Edumacate me on WiFi, wireless, non-AOL ISP's, etc...

[FearM9]

Hopefully Santa gets his act together on Monday and my damn Dell laptop gets thrown on his sled.

I have been an AOL customer for quite some time now using a dial-up connection. I'm paying $25+/month and that's my only bone of contention. Other than that, I've been satisfied with them so far.

I live in an area that does not have DSL or any other common high-speed service. I can get that DirecTV version, but that's way too spendy.

Obviously paying $25+/month for a dial-up connection is ridiculous. I've seen other companies such as NetZero and Earthlink offer much cheaper services. Any thoughts on which ISP is the best for dial-up?

On a related note....clue me in on this whole WiFi thing. Let's say I chose Bubba's Internet Service for dial-up use at home. Now let's say I go to a coffeeshop that offers free WiFi. Now does this mean I can only use Bubba's Internet Service at the dial-up speed I have at home or will I be able to have a fast connection??

Anyone use Clearwire? I talked to a rep last night and I can sign up for it for $25/month, BUT I don't get the service at my house. In fact I have to use my office physical address so that I can sign up for service. The upside is that as long as I'm in an area that has service and can find a wall outlet to plug in the power for the modem, I'm good to go. But I just don't know how often I'll be able to do this on a regular basis to justify paying for the service.

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions as this thread goes on.

Thanks!

[Dante]

Obviously paying $25+/month for a dial-up connection is ridiculous. I've seen other companies such as NetZero and Earthlink offer much cheaper services. Any thoughts on which ISP is the best for dial-up?

Sorry, can't help you with that. I haven't had dialup in over 7 years.

On a related note....clue me in on this whole WiFi thing. Let's say I chose Bubba's Internet Service for dial-up use at home. Now let's say I go to a coffeeshop that offers free WiFi. Now does this mean I can only use Bubba's Internet Service at the dial-up speed I have at home or will I be able to have a fast connection??

As long as you have a wireless card in your comp you will have no problem using the coffee shops wireless connection at whatever speed they're offering. So it's safe to say you're connection will be far faster than your home service.

[URwormfood]

Hopefully Santa gets his act together on Monday and my damn Dell laptop gets thrown on his sled.

I have been an AOL customer for quite some time now using a dial-up connection. I'm paying $25+/month and that's my only bone of contention. Other than that, I've been satisfied with them so far.

I live in an area that does not have DSL or any other common high-speed service. I can get that DirecTV version, but that's way too spendy.

Obviously paying $25+/month for a dial-up connection is ridiculous. I've seen other companies such as NetZero and Earthlink offer much cheaper services. Any thoughts on which ISP is the best for dial-up?

On a related note....clue me in on this whole WiFi thing. Let's say I chose Bubba's Internet Service for dial-up use at home. Now let's say I go to a coffeeshop that offers free WiFi. Now does this mean I can only use Bubba's Internet Service at the dial-up speed I have at home or will I be able to have a fast connection??

Anyone use Clearwire? I talked to a rep last night and I can sign up for it for $25/month, BUT I don't get the service at my house. In fact I have to use my office physical address so that I can sign up for service. The upside is that as long as I'm in an area that has service and can find a wall outlet to plug in the power for the modem, I'm good to go. But I just don't know how often I'll be able to do this on a regular basis to justify paying for the service.

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions as this thread goes on.

Thanks!

Do you have cable service in your area? They may offer cable modem service?

Heck...I have been an AOL slave since 1996...I am on broadband, but still keep my AOL as a back up for file storage and knowing they have several bunkers located nationwide...I know if shit rolls down I will be able to connect in a emergency if needed..

You say cash that is the factor...stay with AOL..or look at the other Dial-ups... Unsure about Earthlink, though I have several friends that use them...Keep in mind what you are using the internet for...downloads or other stuff?

Unsure about G3 cellphones and connections..that may be a good option as well...You may want to check your cell phone service and see if you have G3??

I thought there was some sort of bill on Broadband Compliance????

:confused:

~worm~