Constant Connection..... well well..

[Feuer Frei!]

When people talk about "constant" connection it amuses me slightly, not from a SchadenFreude kind of way, but...
there simply is no constant connection...
i used to have a ADSL1 "connection" with Optus, fast but...not constant.
Hell, it's even worse now, on wireless link, not even going near SH5! (Yet)
As i'm sure most of you are aware, a constant connection and speed (which might i add is a min/recomm. requirement also by game) is affected by a number of things:

• Quality of the phone line at your residence. Neighborhoods with better copper wiring can achieve somewhat faster DSL speeds.
• Length of the phone line between the residence and the phone company hub (often called "central office"). DSL technology is "distance sensitive" because its performance decreases significantly as you get further away from this hub.
• Service glitches. While normally a constant, DSL speed can suddendly drop if the service provider has technical difficulty with their network. Speeds should return to normal after a few minutes or hours.

Also, but more controllable:

• Spyware on computer(s). Even when the DSL network may be functioning at full speed, spyware programs may be consuming the bandwidth, robbing your DSL speed. Anti-spyware programs should be run regularly on networks to prevent this problem.
• Mis-configured wired or wireless router. Routers sit between your computers and the Internet connection. If not functioning properly, a router can greatly limit the DSL speed achievable on all computers. Temporarily connecting a computer directly to the Internet can help diagnose this situation.
• Slow wireless network connection. In extreme cases, a very slow wi-fi connection between a computer and a wireless home network will not keep pace with the speed of the DSL Internet connection. Improving the quality of the Wi-Fi connection will solve this problem.
• Old computer(s). Very old computers lacking sufficient processing power or memory cannot keep pace with a high-speed DSL connection. You can verify this problem by comparing the DSL speed between computers at the residence.