Dial up internet and calling numbers.

1. 79

   brimancandyposted 12 years ago

   I know this is probably going to make a lot of people laugh. But, I have a dial up internet connection through People PC, and it is very very SLow!! I live in an area where a dial up connection is the only option, as we do not have cable or Satelite where I am located. A big downgrade from the wireless internet service I had when I lived in Grand Rapids.
   
   At any rate, in order to use the internet through PeoplePC is by using access numbers. But, some access numbers might end up costing money, because you can't determine wether they are long distance, even though the software lists the numbers as being available in the calling area.
   
   So, my question is, how can I find out what local communities are in my calling area? that are not long distance? According to the software, you can be charged long distance fees for using long distance numbers without knowing it. And, I do not want to get a huge phone bill every month. So far I haven't.
   
   The thing is, I think I could get a faster connection if I could add a few more cities to my access list. I'm tired of waiting for 5 minute page loads, and not being able to watch a single youtube video without waiting 2 hours for it to load! Please help if you can!

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   1. 86

      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think there is any way to speed up a dial up connection. The maximum speed the line can hold is 56kbs, so even if you dialled a city number, the speed shouldn't be any faster.
      
      You have a land line, yet you can't get DSL? That doesn't sound right. The engineer simply does something to the copper wires and you are away!
      
      Other option of course must surely be mobile broadband, which is what I have. It's a 3G connection through the mobile phone system, via satellite I believe, and most companies will give you a dongle to connect with, with a contract.
      
      Check what your neighbors use to see whose connection is the best in your area.

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      1. 79

         brimancandyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         The mobile phone is out. I had a phone through straight talk at walmart which had unlimited internet acces, but the screen was so tiny, I couldn't see any of the data I was looking at. Also, I will never get hooked into another cell phone contract. It ends up costing way more than they tell you.
         
         I was with Centinial, which got bought out by ATT, and they tried to extend my contract without my permission. I told them to take their phone and shove it. $95.00 a month after all the added service. My straight talk phone was only $30.00 with a card, and never had a single dropped call.
         
         A question. What do you mean by engineer? My internet is through people PC which is a CD-rom that activates your service. Also, people pc does not support DSL or wireless. But, it doesn't matter, because it's not available up here. I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

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      2. 68

         Michael Willisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I know what you are saying about the AT&T tech, but...they will not do this for "certain areas." AT&T will deny this can be done when you ask or say this is a false rumor. (But, I have also seen it done and been told how it is done)
         AT&T will not add rural DSL to the area where I live. But they do have customers a 1/2 mile north of me and a mile south of my area. (Hmmm...wonder how the phone lines get past here?????)

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         1. 79

            brimancandyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            One thing that you may not know about communication companies such as Att and Comcast is that they also own companies under different names. For example, Comcast will not offer service in an area where Charter communications exists. But, what you don't know is that Charter is a Comcast company. Att also has "Franchises" if you will. You will proably find that where Att services one area, it's franchise will service a more rural area. It's a cost cutting measure by having smaller companies service their business, so that they do not have to spend all of their money on maintaining their network. They are mainly based in metro areas, where a majority of their paying customers live, and they contract out to the other companies to get kickback fees for using their service. Some of those companies even charge more for service, and ATT gets the checks.

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            1. 68

               Michael Willisposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, I do know this. lol AT&T wants us to use HughesNet here. But I will not. It costs 5 times the amount of dial-up I have and no guarantee for speeds. I know someone close by who tried it and they said it was worthless. They only got, maybe 3 times faster than dial-up paying $100 more a month than dial-up.  No thanks!!! lol

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2. 68

   Michael Willisposted 12 years ago

   I only have dial-up connection as well. I use AOL, which has calling numbers everywhere it seems. AOL will show a list of numbers, local or long distance. I choose the one local and not any long distance.
   You could call AOL and find out if they have a local number. Should be easy to find a number by doing a google search.

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   1. 79

      brimancandyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      People PC does the same. But, I have been doing some research, and it says no matter what dial up service you have, most only go up to 56 k, and no higher. So, if one tells you they have faster speed than the other, it's most likely not true. But DSL and Cable have more variations in speed according to how mjuch you pay, and I think that is a complete rip off! They should offer top of the line to everyone.

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      1. 86

         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         You read correctly - a normal phone line can only carry a maximum 56kbs, and that is the maximum, so different dial-ups only vary in price.
         
         DSL and cable only vary in speed according to how the lines in an area has been set up. They're limited too.
         
         My Dad has DSL through his phone line, and he pays for UP to 8Mb access, but only actually gets less than 2Mb because the local telephone exchanges haven't been enabled for higher speeds.
         
         It's not a rip-off, it really does depend on where you live, and everywhere is getting upgraded slowly.
         
         This is all new technology, you know!
         
         As soon as most places are enabled for the current speeds, a new technique is developed to make things even faster.
         
         Everywhere can't keep up!

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3. 86

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   When the UK went over to DSL, it was bit by bit as the local exchanges had to be enabled first. It could be that AT&T are refusing to do this because it costs too much, who knows?
   
   Find out where your local telephone exchange is and see if it is on a waiting list or something for enabling.
   
   Mobile phone access is not through a mobile phone handset. I have a wifi router for my access.
   
   It looks like this:
   
   
   You plug it into the mains and connect remotely through your laptop or PC or whatever computer you have.

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4. 86

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Another thing you can do is buy a mast and an internet antenna. It'll cost about $40. Then you should be able to pick up any open wifi signal within a 30 mile radius.
   
   
   You can buy one at Amazon.
   

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   1. 79

      brimancandyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Curious. Is it legal to have one of these in the united states? It seems to me that you would be accused of stealing internet with an item like that. Also, does this item come with a cd rom? so you can download the software required to use it? And what is a mast?

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      1. 86

         IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Read this and some of Doodlebugs other hubs, he knows what is talking about.
         http://doodlebugs.hubpages.com/hub/Exte … gnal-Range
         
         This link might be even more useful to you
         
         http://doodlebugs.hubpages.com/hub/Long … net-Access

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5. 61

   Scribenetposted 12 years ago

   Hi, I am interested in this as I also have this problem and I do not think there are any hotspots close enough to be picked up with any antenna. I will be trying to make my smartphone a hotspot since I get cell reception and supposedly 3G and 4G according to the coverage maps. That said....3G is only available in a corner of the kitchen because I am in the empty reception spot between two towers...lol.
   
   I use a prepaid service since I do not like contracts either! My plan is to fork out for a month's $20 data plan and experiment making the phone a hotspot for my laptop. It is worth a try and only the twenty dollars is lost. I have to note that many cell phones do not work out of this location so it probably depends on the actual phone capacity and I cannot play with that... I am hoping my smartphone is good enough
   
   Dial-up is way too slow for loading Hubpages...paint dries faster! Hope you find a solution!

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