[Miracle1986]

I am moving into a new house that will not have internet access (at least for a while) and I am considering dial-up and I have some questions:

What do I need to get/have dial up?
Is it easy to discontinue dial up once I get DSL?
Is dial-up worth a crap?
Anything else I should know?

[Elysium]

Hi Sweety...

I am not an internet expert, but I think for dial-up you need to have a phone line available, as dial-up goes through the phone line, and you'll need to get a modem from your dial-up provider.

You can use dial-up with only one phone line, however you will not be able to be on the net and the phone at the same time with only one line...so I would suggest getting two lines so you have one dedicated to your internet.

Dial-up is the dinosaur of internet connections. LOL!! I remember the early 90's when, if you had dial-up your were hot stuff. In my opinion....it is not worth crap. It will be slow, and depending on the volume of folks fighting for dial-up connections it will be even slower.

I'm not sure what your provider will charge you for dial-up, but my opinion is that if DSL isn't much more, go with that. You will be much happier.

Anyway, hope this helps!!

Talk with you later!!

[bebop]

dsl is almost the same price in our area anymore I think. I would never go back to dial up unless I absolutely had to.

yeah, I agree, only get dial-up if you have to...

I had dial-up until about 4 years ago, it's really, really slow (though at the time I didn't mind the slowness because I always used dial-up) plus it ties up the phone lines so you'd have to monitor how much time you spend online per day if you only have one phone line, otherwise people won't be able to call you all day unless you have a cell phone

[Shangrala]

If I remember correctly....(lol, it's been so long since I've had that primitive line), while using dialup online, any phone call would disconnect your online connection.....? Been too long ago to remember.

Don't recall needing a modem for dialup, either. Connection is entirely through the phone line.
Dsl is far better, hands down, and yes, doesn't cost much more than the dinosaur, though that does require a modem.....lol.

Good luck.

Shangrala

[sabby]

A modem is needed for dial-up connection. All the newer computers have internal modems now...not like in the old days when you needed to have one LOL.

I'm on dial-up at the moment because I live way out in the sticks and there is not cable/broadband/dsl available here. I will have to get satellite and it's expensive!!!! Right now I just don't have the money to invest in it. Hopefully soon.

In the meantime, I use Netzero for $9.99 a month, unlimited access. Yes it is slow, yes it sucks, yes I feel like I'm left behind because I can't d/l anything or watch videos etc etc. But, it beats twiddling my thumbs out here in the woods just looking at the birds and listening to the coyotes

If you are using dialup for short term....it's ok. You will get frustrated with it though. That's a given!

Good Luck!

[FooZe]

Originally Posted by Manda86

What do I need to get/have dial up?

A dialup modem, a phone line, a service provider, and an account. Your computer may already have a dialup modem in it; look on the back for phone jacks or check your System Information (or equivalent). If your service provider is any good they'll be prepared to give you instructions for setting up and configuring your dialup connection.

For my first three months online I tried not to tie up my only phone line during the hours when I was most likely to be getting calls. Finally I gave up and got a second line just for the computer. I pay more per month for the second line so that I'll have unlimited local calling time; without that, my phone bill would skyrocket.

It helps a lot if you have access to a working internet connection, even if it has to be at the library or something, so you can look up answers to any questions you might run into.

Is it easy to discontinue dial up once I get DSL?

On your computer, you just set up the DSL connection and use it in place of the dialup one. If your provider didn't offer both DSL and dialup access, you might have to change providers.

Is dial-up worth a crap?

It's a lot better than no connection. I've been online for 10 years now, using nothing but dialup on my own computers. Occasionally I'll get on someone else's computer and notice how much faster their DSL or cable connection is than what I have, but I'm used to the pace of dialup and it doesn't bother me. If I were big on videos or music, that would be different.

I've also overheard cable customers' side of phone calls to their cable providers as they get talked through restoring their cable connection. That's when I feel best about having dialup; once it's working, it tends to stay working indefinitely except for outright equipment failures.

I'm lucky to live within half a mile of a major phone company facility so I regularly get connected at around 50 kbps. I used to visit someone who lived 7 or 8 miles from town and was lucky to get 30 kbps.

Anything else I should know?

I bought this computer used with an inexpensive no-brand modem already in it. I thought I'd replace the modem with a new, name-brand one that I could trust. For almost four years, whenever the phone line got a bit noisy I kept losing the "receive" side of the connection and having to redial. I suspected everything but the modem. Finally, setting my system back up after a hard-drive failure I had so much trouble reinstalling the name-brand modem that I went back to the cheapo. I've had good connections ever since!

[Frankz]

I don't know much, but people have prolly already said this..

I remember going over my dad's house when I was little & using the computer. I remember every time someone needed to use the land line, I needed to get of the Internet, LOL.

[sorrel]

You can get these 'dongles' that give you mobile internet that you pay for on a pay as you go or monthly contract basis. Most mobile phone providers have them.

[AppinIsobel]

At the moment we have both, DSL and dialup since we have a fax machine line.

I'll have to try dialup here. on this software.

We still use the fax machine bought in 1986, plus a good black pencil, can't be beat sometimes.

[AppinIsobel]

Seems to work Ok

No fancy pictures though.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by Miracle1986

I am moving into a new house that will not have internet access (at least for a while) and I am considering dial-up and I have some questions:

What do I need to get/have dial up?
Is it easy to discontinue dial up once I get DSL?
Is dial-up worth a crap?
Anything else I should know?

I have Dial up. I have no problems with it and can watch my tv shows, music videos and movies for netflix, hulu, abc, nbc cbs fox, pbs, TLC, even some shows on things like lifetime, usa, tnt. Ive had dial up now for about 3 months and havent had a problem at all with it. it is slower than broadband, dsl, highspeed what ever its called in your area. but overall I get the same performance as I did with high speed other than its slower and its lighter on finances. is it worth it. in my opinion yes for me it is. anything you should know, if you can work a computer on high speed then you can work a computer on dial up. so you pretty much already know everything. oh yea I dont have trouble with missing calls when Im on my computer. here the telephone company has options like three way calling call forwarding, voice mail, call waiting, caller ID. when a call comes through and Im on the computer it doesnt interfere or shut down my dial up. the call is routed to my voice mail just like it is when Im not home to answer the phone or just dont want to drop what Im doing to answer the phone. when I get off the computer I just pick up my phone and there is a special tone that lets me know I have voice mail messages. I call the voice mail number and enter my pin and listen to my messages then decide if I need to call anyone back. so theres no need for me to worry about how much time Im on line nor whether Im missing a call.