Low Cost Dial up Internet Wanted for Parents

joebloggs09

HI All

Looking to sort out an internet connection for my parents as I am not sure how they will take to it, just wanted to start on a none contact low cost dial up one , only problem they have virgin media for their phone not sure if this will make any odds.

Also would prefer the internet not to take up the phone line if possible so they can still take incoming calls.

Many Thanks as Always:)

steve1980

If they're on VM then just get broadband with them. Not sure you can even get dial up anymore. Alternatively get a PAYG dongle.

2010

http://www.free-dialup.net/?gclid=CKbH4b-vl6cCFUEOfAodWWWlcQ

This is a no contract dial-up service where you just pay by the minute.
Weekend calls between midnight Friday and midnight Monday 1 pence per minute.
Charges are higher outside these times.
Of course you would need to check with VM how much they charge for a 0844 number, it may NOT be 1p a minute.

Dial-up is absolutely CRAP and it would block their phone when in use.
As suggested I would investigate VM broadband, it may not be much dearer than what they pay for their phone.

macman

If they are on VM cable service (as opposed to Virgin National ADSL service) then taking VM broadband is the only option-you can't get any broadband/phone service other than VM on a cable line.
Broadband is now cheaper than dial up anyway in most cases.

loztiggy

Be careful that they understand how to disconnect the dial up, incase they leave it running, and run up a huge bill as well as not being able to call out should they need to get help!

McKneff

And I presume if they are on the internet on dial up then it blocks the telephone for incoming calls?
Long time since i used dial up

alanjuk

McKneff wrote: »

And I presume if they are on the internet on dial up then it blocks the telephone for incoming calls?
Long time since i used dial up

Yes it will, also most websites these days are designed for fast connections, so I think that you would find dial up extremely frustrating as the pages would take forever to load.

Hannibanal

Sites like this, MSE, eBay, BBC, with masses of content, are horrendously slow on dialup, and no Skype no iPlayer ...
unlikely you would be saving anything, if at all,
and remember the old problem of rogue diallers with 200 pound phone bills, dialling premium rate numbers?

and yes, it does tie up the phone line!

Nah, forget it, take one of the reasonably cheap bb deals being offered

laurel7172

Yes-if you want to use dial up *and* the phone, you need two lines and to pay two lots of line rental...(I remember it well).

Virgin broadband, added to their phone bill, would cost about the same as a second line, cover the dial-up charges too (Half an hour a day at 1p/min is getting on for another tenner a month) and be much, much faster. Modern web pages are designed for broadband-you don't want them to give up in frustration because it's so slow.

2010

McKneff wrote: »

And I presume if they are on the internet on dial up then it blocks the telephone for incoming calls?
Long time since i used dial up

Ah, dial-up.

Brings back (un)happy memories when trying to connect to Fast4 a few years back.

A few of us downloaded auto dialers where you could set it to keep dialing the connection number until you got connected to F4`s service.

The service in those days was so crap, that you could set your dialer, get ready and go out to the supermarket and do your weekly shop, and hopefully when you got back you may have got connected by then.

Happy days.
I wonder if any of the old F4 gang are still on these boards.

BarGin

Assuming they will be light users and you have good reception on the 3 mobile network in your area, I would get:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ZTE-MF627-Mobile-Broadband-Modem-Dongle-3-Network-/280632696017?pt=UK_Computing_LaptopAccessories_PCMCIACards&hash=item4157031cd1

and one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-THREE-MOBILE-BROADBAND-PRELOADED-SIM-CARD-3GB-DATA-/250756843987?pt=UK_Mobile_Home_Phones_Sim_Cards_CV&hash=item3a6245c9d3

The sim will last up to 3 months and when it is exhausted, throw it away and get another.

I am not endorsing either of the sellers - there are plenty of others with similar items.