Fastest Dial-up Service...please advise! I'm dying without Broadband....

Howdy folks,

I haven't used dial-up access in years, but I'm in a situation now where it's my only option (short-term, thank God!). I'm caring for my elderly grandmother for a few weeks while she recovers from pneumonia. Obviously, grandma doesn't have DSL or cable internet access. I'm left with dial-up as my only option and it is painfully slow.

I'm using NetZero just because it was the first thing I found and was cheap at $6.95 per month with no term agreement. Waiting for pages to load hurts like a hangover!!!

Are there any other dial-up services or providers that would speed things up a bit for me? Any input is GREATLY appreciated!

 

If cash is no object, you could always spring for mobile broadband. Like 3G and such.

 

Yeah, sad to say but really the differences in Dial Up speed is very negligible and you won't really notice a difference.

As a result, IMHO just go with whatever is cheapest. :S

 

With juno/netzero you'd notice the difference. Their toolbar steals some bandwidth.
Unfortunately, dialup prices haven't really ever gone down in price, staying pretty steady while dsl gets faster and cheaper.
MSN dialup might have a free month offer.

 

If you are not restricted on the resources (money), then AT&T and Time Warner cable both offers month to month plans at a higher fee (obviously).

 

Try:

- Jacking up the size of your browser's cache to something ridiculous like 1GB
- Let the browser wait longer between updating stuff in the cache
- Uninstalling Flash
- Disabling images
- Asking a neighbor if you could use their internet over Wi-Fi

 

Seriously see if you can tether to your cell phone or something for 3g access.

Otherwise, if it really is a short term period, lots of DSL and Cable providers charger a higher rate for month to month no contracts

 

I'm using Firefox 3.0 and I upped the cache to 1GB, disabled images loading automatically....any idea how I would modify the settings to make it wait longer to update the cache?

What will uninstalling Flash do for me, if you don't me asking?

There are no wireless networks to be found within my range, I double checked just to be sure. It's possible that no one on this street even owns a computer, so WiFi is a long shot.

My cell phone is with Verizon and they were recently offering a 30-day trial period for cellular broadband....I'll check into that later today and see if that's workable.

The telephone service here is the same provider that I have at my home for phone and DSL. I'm hoping they might work with me if I beg them....I'll call them this morning and see what I can work out. They have a 30-day money back guarantee on DSL service if you're not happy with it for any reason....perhaps grandma wants to take it for a 29-day test drive ???

 

Dial-up speed will depend on your modem.. 56K is tops. How 'clean' the phone line is another factor, static is a problem. Try another access number that's closer to you, if any. If you're already a Verizon subscriber you might get a discount but still on the expensive side. Get the dedicated USB adapter instead of connecting through your cell phone. The problem is you might only get limited data and pay additional charges if you go over the limit.

 

hmm.. pretty much pointless. just get the lowest charging connection because it won't really make a difference, try 3G though, it's not all that expensive
I'm not sure what it really is but every time i go on holiday, i use my cell phone via bluetooth as a modem, wherever i get a phone signal, i get GPRS, it's better than Dial up at least, speeds average at about 150k.