The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether America Online (AOL) or Microsoft Network (MSN) can provide faster Internet access over a phone line. For this experiment both America Online and Microsoft Network were dialed up at two set times during the day (7:30 AM and 7:30 PM) for 30 consecutive days. The speed of each connection was measured in bytes per second (BPS) and recorded.

AOL averaged 45833 BPS. MSN averaged 47137 BPS. AOL connect on the first attempt 63% of the time, averaging 2.02 attempts per connection. MSN connected one the first attempt 92% of the time, averaging 1.07 attempts per connection.

After completing this experiment it was found that MSN was superior to AOL in both categories tested. MSN average connection speed was over 1300 BPS faster then AOL. Also, MSN took an average of .95 attempts to connect successfully.