrome developer tools to throttle our connection to a 56k modem speed. What we 00:08:10.400 --> 00:08:16.720 didn't account for is that in the real world, a dialup internet service 00:08:14.080 --> 00:08:21.120 provider might not get anywhere near 56 kilobytes per second, which we found was 00:08:18.639 --> 00:08:23.919 a pretty regular problem. So, new plan. We're going back into the developer 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:27.680 settings, and we're going to use our throttled connection for the rest of 00:08:25.599 --> 00:08:32.000 what we had planned today. Control shift I to access dev tools. Then you can add 00:08:30.080 --> 00:08:38.479 a custom network throttling profile. Apparently, the average for 56k was 00:08:34.479 --> 00:08:40.880 about 53 down, 48 up with anywhere from 00:08:38.479 --> 00:08:45.200 100 to 250 milliseconds of latency and about 1.5% packet loss. So, that's what 00:08:43.839 --> 00:08:50.399 we're going to be going with. Let's see how usable YouTube would be on a high 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:55.680 quality 56k connection these days. Well, 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:58.560 it's not great so far. Serenity now. Wo! 00:08:55.680 --> 00:09:03.920 Wait, this took that long and we still have images turned off? I haven't even 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:05.920 tried to watch a video yet. Click. Nice. 00:09:03.920 --> 00:09:10.240 Not unexpected. Of course, we weren't going to be able to stream highdefinition video on a 56k 00:09:08.560 --> 00:09:13.360 connection. But hear me out. Hear me out. What about Oh, I thought I was 00:09:11.680 --> 00:09:18.240 going to be able to change it to a more early webfriendly 144p, but I don't. It 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:22.880 didn't even load the player enough to give me a quality drop down. I just need 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:27.040 to get past it trying to load an ad cuz there's no quality selector for the ad. 00:09:25.200 --> 00:09:28.800 Oh my god. Yeah, I would need ad blocks SO HARD. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:34.040 SMART. >> WHOA, BUDDY. OH, h 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:39.440 >> streaming wasn't really a thing on 56K. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:42.720 So, here's how we did it. You would load up the site for the video you wanted to 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:46.320 watch. You would go make a cup of coffee, tea, cocoa, maybe have a 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:50.480 sandwich, and you would come back to your computer and hope that it had 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:53.200 buffered enough for you to play it. If you look really closely, you can 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:57.040 actually see little chunks of video loading down here. So, I should be able 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:01.279 to play like the first half a minute already. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:06.800 >> Hey, not bad. And actually, that would be pretty good quality back in the late 00:10:03.920 --> 00:10:11.760 '9s. Another option would be to slow down the playback speed. Really? We're 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:15.600 going to suggest this? Try.5. 00:10:11.760 --> 00:10:18.880 >> It feels like they might as well be just 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:20.959 guessing. I mean, I guess it kind of 00:10:18.880 --> 00:10:25.200 helps with buffering, but I assume that's what I would sound 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:30.240 like drunk. As for sites like Netflix, forget about it. Their advertised 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:36.640 minimum is 3 megabit per second. 3 megabit pers is a whopping 50 times the 00:10:33.760 --> 00:10:40.959 speed of our humble 56k modem. Gaming, it's going to be a whole other nightmare 00:10:38.880 --> 00:10:47.279 of an experience. But before we get to that, why does this even still exist? 00:10:44.160 --> 00:10:51.440 Well, 56k is exactly what it says on the 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:54.240 tin, 56,000 bits or between 6,000 and 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:59.519 7,000 text characters per second. And there are still use cases where that is 00:10:57.040 --> 00:11:04.000 still more than enough. Some digital signage or vending machines or credit 00:11:01.920 --> 00:11:08.880 card terminals do still function perfectly well on dialup. It can also be 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:13.600 used as a backup for older control systems that are difficult to upgrade or 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:17.839 maybe even as a tertiary connection for critical business needs. [music] In 00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:21.040 fact, until 2009, the operators of America's nuclear power plants were 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:25.600 using dialup for their monitoring systems until the Nuclear Regulatory 00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:30.560 Commission asked them to, hey, maybe modernize, which was probably a good 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:33.680 call, pun intended. As for why individuals are using it, well, mostly 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:38.320 it's because they don't have a choice. And in a world where the internet can 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:42.560 contribute so much to education and economic prosperity, that's a pretty sad 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:47.120 thing. In many developing countries, the funding for high-speed infrastructure 00:11:44.560 --> 00:11:52.000 simply doesn't exist due to poverty or corruption. And [music] in America 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:56.720 specifically, what happened was the major ISPs took billions of dollars from 00:11:54.880 --> 00:12:01.680 the government for a high-speed buildout, then just never finished it. 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:05.200 With all that said, for some folks, and this is going to blow your mind, they 00:12:02.959 --> 00:12:09.200 just aren't that online and can't justify any extra cost for something 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:13.839 that they simply don't care about beyond basic text communication and email. But 00:12:12.079 --> 00:12:19.200 I can't relate to that. Pretty much the first thing I wanted to do on the 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:22.833 internet was game. Can we do it? Oh god, 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:22.833 it wants a Steam update. [laughter] 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.079 Quiet you. 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:33.680 Okay. Yeah, play anyway for the second time. This is kind of remarkable. I I 00:12:31.920 --> 00:12:37.680 thought the game would at least launch and then have trouble connecting to the 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:40.800 server, but maybe it's that if you can't download all the latest cosmetics, 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:45.600 modern live service games don't even want you. Actually, no. Realistically, 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:50.240 it's probably not that they hate poor people. Connection manipulation, which 00:12:47.920 --> 00:12:55.680 can look very similar to a poor connection like ours, can be a way of 00:12:52.720 --> 00:12:58.880 cheating. And even when it isn't, it can significantly degrade the gaming 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:02.560 experience for everyone else in the server. Why don't we give something else 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:06.959 a shot? [music] There are a few classic games that apparently do work and are 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:12.079 still actively maintained, like Vendetta Online. It's a space combat game that's 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:17.200 been running continuously since 2002 and was designed to be played with 200 00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:21.600 milliseconds of latency. While this painstakingly loads, [music] an even 00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:26.959 older game launched in 1997 that still works with dialup is Ultima Online. This 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:31.839 fantasy MMO RPG still has thousands of gamers playing it to this day. I don't 00:13:30.079 --> 00:13:34.560 feel super compelled to join them at the moment, but I'm really glad that they're 00:13:33.920 --> 00:13:39.414 having fun. >> We must have been way more patient back in the day. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:43.839 >> We must have been so patient, dude. [music] Like my ADD is like out of 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:48.399 control now. I can't go like 30 seconds without like grabbing my phone or like 00:13:45.760 --> 00:13:50.560 answering an email. What did I do? I snacked a lot more cuz I was a teenage 00:13:50.160 --> 00:13:54.279 boy. >> That's probably what it was. 00:13:55.040 --> 00:14:01.279 >> Oh, I don't know if this is loading anymore. 00:13:58.480 --> 00:14:06.800 Oh, man. Okay. All right. So, I'm in the world now. How do I tell if anything is 00:14:04.560 --> 00:14:13.360 actually working right now? How do I tell if anything online is happening? 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:16.560 Does anybody know? anyone beer. What's 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:19.839 happening? Am I Am I shooting it? Is it 00:14:16.560 --> 00:14:22.079 Is this doing anything? 00:14:19.839 --> 00:14:27.360 All right. So, what are the alternatives then for folks stuck without their AOL 00:14:24.800 --> 00:14:31.120 lifeline to the internet? Cellular broadband is one. If you happen to have 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:36.079 good cell service, but [music] then don't have good land-based internet. 00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:40.320 Starlink is relatively high speed and low latency if you can afford it and you 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:43.760 don't mind playing Diablo I with definitely the best player of all time. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:47.199 And there are also some other satellite-based services that are 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:52.880 starting to come online. But beyond that, the best bet might actually be, as 00:14:50.800 --> 00:14:58.160 much as it pains me to say this having just used one of them, alternative 00:14:55.440 --> 00:15:04.880 dialup providers, which there are still a couple of like NetZero and DSL 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:06.639 Extreme. By the way, guys, if you also 00:15:04.880 --> 00:15:10.480 want to see what it's like having such slow speeds, you can emulate it yourself 00:15:08.959 --> 00:15:15.199 using the Chrome development tools that we showed you before. We'll have a link 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:20.480 down below. And we'll also have a link, thank god this is over to our sponsor, 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:25.120 >> Delete Me. Data Brokers can legally collect and sell almost anything about 00:15:22.959 --> 00:15:29.120 you, and places like people search sites can be information gold mines for them. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:33.600 They can be used to scrape things like your name, your number, and even your 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:37.440 relatives. Online privacy is becoming a larger topic of conversation for the 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:41.279 average person, and for good reason, as the selling of personal data becomes 00:15:39.199 --> 00:15:44.639 more and more common. Delete Me can help, though. It's a hands-off 00:15:42.880 --> 00:15:48.240 subscription service that removes your personal information from hundreds 00:15:46.485 --> 00:15:53.839 [snorts] of places online, which significantly decreases the chances of 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:55.920 your data ending up in the wrong hands. 00:15:53.839 --> 00:16:01.120 They've been an expert in the personally identifiable information removal game 00:15:58.160 --> 00:16:05.519 for over 15 years. They only use in-house technology, too. No outsourcing 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:10.399 to make sure your data is extra secure. And they have real privacy advisors you 00:16:08.079 --> 00:16:15.120 can talk to, not just a chatbot, unlike other services that will always verify 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:19.519 your data is actually on a site before submitting a removal claim. That's less 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:24.880 time wasted. The best time to take your online privacy seriously is yesterday, 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:30.880 people. But the second best time is today. So save 20% on a DeleteMe plan at 00:16:28.079 --> 00:16:34.880 joineddeeme.com/lttT20 or you can scan this lovely QR code on 00:16:33.199 --> 00:16:39.440 the screen. Just remember to use our code LTT20 when you check out. If you 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:44.560 guys enjoyed this video, why not check out the time that we installed 10 gig 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:51.199 internet at our office. That was way more fun. This was so frustrating and 00:16:47.040 --> 00:16:54.079 also [music] like like PTSD like 00:16:51.199 --> 00:16:57.040 traumatizing. Like I forgot how crappy everything was.