What's the best dial-up Internet service?

June 13, 2006 12:26 PM

Forced for the summer to access the Internet through dial-up I wonder what the least expensive, least annoying, fastest option. I currently use NetZero which is free (three months which are almost up), fairly fast, but very annoying with video ads and hijacking my preferred browser i.e. making IE my preferred bowser every time I dial-up. I've used AOL in the past but find it very, very annoying. Any recommendations?
posted by NorthCoastCafe to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

I've had good luck with peoplePC
posted by zeoslap at 12:50 PM on June 13, 2006

earthlink?
posted by milarepa at 1:09 PM on June 13, 2006

If you are in the Seattle metro area, nocharge.com is always free, no ads at all, no registration required, or even possible. Everyone gets userid=guest, password=password.
posted by nomisxid at 1:26 PM on June 13, 2006

When I was setting up a family member with dialup, I had initially looked into peoplepc as I had heard good things about it. After searching a bit, I have found horror story after horror story about them since they were bought out. If you do go with them, just make sure to read the contract carefully (as you should do anyway) and ditch their smart dialer program as you can use builtin dialing software to connect.
posted by chrisroberts at 2:50 PM on June 13, 2006

Isp.com: $8.95 per month, nationwide local dialup access.

I've been paying for my mom's internet through them for years (six years?) and she's never complained. At one point in the dark days in between DSL and cable modem, I had two service accounts with them, one for me and one for Mom. No hassle when I cancelled the one for me, never any billing shenanigans, unlimited access, no ads, yes newsgroups... Cheap, dependable, basic dial-up and not much else.
posted by NortonDC at 2:57 PM on June 13, 2006

I hate to not answer your question here, but have you tested your area for some open wifi access points?
posted by Hildago at 3:18 PM on June 13, 2006

I used to use access4less.net but it looks like they are no longer around, excellent dialup.

I found it here:

http://www.freedomlist.com/
posted by any major dude at 3:45 PM on June 13, 2006

I had a similar situation last summer and found Toast worked really well. They have a variety of options and no contract -- you can cancel at anytime. Phone and online support was great too.
posted by nnk at 6:56 PM on June 13, 2006

seconding peoplepc but that was a while ago...
posted by mittenedsex at 8:12 PM on June 13, 2006

i have a boost mobile cel phone that A. can be loaded with opera mini, b. can be used as a modem after you get a usb attachment with speeds comperable to dial up, if you don't talk on it the "data transfer" costs 20 cents a day or about six dollars a month. however it doesn't charge while plugged in as a modem, and the cheapest phone costs $50, usb attachment on ebay for about $7. i got it for the free gps.
posted by psychobum at 7:49 AM on June 14, 2006