View Full Version : Recommend me a good dial-up ISP
Well, it seems my house move is going to take me beyond the reach of ADSL and cable. It's a lovely rural location, but BT's broadband checker says it's out of reach and a quick go on multimap shows it's 12km from the nearest significant village, so even if they manage to improve ADSL technology it'll be some time before I can have it.
So, the hunt is on for a quality ISP that will give me unmetered dial-up internet for a flat monthly fee. I'm not remotely interested in email addys or webspace, just the 'net access. Any ideas? And is it worth considering ISDN as a halfway house to broadband? My home computer is a G3 iMac with a built-in v90 modem that I never thought I'd need again!
ian@huth
01-07-2004, 14:36
https://secure.ntlfreedom.com/adsl_ort/(hhe1pp5544yf4o55rzg41unx)/classic_v2.aspx :erm:
SMHarman
01-07-2004, 14:49
I found demon internet dialup (you could always get ISDN - which they support), email, spam trapping, news servers and basic web space all to be good.
Costs £11.75 a month.
https://secure.ntlfreedom.com/adsl_ort/(hhe1pp5544yf4o55rzg41unx)/classic_v2.aspx :erm:
I guess I'd have to consider it, given it's a £15 flat charge, offset against phone calls so that, at the rate we use the phone, it would effectively be free! But is it any better than in the days of completely free dial up? The service was utter pants back then, connection speed was abysmal and getting kicked off the server for no reason was a common occurrence.
virgin net, great service!
http://www.virgin.net/customers/internetaccess/24seven.html?buspart=156
virgin net, great service!
http://www.virgin.net/customers/internetaccess/24seven.html?buspart=156
:tu: Thanks Jazzy, that looks very attractive. Have you experienced it yourself?
SMHarman
01-07-2004, 17:17
<snip>And is it worth considering ISDN as a halfway house to broadband? My home computer is a G3 iMac with a built-in v90 modem that I never thought I'd need again!
I'd have to say yes to the ISDN, but that reduces your choice of ISP. You get the benefit of dial up and a telephone line that is not in use at the same time, you can bond the two lines when you get a big mac update if there are such things.
Dial up is silent and quick compared to the beep beep beep squeal squeal of analogue, and it runs at a true 64k all the time, the compression technology in a v90 modem means the speed drops off on bigger downloads.
I still have a Zen dial up account as well as Ntl BB. Been with them over 8 years, top notch technical back up, speedy response to e-mails. Cannot remember the last outage. Some years ago when I had a problem with IE/OE they even sent me the files and repair patches to cure my problem.
http://www.zen.co.uk/
Why not give Net4Nowt (http://www.net4nowt.com/) a look towny?
Lots of choice there and they have a customer rating system as well.
Incog. :)
MetaWraith
01-07-2004, 19:27
It's a lovely rural location
Will you be changing your forum moniker then :) ?
Will you be changing your forum moniker then :) ?
Which bit? I'll actually be a lot closer to Balamory where I'm moving to... :) But the 'exiled in Hemel' line will have to go. :D
I'd have to say yes to the ISDN, but that reduces your choice of ISP. You get the benefit of dial up and a telephone line that is not in use at the same time, you can bond the two lines when you get a big mac update if there are such things.
Dial up is silent and quick compared to the beep beep beep squeal squeal of analogue, and it runs at a true 64k all the time, the compression technology in a v90 modem means the speed drops off on bigger downloads.
I hoped ISDN would be a good compromise, but the info on the web is a little bewildering and all I could glean from it is that it is expensive. Does anyone do flat-rate ISDN access?
BT Midband was looking good until the bit at the bottom of the FAQs said 'no Macs'. Apparently attaching Macs to the BT Midband network seriously degrades the service for everyone else! Goodness only knows how.
Why not give Net4Nowt (http://www.net4nowt.com/) a look towny?
Lots of choice there and they have a customer rating system as well.
Incog. :)
Looking at it now - loads of info there, thanks :tu:
Some of them seem to rely on this BT SurfTime product, and some companies will either do SurfTime or their own self contained package that doesn't require BT surf time. Narrowband dial up seems to have become a million times more complicated since I got Broadband! What does it all mean? What is SurfTime, and why does it exist when ISPs can offer unmetered dial-up with no call charges without using it? :confused:
SMHarman
01-07-2004, 20:49
I hoped ISDN would be a good compromise, but the info on the web is a little bewildering and all I could glean from it is that it is expensive. Does anyone do flat-rate ISDN access?
BT Midband was looking good until the bit at the bottom of the FAQs said 'no Macs'. Apparently attaching Macs to the BT Midband network seriously degrades the service for everyone else! Goodness only knows how.
Flat rate
Demon do the 11.75
http://www.demon.net/products/access/standard.shtml
Plus you pay BT a £7 fee for SurfTime
http://www.bt.com/surftime/index.jsp?obsPage=/surftime/index.html&vStore=999
List of surftime ISPs
http://www.bt.com/surftime/ChooseISP.jsp?obsNoSee=Y&vStore=1112&obsPage=/surftime/index.jsp&obsType=LINK&obsOID=43650
Once you've registered with an ISP, make a note of the access number supplied to you starting 0844 04. You'll need to dial this number whenever you log on during the evening & weekend period to take advantage of the SurfTime discount package, otherwise you may be charged for your calls.
Or SurfTime anytime if you are going to be using the internet a lot during the day
Q: What is SurfTime Anytime?
A: SurfTime Anytime operates in exactly the same way as SurfTime Evening & Weekend, except that the call discounts apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It costs £30.00 per month (including VAT). Like SurfTime Evening & Weekend, you will need to register with a participating ISP who will provide you with a dedicated SurfTime dial-up number starting 0844 04. The ISP will charge a further monthly subscription fee. The ISP's own Terms & Conditions of service and any online session limitations will also apply.
Find out about and choose a participating ISP.
Flat rate
Demon do the 11.75
http://www.demon.net/products/access/standard.shtml
Plus you pay BT a £7 fee for SurfTime
http://www.bt.com/surftime/index.jsp?obsPage=/surftime/index.html&vStore=999
List of surftime ISPs
http://www.bt.com/surftime/ChooseISP.jsp?obsNoSee=Y&vStore=1112&obsPage=/surftime/index.jsp&obsType=LINK&obsOID=43650
Once you've registered with an ISP, make a note of the access number supplied to you starting 0844 04. You'll need to dial this number whenever you log on during the evening & weekend period to take advantage of the SurfTime discount package, otherwise you may be charged for your calls.
Or SurfTime anytime if you are going to be using the internet a lot during the day
Q: What is SurfTime Anytime?
A: SurfTime Anytime operates in exactly the same way as SurfTime Evening & Weekend, except that the call discounts apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It costs £30.00 per month (including VAT). Like SurfTime Evening & Weekend, you will need to register with a participating ISP who will provide you with a dedicated SurfTime dial-up number starting 0844 04. The ISP will charge a further monthly subscription fee. The ISP's own Terms & Conditions of service and any online session limitations will also apply.
Find out about and choose a participating ISP.
I think I understand all that. What I don't understand is why you need to pay BT anything at all - Virgin.net, for example, that Jazzy linked to, appears not to need Surftime, yet is still unlimited and unmetered.
SMHarman
01-07-2004, 22:17
Dunno, but that supports ISDN. Have not looked at the dial up market in a while.
Dunno, but that supports ISDN. Have not looked at the dial up market in a while.
mmmmmmmm, time to start phoning some of these companies, I think.
:tu: Thanks Jazzy, that looks very attractive. Have you experienced it yourself?
Yes, set the service up for a few people!
They are all pleased with the speed and the connection access.
I would use them but unfortunately I am stuck on a ntl line :(
Yes, set the service up for a few people!
They are all pleased with the speed and the connection access.
I would use them but unfortunately I am stuck on a ntl line :(
aha ... so do you know anything about the BT SurfTime thingy then? It appears from the Virgin.net website that you don't need to subscribe to it - is that right?
aha ... so do you know anything about the BT SurfTime thingy then? It appears from the Virgin.net website that you don't need to subscribe to it - is that right?
never used the bt surftime service!
It was just a matter of signing up with virgin net and that was it a 24/7 service!
DrAwesome
02-07-2004, 20:11
Firefly (http://www.fireflyuk.net/) have been on the top of a very popular well known website (http://www.ispreview.co.uk/) for a few months now, Firefly might be worth considering?
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is, I have just finished rummaging around the clever worldwide interweb for phone numbers I can put through BT's broadband checker to try to get a better idea what might be available at my new pad. In the course of this, I discovered that my local 'phone exchange is a lot closer than I thought - less than 5km, in fact, which puts me in range of 1 or 2mb ADSL now BT has extended its reach. Yay! :)
The bad news, however, is that this exchange is one of the few they have no intention of upgrading without some form of corporate sponsorship, under their so-called 'Exchange Activate' programme, being as it is very remote and serves only a few people. As if BT isn't coining it in already. Tight gits. :(
Back to the dial-up drawing board, then. :sulk:
SMHarman
26-08-2004, 13:05
<snip>
Back to the dial-up drawing board, then. :sulk:
Have you seen this product?
http://www.onspeed.com/
Have you seen this product?
http://www.onspeed.com/
:eek: Wow. That's amazing ...
Just did a google group search for that product and there are a few negative comments about it. Things like Lag due to the page being compressed by the onspeed servers before it gets sent to you. The fact that they can monitor/ track every site/ page you visit etc. I suppose everything has it's pro's and cons though.
SMHarman
26-08-2004, 14:32
:eek: Wow. That's amazing ...
I'd like to add that I have not tried it or even seen it in action, merely saw an ad for it in the Easyjet in flight mag.
Just did a google group search for that product and there are a few negative comments about it. Things like Lag due to the page being compressed by the onspeed servers before it gets sent to you. The fact that they can monitor/ track every site/ page you visit etc. I suppose everything has it's pro's and cons though.
Also it can only compress "compressable" data... seems obvious really doesn't it, but when you consider that compression is more and more widely used, even within browsers, you start to see that it's effects are fairly limited.
Fair enough, if you are an average joe surfing for gardening tips from your AOL connection it might make a difference, but would someone like that really be bothered?
SMHarman
26-08-2004, 14:39
So JPEG etc won't be compressed, but I imagine there would be a noticable performance increase on a site like this where the images are mostly cached locally and you are downloading compressable text.
Also it can only compress "compressable" data... seems obvious really doesn't it, but when you consider that compression is more and more widely used, even within browsers, you start to see that it's effects are fairly limited.
Fair enough, if you are an average joe surfing for gardening tips from your AOL connection it might make a difference, but would someone like that really be bothered?
:(
Not so good then. /sigh
So, BT is looking for sponsors to upgrade their remaining rural exchanges for them. What a pity Broadband internet is outside their universal service obligations.
:cry:
Wonder who I could lobby to get my exchange upgraded for me?
SMHarman
26-08-2004, 14:58
:(
Not so good then. /sigh
So, BT is looking for sponsors to upgrade their remaining rural exchanges for them. What a pity Broadband internet is outside their universal service obligations.
Time to lobby your MP i feel. Don't you do corp comms, a good PR campaign is needed here, perhaps you could even offer him (well most are hims) some help with his reelection campaign.
:cry:
Wonder who I could lobby to get my exchange upgraded for me?
Find yourself a nice government job that enables you to work from home and requires a BB connection. That would be a pretty good sponsor.
Time to lobby your MP i feel. Don't you do corp comms, a good PR campaign is needed here, perhaps you could even offer him (well most are hims) some help with his reelection campaign.
Find yourself a nice government job that enables you to work from home and requires a BB connection. That would be a pretty good sponsor.
And if you work for the department of work and pensions then it's your duty to make as much use of your broadband as possible ;)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3600686.stm
And if you work for the department of work and pensions then it's your duty to make as much use of your broadband as possible ;)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3600686.stm
Hmmm, saw that this morning. It's amazing how some people think the internet is a truly anonymous place to be ... prolly the same people who pick their nose while waiting at traffic lights and think no-one can see in to their car. :erm:
There is a Glasgow University field station near our new house so maybe they'll be interested in getting the exchange enabled. Alternatively the Scottish Parliament might have some plan of its own to get rural areas upgraded. I'll have to do some digging, and maybe write a letter or two.
Ohyesohyesohyesohyes!
Looks like I'll be getting broadband for Christmas 2006.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4478497.stm
Nearer the time I think I'll start a 'recommend me a good ADSL ISP' thread. :D
Graham M
25-04-2005, 17:40
Woop! not too long a wait then ;)
here is an answer which can make your life a bit easier the only problem is you gonna have to find some one who lives nearby who would share the connection with you
go for a satalite connection and share it with may be two others to reduce the cost per month by using wireless router :)
ive done it before so i know it works well i had a 2mb connection which i shared with three others in canada plz give me a shout if you need some help in this regard ......
I did give that some thought, there are a couple of problems with it at our location though. First, we haven't lived there long, so it might not be easy to set up an agreement with neighbours; second, it's a rural location, the houses are well spread out and we would probably have issues sharing the signal adequately; third, two-way satellite broadband systems (you couldn't share a one-way system IMO, as you still rely on dial-up for the upstream) retail at over £2,000 in the UK; and finally, I wouldn't trust anyone else to manage the system, and I can't do it as sat modems are all USB only at present, with no drivers for Mac, which is my home computer of choice.
Snookered!
Nice idea though, thanks for the suggestion :)
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