Who Still Has Dial-Up?

[zflauaus]

In this day and age where YouTube reigns the internet and Skype is a verb, we see broadband connections getting fatter and fatter (for the most part). For those who are not fortunate enough to live near a town, have enough money/patience for satellite, and or other financial/geographical reasons, we are stuck using the all-time hated method of getting on the internet: dial-up.

I wanted to start this thread mainly because AT&T is being their stuck up, unknowning selves, at least on my phone line. About a two years ago, AT&T (then SBC) said by some magic and pixie dust, we could get DSL. Know, we thought we were out of range, which we are and it is confirmed, but AT&T decided to let the order go all the way through the system up to the point where they sent the equipment out to us. About 5-7 days after we got the equipment, the local AT&T office (St. Louis) called up and said, "We are sorry, but DSL is not available at your location," click. That's it. Abrupt ending. To say the least, I was mad. So we stuffed all the equipment back into the box and continued on with our SBC dial-up account, thinking that we were doomed to dial-up.

About a year ago, they once again said we could get DSL. So naturally we ordered it and waited for the equipment. They called us up and said that we had no chance of getting DSL and once again, that abrupt end. So to say the least, the rest of my family was a little mad as well. We never got the equipment, so at least kudos to them for stopping the shipping.

Now, about a month ago. They once again said we could get DSL. The third time. A AT&T rep on DSLReports gave me an employee referral line to call up. Before I had a chance to call up, they retracted that statement from their prequal site and it's like nothing happened. Now about two days ago, they once again, for the FOURTH time, are saying that we can get DSL. I am just really frustrated at them, that I'm not even thinking of trying anymore. I know we are at 30,000+ feet, and DSL only reaches about 18,000 feet. I know that for a fact, so don't call me uninformed.

Now our only options for high-speed are wireless, satellite, and broadband-over-powerline; but they all have catches.

The wireless provider is a local one for our area and looks very intriguing. The main catch; we'd have to raise a 50-60' tower to clear our tree line to get line of sight. We live about 2.5 miles from the wireless base, so we don't know if we could get a signal with N-LOS, but my parents aren't willing to even get a site survey (free) to see if they can "sniff" the antenna.

The next option is satellite. I really, really want to stay away from this type of connection because I want to Skype without a whole second of lag, I want to stream video at full speed for most of the day, not only 15 minutes and then get my bandwidth cut into a fraction of what it's rated and then possibly get it reduced to dial-up speeds for the whole month. Plus the fact that all of them suck and cost a ridiculous amount of money is just not even plausible.

Lastly is BPL. The catch here; the power company hasn't even formally announced it. They were doing a "survey" to see if people would be interested in it. That was posted in their newsletter for the September-October issue. Nothing has been even mentioned since. I would contact the company via email, but they don't even have a contact page on their site except for phone calls, and I'd much rather just send them an e-mail.

So to get back on topic, how many of us MacRumor-ers are cursed with dial-up?

Also, if you read the whole thing and are replying, congratulations.

 

[SkyBell]

I read the whole thing, And I'm replying,

I used to have Dial-up until about 6 months ago, when we got sattilite internet. I don't have restrictions (as far as I know of, only download 5 GB a month, maybe)

It's about $100 a month, but well worth it.

 

[0007776]

The next option is satellite. I really, really want to stay away from this type of connection because I want to Skype without a whole second of lag, I want to stream video at full speed for most of the day, not only 15 minutes and then get my bandwidth cut into a fraction of what it's rated and then possibly get it reduced to dial-up speeds for the whole month. Plus the fact that all of them suck and cost a ridiculous amount of money is just not even plausible.

I have satellite and I wish that I at least had dial-up instead, they have ridiculously low limits and make your internet slower than dial-up when you go over the limit. I think that my current limit is 200MB per day. So whatever you do do not go with satellite.

 

[66217]

Why is it so expensive?

I haven't used dial-up for a long time, I think the last time I used it was about 3-4 years ago.

 

[zflauaus]

I read the whole thing, And I'm replying,

Yay. People actually responded!

Why is it so expensive?

It's expensive because the big greedy companies can make it expensive. That and they need to launch multi-million dollar satellites into space practically every six months to better optimize their network so it will perform better, ala Wildblue.

It's a shame really.

 

[eMac4ever]

my parents aren't willing to even get a site survey (free) to see if they can "sniff" the antenna.

Why won't your parents allow this? Do they think it's a waste of time?

 

[zflauaus]

Why won't your parents allow this? Do they think it's a waste of time?

That's what I'm starting to think. I told them that the survey was free and they responded, "Well. Are you going to climb the tower?" I was like, "Ok, the whole idea of the survey is for the company to send somebody out and have them "sniff" for the signal with THEIR equipment."

I'm just... speechless.

 

[OutThere]

I actually saw a commercial for PeoplePC online the other day and said to myself "whoa...WhoTF still has dialup?". How pertinent. Come to think of it I think a huge percentage of internet connected people still have dialup...which is really harsh.

Along with our DSL package we have unlimited dialup anywhere in the US, so a few times when I've been traveling I've hooked up to a phone line to dial up and check email/whatever...that is some painfully slow business. I'm really sorry for you zflauaus and others.

I thought my town was behind the times (we just got cell service 6 months ago), but we've had DSL and cable available for several years now. My friend who's out of DSL/cable range has satellite, which is fast once it gets going, but there can be several seconds of latency.

In any case I'll just rub in the fact that I have 3mbit dsl at home and dual T3s at school.

 

[eMac4ever]

That's what I'm starting to think. I told them that the survey was free and they responded, "Well. Are you going to climb the tower?" I was like, "Ok, the whole idea of the survey is for the company to send somebody out and have them "sniff" for the signal with THEIR equipment."

I'm just... speechless.

Maybe you could ask your parents tomorrow why they object to having them test. Try to explain to them the advantages of having this service compared to dial-up using terms they know and are comfortable with, i.e. simplify it greatly. I do understand that parents can be stubborn sometimes, though.

As a side note, do you live in Cylon, Wisconsin.

 

[fistful]

I'm unfortunately currently stuck on dial-up. It's pretty irritating that broadband is available by approximately 5-10kms in any direction. The best chance I have in the future is probably wireless. I just checked the availability after reading this thread and it has gotten closer but I'm still about a concession out of the nearest service area.

 

[janey]

that's sad I sort of understand what you're going through, because I had at&t dsl for the longest time, but they were being *******s about the max speed (i live too far away? oh is that right? how many customers do you have in this area that it's acceptable to provide **** service for years on end?).

switched to time warner cable, couldn't be happier. well, i could, if I got fios, but..I had less than 3mbit/256 from AT&T for the same price as TWC's 10mbit/1mbit. So..I can deal with the hours-long wait for tech support because it's only been once every couple months.

anyway, at&t offers $10 DSL to new customers if you're in their coverage area. so if you are... it's just a hassle, and it's something i saw on the consumerist, but..

 

[John Jacob]

Me!

Well, it's actually GPRS, but with a maximum speed of around 45Kbps, it is practically the same as dialup.

 

[Ish]

We've got broadband but since the line was 'upgraded' about three weeks ago it's slower than dial up. No-one's found what's causing the problem yet. Something, somewhere is throttling it.

 

[Nermal]

I have broadband, and an interesting development popped up here earlier this week. In NZ, you have a legal right to a phone line. No matter where in the country you are, you can get one. Earlier this week the government announced that they're considering extending that to broadband: You'd be able to get at least 256 kb/s to your house regardless of where you live. Interesting times ahead!

 

[Foxglove9]

I'm going to be relocated for about 2 weeks and the place only has dial-up capabilities. I'd hate to sign up with a dial-up ISP for just a month then go through the hassles of closing the account after the end of the month. Any other options available?

 

[Henri Gaudier]

Sorry for all the crap you're enduring zflauaus. It's a bit different in France. We have site to enter our telephone number in to see if were eligable. I do it every month or so .... one day. Having read your post I checked again and the results are below. I'm at 28,800 bps today which is about normal so what's that ... about 3kb? I'm paying around $78888888888y er no I'm not ... that was Kaspar my cat's contribution. I'm paying around $40 for that as well. Maybe next year. The whole of France is meant to be covered by 2012.

 

[MacRohde]

Man I feel sorry for you. I remember when I was on dial-up, back in 96-97 - of course then it seemed novel and all since the Internet exploding at that time. But I imagine that it must be a pain being on dial-up today with all the fat websites ladden with flash and javascript.

Anyway, I'm curious as to where you live since you're having such a hard time getting DSL. I assume in the states, but where?

 

[ErikCLDR]

I assume cable internet is not an option.

My friend had sat. internet at there house in vermont and it was so atrocious they just bought a second phone line and stuck with dial up.

I guess at this point you should just try to push your parents into have the wireless company come check it out.

We had dial-up at my beach house up until last year when we got cable internet. We've had cable internet at my main house for its entire existence, and at my old house for about 3 years, so about 5 years total. At my old house, which was built in 1993, the cable running from the street to the house had to be replaced for the cable internet, which was a big pain in the @$$ especially since the cable company does the easiest and most messy job they can possibly do so that my dad has to go yell at them to do a neater job.

 

[Earendil]

Read and responding

I feel your pain 100%

We live in what I often refer to as the "boonies". However, our town has DLS/Cable, so it's not that bad. That said, we live 6 miles outside of town, and DSL has only made it 3 miles outside of town, with cable nowhere in site. Satellite is literally our only option, but living in the Northwest smack dab in the middle of the Cascade mountains, we have decided against that being a viable route. At least as a 100% replacement for our dialup.

On top of that, my story has Irony. I live in the Columbia Gorge (lowest mountain pass in the world, woot!) which has a HUGE fiber optic line traveling through it at river level. My house is actually only about 2 miles from the river as the crow flies, but it's 2000ft up.
We have enough fiber to host a large city within throwing distance, and I'm stuck on dialup

Positive thing for me is that I'm at Uni now, and our dorms are all relatively small (100 or so) with T1's to each. I get plenty of bandwidth there. This of course only makes returning home for summer even worse...

 

[mactastic]

I'm still on dial up. Had to give up the high-speed when we moved out here about 3 years ago. After having had high-speed for several years, that was pretty tough; but considering the views and the privacy we're OK with it. We're considering satellite simply because the previous occupants left the dish behind when they left so the installation costs would be much lower. We haven't pulled the trigger yet because the monthly costs are higher than we want to pay right now. Maybe in another year or two (and a raise or two) and we'll be ready, but honesly I'm hoping BPL or wireless makes it out here first.

 

[jalagl]

I use dial up when I go to my parent's beach house. There's no chance of getting broadband there, and the best connection I can get with dial up is 28.8K.

I only use it to check email - but, every once in a while, somebody sends me a multi-MB file with a funny video or something, and then I'm stuck for 2-3 hours while the email downloads. That sucks.

Still, not having broadband at that place is a blessing. There is very poor cell phone reception as well, so you are pretty much isolated from the world (or at least from your clients and colleagues).

 

[zflauaus]

Wow. I'm still surprised that this thread is going.

Maybe you could ask your parents tomorrow why they object to having them test. Try to explain to them the advantages of having this service compared to dial-up using terms they know and are comfortable with, i.e. simplify it greatly. I do understand that parents can be stubborn sometimes, though.

As a side note, do you live in Cylon, Wisconsin.

Maybe I will. I just have to find a time when my parents are alright to talk to because if they had a bad day... Not good.

And no, I don't live in Cylon, Wisconsin. I live in Nashville, IL. I just put the Cylon Universe b/c I like Battlestar Galactica.

anyway, at&t offers $10 DSL to new customers if you're in their coverage area. so if you are... it's just a hassle, and it's something i saw on the consumerist, but..

Well, there's a hitch to the $10 deal. That's only for customers that were in the BellSouth coverage area, not all of AT&T's territory.

I have broadband, and an interesting development popped up here earlier this week. In NZ, you have a legal right to a phone line. No matter where in the country you are, you can get one. Earlier this week the government announced that they're considering extending that to broadband: You'd be able to get at least 256 kb/s to your house regardless of where you live. Interesting times ahead!

Yeah, our government would never agree to do ANYTHING like that at all. It's basically up to the state, which right now, Illinois is doing nothing.

Man I feel sorry for you. I remember when I was on dial-up, back in 96-97 - of course then it seemed novel and all since the Internet exploding at that time. But I imagine that it must be a pain being on dial-up today with all the fat websites ladden with flash and javascript.

Anyway, I'm curious as to where you live since you're having such a hard time getting DSL. I assume in the states, but where?

Yes it is quite the pain to load it all sometimes, but that's what Adblock is for! And I live in Nashville, IL. I live about 3 miles south of town, but about 6 miles from the switching box.

I assume cable internet is not an option.

My friend had sat. internet at there house in vermont and it was so atrocious they just bought a second phone line and stuck with dial up.

I guess at this point you should just try to push your parents into have the wireless company come check it out.

We had dial-up at my beach house up until last year when we got cable internet. We've had cable internet at my main house for its entire existence, and at my old house for about 3 years, so about 5 years total. At my old house, which was built in 1993, the cable running from the street to the house had to be replaced for the cable internet, which was a big pain in the @$$ especially since the cable company does the easiest and most messy job they can possibly do so that my dad has to go yell at them to do a neater job.

Yeah. I don't even know where the cable internet stops going out south of town. For east of town it goes on about five miles, but not south.

Read and responding

I feel your pain 100%

We live in what I often refer to as the "boonies". However, our town has DLS/Cable, so it's not that bad. That said, we live 6 miles outside of town, and DSL has only made it 3 miles outside of town, with cable nowhere in site. Satellite is literally our only option, but living in the Northwest smack dab in the middle of the Cascade mountains, we have decided against that being a viable route. At least as a 100% replacement for our dialup.

On top of that, my story has Irony. I live in the Columbia Gorge (lowest mountain pass in the world, woot!) which has a HUGE fiber optic line traveling through it at river level. My house is actually only about 2 miles from the river as the crow flies, but it's 2000ft up.
We have enough fiber to host a large city within throwing distance, and I'm stuck on dialup

Positive thing for me is that I'm at Uni now, and our dorms are all relatively small (100 or so) with T1's to each. I get plenty of bandwidth there. This of course only makes returning home for summer even worse...

Yes, aren't dorm rooms great? My sister went to college and when I visited her, I kind of... "borrowed" her connection. But then again, I also do that at my grandma's house sometime because she's just like, "Go ahead. I'm not using it." Such a loving grandma I have.

I did a Testmy.net connection test (because the other speeds test won't load) and here's my results:

:::.. testmy.net test results ..:::
Download Connection is:: 61 Kbps about 0.06 Mbps (tested with 97 kB)
Download Speed is:: 7 kB/s
Upload Connection is:: 22 Kbps about 0 Mbps (tested with 97 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 3 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net (Server 1)
Test Time:: 2007/06/21 - 9:18am
D-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-DH7G9OMA0
U-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-OYS9ZRHXW
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; en-US; rv:1.8.1.4) Gecko/20070515 Firefox/2.0.0.4 [!]

The only reason the speeds are up this high is because I'm using an old Linux box as a router and surfing on Linux is faster than Windows. If I was on Windows, it would probably be the other way around because I never got those download speeds even close to that.

Well, got to convince my parents to get a survey.

 

[OutThere]

Yes, aren't dorm rooms great? My sister went to college and when I visited her, I kind of... "borrowed" her connection. But then again, I also do that at my grandma's house sometime because she's just like, "Go ahead. I'm not using it." Such a loving grandma I have.

I did a Testmy.net connection test (because the other speeds test won't load) and here's my results:

:::.. testmy.net test results ..:::
Download Connection is:: 61 Kbps about 0.06 Mbps (tested with 97 kB)
Download Speed is:: 7 kB/s
Upload Connection is:: 22 Kbps about 0 Mbps (tested with 97 kB)
Upload Speed is:: 3 kB/s
Tested From:: http://testmy.net (Server 1)
Test Time:: 2007/06/21 - 9:18am
D-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-DH7G9OMA0
U-Validation Link:: http://testmy.net/stats/id-OYS9ZRHXW
User Agent:: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; PPC Mac OS X Mach-O; en-US; rv:1.8.1.4) Gecko/20070515 Firefox/2.0.0.4 [!]

The only reason the speeds are up this high is because I'm using an old Linux box as a router and surfing on Linux is faster than Windows. If I was on Windows, it would probably be the other way around because I never got those download speeds even close to that.

Well, got to convince my parents to get a survey.

At least you have just about the fastest dialup you can get! If your phonelines suck you could have half that performance or worse.

The dorms at school are crazy even with DSL at home...I've had Mac OS X updates download at 3 megabytes/second before.

 

[ham_man]

I feel your pain...I really do. I live out in the sticks, and for years our only option was dial-up. That was slow and painful. Then we got DirecWay. That was annoying, what with the limits and all (when I downloaded updates after clean installing my computer, I would have to download one update, then wait a day, download the next one, and so on and so forth). Then we got wireless, and while it isn't nearly as fast as I would like, it is still better than the alternatives. It's relatively cheap (something like $40 a month) and has very few problems with downtime.

If I were you, I would definately look into wireless as a possible solution to your woes...

 

[joepunk]

I'm still using dial-up at my parents house. I don't really mind it as I don't visit any flash/video/uTube sites.

I am pretty easy going when it comes to downloading an iTunes song. I have the patience.

Also, there is free high speed wireless at my local Community College (I did graduate from there

Why I have never bothered my parents in getting something faster was the overall cost per month from some companies.