Dial-up

Dial-up access is an inexpensive, slower form of Internet access in which uses a modem connected to the computer and a telephone line to dial a Internet service provider's (ISP) node to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then routed to the Internet. It is currently regarded. by many. as legacy technology given the advent of widely available broadband Internet access in the Western world, though many people (50% in the US?) worldwide still use it. Dial-up will probably still be used in the world for many years to come.

The main advantage of dial-up is that you do not need anything more then a regular telephone line. DSL, cable and other type of internet access requires additional infrastructure. Another advantage with dial-up is that you can usually travel and still use your same dial-up account.

Technical Specifications

Dial-up modems typically have a maximum theoretical speed of 56 kbit/s (using the V.92 protocol), although in most cases only up to 53 kbit/s is possible due to overhead and FCC regulation. These speeds are the maximum possible; in almost all cases transfer speeds will be lower, averaging about 32 kbit/s. Other factors such as line noise further reduce achieved transfer rates. Dial-up connections usually have high latency that can be as high as 200 ms or even more, which can make online gaming or videoconferencing near impossible. Some games, such as Star Wars: Galaxies and The Sims Online are capable of running on 56 K dial-up. Gamers with dial-up connections are often disconnected from game servers due to the "lag", or high latency, of the connection.
If you are a gamer, we obviously recommend broadband.

To avoid incurrent telephone charges always make sure you use a local phone number. Many ISPs offer thousands of dialup numbers, so that in most case you are simply dialing a local number and will not have additional phone charges.

In the last few years many ISP (dial-up providers) offer accelerators (X3 X5....). This is usually a software layer between your PC and the ISPs servers that will compress certain types of data (HTML, images etc...) in general they work very well.

 

List of CCITT standards:

How to select an ISP

Here a list of points that could be important when selecting an ISP:

 

Once a "dialup customer", do not hesitate to switch to another ISP, if you determine that

Best Dial-up: NetZero or PeoplePC ?

Best Dial-up Internet Service Providers (ISPs) Review

All Dial-Up Plans offer 30 Days Money Back (NetZero) or 30 Days Free Trial (PeoplePC)

 

Rank Dial-Up Plan Winning Features More Information
Best Internet Dial-Up

1st Place


NetZero HiSpeed 3G

$9.95/month

  • Fastest Dial-Up Ever!
  • Cheapest
  • Large Email Capacity 2GB!
  • Secure
  • 30 Days Money Back
Best Internet Dial-Up

For more information click here

NetZero HiSpeed 3G offers nearly 4000 access numbers in the United States and Canada. It's the most affordable, fastest dialup available. The HiSpeed 3G Dial-up offering is the best and cheapest dial-up solution on the market today, If you never experienced "3G accelerated dial-up", you've got to try HiSpeed 3G!
       
Cheap Dial-Up PeoplePC Online

2nd Place


PeoplePC
Accelerated

$10.95/month

 
  • Fast
  • Cheap
  • 12000 Access Numbers
  • 30 Days Free Trial

cheap dialup

PeoplePC Accelerated comes in as a close second. Its weak points compared to NetZero are:
- Smaller Email Accounts: NetZero HiSpeed 3G comes with Email accounts 20x larger!
- Their support site and portal are not as user-friendly as NetZero's

The main reason to choose PeoplePC over NetZero, is if you live in a more remote area where the NetZero does not offer a local access number. With 12000 Access Number, PeoplePC is the ISP with the most access points in the United States.

Note: If you do not already run a firewall and a anti-virus software on your computer, you should order: PeoplePC Security Plus

 

 



Dial-up Plans Details

 

  NetZero
HiSpeed 3G
PeoplePC
Accelerated
NetZero
Platinum
PeoplePC
Security Plus
Rank

1st Place

2nd Place

3rd Place

4th Place

Fastest Dial-Up Surfing You Can Get! NetZero Dial-up internet dial-up a little slower then HiSpeed 3G   internet dial-up a little slower then HiSpeed 3G
Pop-up Blocker NetZero Dial-up internet dial-up   internet dial-up
Unlimited Surfing NetZero Dial-up internet dial-up NetZero Platinum internet dial-up
Norton AntiVirus™ Included FREE internet dial-up   $2.95/Month  Internet Security Pack
Email with Spam and Virus Protection NetZero Dial-up internet dial-up NetZero Platinum internet dial-up
Email Storage 2 GB 100 MB (10Mb attachments max.) 1 GB 100 MB (10Mb attachments max.)
Instant Messenger Compatible NetZero Dial-up internet dial-up NetZero Platinum internet dial-up
Internet Calling NetZero Dial-up internet dial-up NetZero Platinum internet dial-up
Personalized StartPage NetZero Dial-up internet dial-up NetZero Platinum internet dial-up
Thousands of Access Numbers NetZero Dial-upAbout 4000 internet dial-up About 12000 NetZero Platinum About 4000 internet dial-up About 12000
30 Day Money Back Guarantee NetZero Dial-up 30 Day Free Trial internet dial-up 30 Day Free Trial
100 Free Minutes Internet Calling per Month NetZero Dial-up      
NO credit card required HiSpeed 3G 6-month plan internet dial-up Platinum 12-month plan internet dial-up
Price per Month with no annual commitment $14.95   $9.95 $15.95 ($7.97/mo. for 3 months)
Price per Month with 12 months commitment $.9.95 $10.95 ($5.47/mo. for 3 months) $6.95 $15.95 ($7.97/mo. for 3 months)


 

Best 4 Dial-up plans on the market

 

Best Internet Dial-up Review
  1. NetZero HiSpeed 3G $9.95/month
    Best value!

     

  2. PeoplePC Accelerated $10.95/month
    If you do not already have a firewall and anti-virus,
    get PeoplePC Security Plus

     

  3. NetZero Platinum $6.95/month (also works with Macs)
    Cheapest Quality Dial-Up

     

  4. PeoplePC Security Plus $15.95/month
    Most Access Numbers in the USA
     


Month to Month NetZero Plans

Month to Month NetZero Plans (First Month Free)


 

 

Dial-up FAQ

Dial-Up Questions & Answers

 

 

The Netzero or PeoplePC Dial-Up Account offers the same Internet Access as other expensive ISPs, such as AOL®($23.90/month), EarthLink($21.95/month) and MSN ($21.95/month) at less than half the cost! Experience fast connections, reliable Internet Service with thousands of access numbers nationwide and other great member benefits such as free email, free instant messaging, and free virus and spam protection.

Service Comparison  NetZeroAOLEarthLinkMSNAT&T1SBC /
Yahoo!
Prices
Monthly Access Cost$9.95$23.90 $21.95$21.95$16.95$15.95
NetZero Saves You-58%54%54%41%37%
Account Features
2-Minute Online DownloadYesNoNoNoNoNo
Answer Phone Calls and Remain Online (V.92)YesNoNoNoNoNo
Personalized E-mail AddressYesYesYesYesYesYes
Web Based E-mailYesYesYesYesYesYes
Content-Rich StartpageYesYesYesYesYesYes

 

Both NetZero and PeoplePC offer free assistance and tools to  makes it easy to move to them and start saving money today! Don't let your current ISP make you feel trapped. Moving is a lot easier than most think. You will save money while enjoying a fast dial-up connection. If you're currently using AOL at $25.90/month switching to NetZero HiSpeed 3G will save you nearly $200/year!

NetZero is the Internet Access division of United Online, a public traded company (NASDAQ: UNTD). It is a member of the S&P SmallCap 600 index and the Russell 2000 index. NetZero has been offering Internet Access since 1998, making it one of the leading ISP in the nation. NetZero is one of the few nationwide Internet Service Provider. As of March 2006, United Online has 60 million registered accounts.

Best Internet Dial-up Review

PeoplePC Online, an EarthLink company (NASDAQ: ELNK), is a leading provider of high-quality, value-priced Internet service through its PeoplePC Online brand. Earthlink is one of those older dialup firms (like AOL) that could not afford to lower the prices for their millions of customers, so they offer cheaper prices for the same service to new customers who sign-up with PeoplePC brand.

Accelerated Dial-Up speeds up your Web surfing using your existing phone jack and modem and gives you the fastest web surfing you can get without the high cost of broadband. Basically when using an Accelerator the data on your dial-up connection is compressed. Most web pages and images are full of "empty spaces". Using compression techniques, Accelerators can reduce the size of most web pages by 5 or more. Since the web page is now 5 times smaller it will load 5 times faster. It's that simple!

What is accelerated   What is not accelerated
Web pages - HTML markup and JavaScript
 
Graphics including JPEG and GIF images
 
Text
 
Email
including POP3 and Email on the Web.
  Streaming media, audio and video files
 
Secure pages, such as those used for online banking and credit card forms
 
Files and attachments such as music or digital photos

 

Both Accelerated and Broadband will save you time by letting you surf the Web much faster than standard dial-up. But, unlike broadband, with Accelerated Dial-Up you don't need to install or pay for additional equipment like modems or routers. Simply download the Accelerator software from NetZero or PeoplePC and within minutes you will have the fastest web surfing you can get without the high price of broadband.

NetZero was originally designed for the PC Windows environment, but different versions are now available for other operating systems. If you have an IBM PC compatible machine, you can use NetZero with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP/VISTA.
We also support a Linspire (Linux) version of NetZero. If you are running a Macintosh with OS 9 or OS X, you will also be able to run NetZero.

Most simply resell internet access from wholesale dialup providers. Those companies in turn negotiate access numbers with the companies that really own the equipment and network. Sometimes you end-up using the older un-reliable access points the larger ISPs are willing to offer at a discount. Because of all these intermediaries involved, you are likely to experience problems (merges, bankruptcy, communications problems ...etc..). Those problems happen all the time, who needs to deal with that?!
 

Best 4 Dial-up plans on the market

  1. NetZero HiSpeed 3G $9.95/month
    Best value!

     

  2. PeoplePC Accelerated $10.95/month
    If you do not already have a firewall and anti-virus,
    get PeoplePC Security Plus

     

  3. NetZero Platinum $6.95/month (also works with Macs)
    Cheapest Quality Dial-Up

     

  4. PeoplePC Security Plus $15.95/month
    Most Access Numbers in the USA
     

Cheap Quality Dial-up Review

 

 

Free Dial-up providers: Free ISP

Free Dial-Up Provider

Free Internet Access

Free Dial-Up Free Dial-Up

It takes less than 2 minutes!

Not a Trial, a 100% FREE Dial-Up.
 



100% Free Dial-Up Features

Totally Free Dial-Up Surf the Internet Absolutely Free free internet dial-up   Free Dial Up Free 1 GB Email Account
free internet dial-up Reliable Connections   Free Internet Access Email Web Access From Anywhere
100% Free Dial Up Thousands of US Access Numbers   Free Dial-Up Instant messaging
Free Internet Access Millions of Users Nationwide   Free Internet Access Spam & Email Virus Protection
Free Dial-Up No Credit Card Required   free internet dial-up Totally Free
Free Dial-Up Fast, Easy Sign-Up & Installation   free internet dial-up Downloads in 2 minutes

Not a Trial, a 100% FREE Internet Access!
 
Free Dial-Up Click Here To Get NetZero Dial-Up 100% FREE Now! Free Dial-Up


 


FREE Dial-Up Questions & Answers


Our 100% Free Dial-Up Account offers the same Internet Access as other expensive ISPs, such as AOL®, EarthLink and MSN. Now you can get NetZero 100% FREE! Experience fast connections, reliable Internet Service with thousands of access numbers nationwide and other great member benefits such as free email, free instant messaging, and free virus and spam protection.

NetZero is the Internet Access division of United Online, a public traded company (NASDAQ ticker UNTD). It is a member of the S&P SmallCap 600 index and the Russell 2000 index. NetZero has been offering Internet Access since 1998, making it one of the leading ISP in the nation. NetZero is the only nationwide FREE ISP. As of March 2006, United Online has 60 million registered accounts.
 

Free Internet Dial-Up  Get FREE Internet Access with FREE Email Now! Free Internet Dial-Up

Our FREE Dial-Up has thousands of Access Numbers nationwide to make it easy for you to get online with fewer busy signals and disconnects. NetZero allows you to access the Web at dial-up speeds of up to 56 Kbps (the fastest dial-up internet connection available)! All Internet Access Numbers are capable of 56K connections. Additionally, most of our access numbers support V.90. Want to see how fast our internet connections are? Get our 100% FREE Internet Service Now!

100% Free Internet Dial Up

Absolutely! When you get our 100% Free Internet Access, you also receive a Free Email address with up to 1 GB of storage. That’s plenty of room for you to receive, store, file and organize thousands of emails. Plus, with the Message Center you can check your email account from any computer with Internet Access in the World. Additionally you can set up multiple free email addresses for the many members in your home. Even if you are not interested in using our FREE Dial-Up, you can still use your FREE Email accounts via our internet browser based Message Center. Get our 100% FREE Email Service Now!

While there were dozens in the late 90s, today FREE Dial-Up Service has virtually disappeared. In fact, today AOL Dial-up charges $24.95/month like most large ISPs! This leaves the NetZero 100% FREE Internet Service offer standing alone. The good news is that NetZero still offers absolutely free Dial-Up Internet Service. It's real easy to sign-up (no credit card required) download the software and you can be surfing the web 100% FREE. All it takes is about 2 minutes. Try it NetZero Free Dial-Up today!

100% Free Internet Access

Free Internet Dial-Up Free Internet Dial-Up

It takes less than 2 minutes!


 

 

If you know any other 100% Free Internet Dial-Up offer, please post a comment or send us an email. Thanks!