Adam wrote:
My parents are running into ongoing problems (residential only) both with their computer system and their ISP. I can handle the system part, but they're also interested in a new ISP -- a _reliable_ one. I'm hoping you guys are familiar with what services are available locally, and what works (or doesn't), and would be willing to offer some suggestions. My parents currently have NetZero dialup, solely because it was cheap, but lately they've been unable to connect very often -- and I've finally been able to persuade them that spending a little more could get them better access. Not necessarily dialup, they'll consider anything.
Thanks VERY much, everybody, for all your thoughtful comments and recommendations! I visited my parents today, and it took me about fifteen minutes to solve their immediate problem of not being able to get online at all. (It turned out to be the phone numbers in NetZero's dialer program. NetZero requires their custom version of IE.) They still want a newer computer and a faster ISP, but the need isn't as urgent. I asked them to look into whether DSL and FIOS were available there, and about the cable ISPs, and will pass all your suggestions on to them. Although I'm pretty sure they'll go with whatever I may recommend, though. I can't be the only one here who's expected to be informal tech support for relatives and neighbors. :-)
A few specific points were mentioned that I'd like to reply to. I don't think the local Starbucks' free wi-fi would be quite enough, as they need to check financial info and email a few times a day. I think dialup would be adequate for most of what they do, but faster would certainly better (as would not tying up the phone line) -- some of those updates take quite a few hours at dialup speed.
I don't know about BestWeb nowadays, but I used their dialup service from 1999 to 2007. At first it was good, but as time went on it got considerably worse. By the end, they were dropping the dialup connection about every five minutes, and swore it wasn't their fault -- but strangely enough, after each complaint to them, things would be better for a while.
BTW NetZero offers a genuinely free dialup account (max. 10 hours/month) -- I figure it never hurts to have a backup method of getting online. I wrote up how to use it with Linux and put it on the LUG's Wiki but I think that disappeared at the last migration. Therefore, for the next few weeks I'll have their free (gratis) software, which their site doesn't seem to offer anymore, at http://mysite.verizon.net/adam707/netzero.deb and my instructions at http://mysite.verizon.net/adam707/netzero.txt -- would there be interest in putting these on the LUG website? Of course this also requires a working dialup modem.
Thanks again, everybody! Adam _______________________________________________ Mid-Hudson Valley Linux Users Group http://mhvlug.org http://mhvlug.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mhvlug Upcoming Meetings (6pm - 8pm) MHVLS Auditorium Mar 2 - MHVLUG 8th Anniversary - Show and Tell Apr 6 - Introduction to IPv6 May 4 - Inkscape
