Before broadband. Before WiFi. Before TikTok on your phone while you’re on the toilet. There was… dial-up internet — the chaotic, screeching, painfully slow gateway to online magic. And if you grew up in the 90s/00s, it was part of your personality.
So let’s rewind. Literally. Because back then, everything took 14 minutes to load anyway.
🔊 The Noise That Haunts Our Dreams
First, let’s talk about that sound.
That skkkrrrrreeeeeeeerrrCHHCHCHCH-beeeeeeeEEEP-boink!
It sounded like your PC was arguing with a robot. And somehow, that meant you were “going online.”
Bonus trauma if someone in your house picked up the phone during this sacred ritual. Suddenly:
Internet connection: gone.
Neopets game: ruined.
Patience: evaporated.
🐌 The Pace of a Slug in a Rainstorm
You didn’t scroll TikTok for five hours back then — because loading one website took five hours.
- Click a link.
- Go make toast.
- Come back. Still loading.
- Read three Goosebumps books.
- Still loading.
And don’t even try to load more than one page at once. You’d crash the entire system and possibly summon the devil.
☎️ “GET OFF THE INTERNET, I NEED TO USE THE PHONE!”
This was a daily battle in most homes. You couldn’t use the internet and the landline at the same time. It was one or the other.
You’d be halfway through crafting your perfect Piczo layout when suddenly —
“ASTEN I NEED TO CALL YOUR NAN!”
Connection: lost. Mood: ruined.
And let’s not forget MSN Messenger — the ultimate social hub where if your internet dropped mid-chat, it was basically social death. “Sorry, I disconnected” became a whole personality.
🧠 Peak Internet Memories:
- Making your first email address that was probably something like xX_PinkPrincessSpice_94_Xx
- Waiting 12 minutes to load one pixelated photo of JLS
- Typing “LOL” on MSN but not actually laughing
- Playing Flash games while praying no one called the house
- Being scared of every pop-up ad: “Congratulations! You’ve won a virus!!”
- Spending 30 mins logging in just to change your Neopets’ colour
- Printing off song lyrics from dodgy fan sites for your CD player karaoke session
🌐 DAISY’S CORNER: THE DIAL-UP EXPERIENCE, UNFILTERED
“WHY IS IT BEEPING AT ME? WHY DOES THIS WEBSITE LOOK LIKE A SCHOOL PROJECT? WHY IS IT TAKING 74 YEARS TO LOAD A SINGLE PHOTO OF MY FAVOURITE CELEB???”
Let me tell you:
- I TRIED TO GO ON MSN, SOMEONE PICKED UP THE PHONE, I CRIED.
- LimeWire? More like CrimeWire. I downloaded one track and gave my computer seventeen viruses.
- I once waited 45 minutes to download a pixelated Jonas James fan edit. Worth it.
- I set my MySpace background to sparkle and it nearly bricked the entire computer.
Dial-up taught me patience, rage, and how to use a mouse without punching the screen. Never again. NEVER. AGAIN.
xo – Daisy 🔥📞💀
Asten Does Nostalgia 
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