Does anybody remember FREE dial up internet ?

MouldyOldDough

brewerdave said:

I think I can remember  a "free" internet service in the mid 90s, from xstream on an original 14400 bps modem installed in my Win95 PC - NOT sure whether the phone number it dialled was free or 1p/min - long time ago !!!

I started in 1994 with a 9.6kbps modem - that I believe used to connect at less than 7kbps !

And I am sure that, somehow - it was totally free for a certain length of time per week rather than data amount 

I cannot remember which ISP I started with - but had accounts with Freeserve amongst many others

libra10

We were subscribed to Libranet.  You couldn't log on until 6pm, then everyone was trying at once and it took ages to connect.

Those were the days.

forgotmyname

libra10 said:

We were subscribed to Libranet.  You couldn't log on until 6pm, then everyone was trying at once and it took ages to connect.

Those were the days.

I remember being number 300+ in the tech support queue when AOL was at it's peak.

And yes on 56k 20mb per hour was close the max depending on any slow downs during the download. They had a phase
where you got disconnected every hour and downloading a file you prayed it worked or allowed the download to resume
which often they would not so you had to be ready to start the download as soon as you logged in.

Shadyocuk

The first totaly free dial up internet I remember was from NTL cant remember the exact dates but guess late 1999 early 2000's , I remember it auto disconected every 60 mins , but you could set it to auto redial.

Then not long after NTL offered cable modems with 256 or 512Kbs 24/7 connection with no limits which back then seemed unreal , when gaming online (star craft and Command and conquer mainly) all you had to do was make sure your opponent could not kill you off within the hour as then their dial up would disconnect!!

J_B

I got 19/20!

Sorry - *Never* done ... just one!

HillStreetBlues

1, never rented a film from Blockbusters, but rented elsewhere, think it was about a woman doing something in a US City.

Farway

18/20

Never used Walkman or Boom box

May I sub? Used Log book and slide rule for maths 

MouldyOldDough

Farway said:

18/20

Never used Walkman or Boom box

May I sub? Used Log book and slide rule for maths 

Sines, Cosines & Tangents as well........and their Arc- equivalents too 

Natural and "base 10" logs - I was pleased when calculators were affordable in about 1976 !

matelodave

never had a boombox but did everything else but, like HSB, used a different video rental outlet as Blockbuster never made it to our rural outpost.

Like others had mathematical tables and a "guessing stick" (slide rule, which I still possess, just in case the calculator gives out)

We even had a dial up modem where you fitted the phone handset into rubber cups on the modem.

Anyone remember CEEFAX and running it on a BBC microcomputer

gefnew

listen to this from toast radio 4.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002d1bv