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Old 30th Aug 2020, 2:34 pm   #1
electronicskip
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Default Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

Looking at the other thread on here about internet connection experiences made me wonder if any of the forum members still use a dial up connection?

I know its still available in some form or another , and could be another alternative to non broadband areas and satellite internet.

I held out for a very long time on having broadband but eventually took the plunge.

Any members still use it or know of anyone?
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 4:27 pm   #2
Nuvistor
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Default Re: Does anyone still use dialup connection?

A problem is that many web pages are made that use lots of data and the web page on a dialup line could time out. Sites such as UKVRRR would load quickly but many others would have problems.
It would be interesting to know how anyone who uses dialup manages. A web search shows Its available in the UK. Costs quoted 1p per minute off peak to 4p per minute 6am to 6pm on BT lines.
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 4:57 pm   #3
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Does anyone still use dialup connection?

I agree it would be very difficult to use the modern web over a dialup connection. Even this forum would be very slow, though it would be usable.

There are a few people who do still use dialup because they don't have access to anything better - I don't envy them.
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 7:53 pm   #4
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: Does anyone still use dialup connection?

First dial-up I used, and my debut on the Interwebs was x-stream in July 1999.

Just looking through my old work diaries and the last time I used dial-up was probably in 2010 because I have the phone number and log-in details of "freeukisp.co.uk" in the notes section.
It was useful for downloading stuff on sites where there was a live phone line but no broadband.

If you are a Plusnet Broadband customer like me, you can log into your account and click "connection details" you will see this:

Click image for larger version

Name:	login.jpg
Views:	128
Size:	44.7 KB
ID:	214654

The phone number simply diverts to their service desk, the dial-up no longer works, I wonder why they don't remove the info?
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 9:12 pm   #5
Malcolm G6ANZ
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Default Re: Does anyone still use dialup connection?

When 'Microsoft' phone me to mend my PC I always say I'm on dial up so I cant speak to them and be on line at the same time. This really upsets them.
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 9:27 pm   #6
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Default Re: Does anyone still use dialup connection?

This brought back memories

I used Compuserve for almost a decade unfortunately when I was in China they were blocking the Beijing access point so I used to have to connect to Hong Kong.

I recently dug out my old Tosh which when powered up still had my Compuserve connections details on it.

With it was the ball of wool (wire) I used along with the Kit I used to connect to the hotel telephone systems.

That tosh went all around the world several times until it was replaced by a Siemens Nixdorf around 96 I still have that one as well and a similar ball of wool and all the telephone socket connectors for a world traveller

I always used to be amused by adverts showing various laptops setting you free I always found they enslaved me

Great memories

Cheers

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Old 30th Aug 2020, 10:35 pm   #7
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

I remember my Cousin used dial up until too many websites were too cumbersome to cope with it.

He got a broadband from a cheap supplier with a discount for paying for a year's connection in advance, but they went bust & he lost his money!

My parents switched to broadband in 2005 & it seemed superfast compared to dialing up, as well as being far more convenient. We got rid of our BT line and kept the second line we had installed when we got cable, but had the BT number switched to it.
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Old 30th Aug 2020, 11:05 pm   #8
emeritus
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

I started usng Freeserve soon after it started, having read in a newspaper article that there was no catch, they made their money by calls being routed via the CEGB's fibre network that BT were charged for using. I picked up an installation CD in Dixons that installed Outlook Express. AFAIR at the time you had to pay other providers a monthly subscription fee, as well as the BT call connection charge. I used freeserve until it was closed down, latterly via broadband. Originally you had to make a certain number of dial-up calls to maintain the service. The period in which calls had to be made got progessively longer and then stopped altogether when connection via dial--up ceased.

Last edited by emeritus; 30th Aug 2020 at 11:10 pm. Reason: Typos
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 12:28 am   #9
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

I signed up with Freeserve purely for an email address, in fact I had two accounts and I liked the way you could put anything at all before the @
I had those addresses from 1999 to 31 May 2017,

They did their best to kill off freeloaders like me, but there was always a retrieve account button on the website if you could find it,

(Timings from Orange's tenure, I think they were shorter earlier)

After 219 days of inactivity an account’s suspended,
you'll be unable to dial up and connect using your Dial-up Pay As You Go account
you'll still be able to send and receive emails

After 225 days of inactivity an account’s still suspended, meaning that on day 226:
you'll be unable to access your email service

After 259 days of inactivity an account expires, meaning that on day 260:

you'll be unable to dial-up and connect using your Dial-up Pay As You Go account
you'll be unable to access any functionality of your account, such as: emails or webspace
you'll be unable to reactivate your account

What it meant for me is when the POP3 mail stopped responding I would use my normal Internet connection to log on to Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange/EE and find the "retrieve account" option. I don't think I ever used their dial up service.
After so many years they stopped this rigmarole, I imagine 90% had expired by then, when EE finally pulled the plug I just felt lucky I had them for so long.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 1:59 am   #10
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

That's an interesting topic. We've been on broadband since ADSL first arrived where we are - we're a little out of Invercargill so it was a bit later than other areas, I think it would have been around 2004ish, first on 2 Mbps then as Telecom (as they were called) were forced to resell higher speeds we got them - maxing out at 8 Mbps until we were cabinetised in 2012-13ish (13 Mbps) and now fibre since the end of 2018 (900 Mbps).

I got both my parents and brother off dial-up in the mid 00's - by the end of the decade they'd have both been on ADSL, my parents going to fibre about 2014 (50/10) and my brother finally signing up to 100/10 last year.

I've done a search to see if anyone still does dial-up here, and there's a very valid point made on Geekzone - any services that are somehow still running will only do so as long as spares are available. Spark shut down their dial-up in 2018, and Vodafone show their one as being only available for existing connections - although there's no guarantee the help page is up to date. I know that Snap (who were bought out by 2degrees) hadn't offered it for at least a decade.

Discussion from 2017: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.as...topicid=215491
Spark shutdown: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.as...topicid=236048
Vodafone retired plan: https://www.vodafone.co.nz/support/b...alup-internet/

In terms of options for users with no fibre or DSL, normal ones we look at are rural fixed wireless (RBI), cellular data, WISP or satellite.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 10:56 am   #11
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

The last household I knew that was on dial-up was about five years ago. There was no ADSL in the village.

I tried to help them out with a mobile phone dongle but due to the terrain there was insufficient signal strength. The best network was marginal.

Curiously, this wasn't way out in a wilderness but a substantial village only a matter of a few miles from the West Midlands conurbation.

The problem was solved when they moved to a town.

(Though, interestingly, initially they then found themselves in a mobile phone a dead spot!)
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 10:59 am   #12
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

I was in Japan for business in about 2001 and having an accessible phone socket was the latest thing in hotel rooms. As I moved round the country I would connect up with my 'ball of wool' and check my email. The speeds were pretty dire, but it worked.

One day I needed some info from a particular page of a spec so I emailed the UK and asked them to send it to me. Trouble was they attached the whole spec to the email rather than just the relevant page! It took forever to download and when I checked out of that hotel my phone bill was bigger than the room charge!
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 11:07 am   #13
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

Where mobile coverage is poor you can usually resolve a signal, either with specialist gear or by mounting a standard 'MiFi' unit somewhere high up and unscreened, such as in the loft.

Even 2G EDGE technology will give better throughput than dialup.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 11:27 am   #14
stacman
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

Nostalgia Nerd did a video in 2017 about using dial up, that was 3 years ago obviously, but interesting....
https://youtube.com/watch?v=17zfz017s9A

Regards, Alan
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 12:33 pm   #15
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

We still had EDI dialups at work until 2018. Now there’s software that emulates them over IP using virtual serial ports.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 4:28 pm   #16
Junk Box Nick
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

Quote:
Originally Posted by paulsherwin View Post
Where mobile coverage is poor you can usually resolve a signal, either with specialist gear or by mounting a standard 'MiFi' unit somewhere high up and unscreened, such as in the loft.
Whilst my friends finally got the luxury of broadband through moving to town the mobile coverage eventually improved - the last time I went there they all seemed sitting around with mobiles resting on their knees. There seemed something pinging every other second.

I think when they were stuck with dial-up they only used the connection for email.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 5:00 pm   #17
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

Perhaps some of the last users were shops for the card terminals. Instant now, but at one time it could take quite a while to connect.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 5:18 pm   #18
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

I moved from a Telewest (or maybe it was Virgin by then) cable area with probably 1 Mb/s download speeds to a dial-up only area in 2002. I think I had to suffer 30-50 kb/s until 2007 when I moved to my present house and could get 30Mb/s (300 now if I wanted it).
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 5:34 pm   #19
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AC/HL View Post
Perhaps some of the last users were shops for the card terminals. Instant now, but at one time it could take quite a while to connect.
I think there was some arcane security reason why credit card readers couldn't use the public internet and had to initiate a dialup connection for each transaction. Lots of organisations didn't trust the internet to provide a secure connection, not for any rational reason but because they didn't understand the technology and didn't want to be blamed if something went wrong.
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Old 31st Aug 2020, 5:42 pm   #20
electronicskip
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Default Re: Does anyone still use a dialup internet connection?

Looks like this lot still offer a dialup service in uk. Nippy Internet.

http://www.nippyinternet.co.uk/
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