ATLANTA, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- EarthLink, Inc. today announced three improvements which increase the speed of the online experience for dial-up Internet access users by up to 80%. Most notably, EarthLink has launched a proprietary "faster site finder" feature for its EarthLink Toolbar that automatically alerts a user when a faster version of a requested website is available. The company has also made improvements to its my.earthlink.net portal and EarthLink webmail which increase the speeds of those applications by 15% and 20% respectively.

EarthLink has developed a proprietary toolbar feature to automatically identify and alert a user when a faster version of a website is available. Known as mobile sites, these websites are faster, simpler versions of sites that still provide valuable content but use fewer graphics to accelerate download times. The EarthLink Toolbar identifies over 1,000 of the most popular websites with a faster version of the site available.

"A comparison using the EarthLink faster-site finder feature on ten of the most popular websites demonstrated that the faster site loaded an average of 81% faster over a 53.2 kbps dial-up connection than the standard site," explained Kevin Brand, EarthLink Senior Vice President of Product. "Using the EarthLink Toolbar to identify faster sites can reduce page load times in certain instances from 4 minutes to less than 30 seconds, as some faster sites loaded as quickly as 10 seconds over a dial-up connection. By using the EarthLink Toolbar with faster-site finder, dial-up Internet users can experience page load speeds that are comparable to loading the full site with broadband."

Any Internet user can download the EarthLink Toolbar with faster-site finder at http://www.earthlink.net/software/domore.faces?tab=toolbar.

When downloaded, the EarthLink Toolbar displays an alert banner across the top of a user''s screen with a lightning bolt and notification that, "There''s a faster site available! Click the Show fast site button in the toolbar to see it."

The EarthLink Toolbar with faster-site finder has a simple user interface that allows users to set their personal preferences by individual site. Users can default to always see the faster site or toggle to it on a session-by-session basis. Users also have the ability to view the faster site and then switch to the regular site if more content or information is needed.

"We see this as a significant development for EarthLink''s more than one million dial-up Internet users. Many people may be surprised to know that there are between 10-12 million people nationwide that still use dial-up access to the Internet. EarthLink continues to focus on dial-up Internet users as a relevant and prevalent market segment," said Brand.

In addition to the updates to the EarthLink Toolbar, EarthLink today announced improvements to its portal and webmail application to optimize the Internet experience. EarthLink increased the download speed of its webmail pages by at least 15% for dial-up users by making two significant system improvements: consolidating information on its webmail pages, requiring fewer files to build the pages, and improving the communications between webmail and EarthLink''s backend servers.

EarthLink''s my.earthlink.net portal is currently running 20% faster over a dial-up connection as a result of improvements in caching and compression as well as minimizing the back and forth communications need between the client pc and EarthLink''s backend servers. The changes to the portal and webmail are also reflective of EarthLink''s continued commitment to meet the needs of dial-up customers.

About EarthLink

"EarthLink. We revolve around you(TM)." As the nation''s Internet expert, Atlanta-based EarthLink has earned an award-winning reputation for outstanding customer service and its suite of online products and services. Serving millions of subscribers, EarthLink offers what every user should expect from their ISP: high-quality connectivity, minimal online intrusions and customizable features. Whether it''s dial up, high-speed Internet services like DSL and cable Internet, home phone service, Web hosting, or "EarthLink Extras" like home networking or security, EarthLink connects people to the power and possibilities of the Internet. Learn more about EarthLink by calling (800) EARTHLINK or visiting EarthLink''s Web site at http://www.earthlink.net/.

EarthLink, Inc.

CONTACT: Media: Michele Sadwick, EarthLink, +1-404-748-7255,
sadwick@corp.earthlink.net

Web Site: http://www.earthlink.net/