Onspeed

[#1]

Prior to using broadband I was on dialup using onspeed which did appear to speed up some websites. I Now have an e-mail from onspeed advising me that my broadband speed will be increased by 3 to 5 times its current speed if I use this program, its tempting to dismiss this as rubbish but onspeed do seem to have a lot of awards in the computing press.
Has anyone on these forums used onspeed or have any advice on this subject ?
Thanks for your help
 

[#2]

I too used Onspeed in dial-up days and because the subscription had not expired I used it on broadband when I initially set it up. I stopped using it when I had a new computer and can't say that there was any difference whatsoever.  However, this is purely subjective because my Force 9 speed is good, despite being one mile from the exchange. My connection was (at first) not as fast as it is now, although it was OK for me (also, I was using USB/Voyager 105 and am now wirelessly connected).  After advice and tweaks by PN staff things improved markedly. 
If you are not satisfied with your current speed and have explored all possibilities with Plusnet I suppose that you could ask for a free trial.
The thing about Onspeed is that it only loads web pages quicker due to compressing the data so in a sense it is not actually faster.

[#3]

I haven't used Onspeed so can't speak from experience. However I suspect that if your broadband connection was 512kbps you *might* see some benefit from using it. However for more typical speeds instead of a web page or image displaying in a second the compressed (= reduced quality) item will display in 3/4 second. That's based on 1/2 second to do the connection housekeeping (fixed overheads) + 1/2 second to display the page becoming 1/4 second - purely arbitrary numbers, but good enough to make the point.
I doubt you'd notice the difference; I'd be inclined to spend the money on something else.

[#4]

Thanks for the information. I checked it out on several user review websites and they broadly support your own thinking.... as suggested I will spend the money on something else !

[#5]

Hi,
I've personally used Onspeed in the past on a 512k and a 1mb line but primarily used it in order to keep my data limit as low as possible - previously used Metronet 512k account that had a small allowance.
It does speed up web pages by compressing the images that are coming down the line and the rate of compression can be adjusted from within the software.
I haven't used it for 6 months or so now, but it was not recommended then for use on a DSL Max line, only for fixed rate up to 2mb ones - that may have changed since then though.
I thought they gave a 14 day trial period  - so, if they still do you can always give it a whirl and if it doesn't do the job cancel it. 

[#6]

One convenient advantage of Onspeed (and the real reason I keep it), is that if you are using a broadband connection abroad, the BBC will block you from viewing News 24 and some other programmes containing sport, because of their licencing arrangements.  Further, all their other news programmes are fronted with advertising, which is mildly irritating.  As Onspeed is a UK based proxy server, if you turn Onspeed on, dear old Auntie thinks you are in the UK and streams News 24 without problem, and there are no adverts on the other programmes.
Secondly, Onspeed can of course mask your IP well, because they are not an ISP, which is another advantage, even in the UK if you want to remain concealed !