GnosticWeb Online Course Using Dial-Up

Hi Tris Curtis

There is a high-speed and a low-speed video for every week available, but I don't know about the minimum speed requirement of the connection to watch it properly.
If your connection is too slow you can go to an internet coffee and watch the videos there, most of them have a fast connection and skype too, so you can join the live conferences there also.
I can also recommend the books, I often found that there is more information in them and you can read the exercises and the information regardless of any computer problem.

Hope that helps you.
jonny

Hello Tris,

In addition to Jonny's helpful information I used to be a dial up user and never had many if any problems (besides waiting for videos to load :-). Though from memory I think I was closer to 38-42kps. Just give it a go and if you are using skype which will probably be the only thing in regards to there being an issue don't have anything else using the net at that time ie, interent, email, msn, as they will all use some bandwidth.
I think skype will work fine though, live audio is not as bandwidth dependent as one would think.

Let us know how it goes and enjoy the courses,
Adam.

Hi Tris,

I have taken part in Skype lectures with a very low-speed connection - and mostly it has been an excellent connection. Occasionally there have been little glitches through the session, but not often. And little glitches can happen anyway with both low-speed and high-speed connections!

So, don't worry about it - just tune in to the lectures, and enjoy the learning process :-)

Kind regards,
Vicki

Thanks Jonny for explaining the video set-up. I guess the low-speed will be fine if the videos are more informational/instructional. Either way, like you touched on, I do have other options for being able to access the content outside of my own home (such as a very generous friend) if it came to that.

Thanks Adam and Vicki for telling your experience. I do also remember using Skype on a 48kbps with a similar experience to Vicki’s (mainly fine but lags out every now and then). This, however, was for a three-way chat - if the entire class is on Skype, would the data commands raise considerably? As for the videos… yeah, I’m used to waiting… :-)

Looking forward to the new round in only a few days! Bring on the astral projection... I am very, very excited at the prospect of doing it!

Hi Tris,

You'll find that the Skype lectures utilise a third-party product called "High-Speed Conferencing", which handles all the heavy processing demands required when having Skype chats with more than a couple of participants. As noted in the course forums, to access the Skype lectures you will only have to dial a specified number via Skype, and that will take you directly to the relevant "High Speed Conferencing" Room. In this way, many many people can all interact during the Skype lecture, and there is no loss of connection quality for any of the participants. A great solution!

I hope you enjoy the upcoming course... the important thing to remember is to gain your own experience by doing the suggested exercises - then ask questions in the forums and lectures based on what you have tried - and what has worked or not worked for you.

Enjoy!
Vicki