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Recession Gives Dial-Up A Brief Reprieve
At least according to the Associated Press
Many American consumers struggling to make ends meet during the recession may breathe new (albeit temporary) life into the dial-up industry, proclaims the Associated Press. Leading the charge on this front is Earthlink, who recently dropped the price of dial-up down to $7.95 per month, which undercut most carriers by about $2 (for whatever good it will do them). A recent survey found that 35% of dial-up users (2% of all adults) want the price of broadband to drop before signing up for service. 19% of dial-up users say they'll never switch, while 13% of dial-up users say they don't switch because they can't get access to broadband.
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knightmb
Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN

knightmb

Member

Wireless ISP has benefited too

I've seen an increase in business as well. People find out that paying $50+ a month for fast web/e-mail isn't really worth it when $10 can get you nearly the same thing for less hassle.

POB
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium Member
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA

POB

Premium Member

Re: Wireless ISP has benefited too

said by knightmb:

I've seen an increase in business as well. People find out that paying $50+ a month for fast web/e-mail isn't really worth it when $10 can get you nearly the same thing for less hassle.
And NO network management traffic shaping caps/throttling/priority packetizing.

Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same. Back in dial up heyday, you were charged for every minute you were connected. Now the providers want to charge by the byte using flawed/unproven/secret measuring devices.

knightmb
Everybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN

knightmb

Member

Re: Wireless ISP has benefited too

said by POB:
said by knightmb:

I've seen an increase in business as well. People find out that paying $50+ a month for fast web/e-mail isn't really worth it when $10 can get you nearly the same thing for less hassle.
And NO network management traffic shaping caps/throttling/priority packetizing.

Funny how the more things change the more they stay the same. Back in dial up heyday, you were charged for every minute you were connected. Now the providers want to charge by the byte using flawed/unproven/secret measuring devices.
You're 100% right, even says so in our FAQ, good reading
About the only thing it does do is try to stay optimized to provide the fastest speed possible to everyone that uses it.
me1212
join:2008-11-20
Lees Summit, MO

me1212

Member

did any one NOT see this comming?

I knew this would happen, granted for some goig to dail-up with POTS may be more expencive that DSL and VoIP. It would be here.

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Nice Price

We left Earthlink a few months back for Copper.net as we were paying $20/month with Earthlink while Copper wanted $4.95/month and had excellent customer satisfaction ratings.

Nice to see the prices coming down for everyone.

Derrick344

Anon

Re: Nice Price

$4.95 for Copper.net? Must have been a promotion because it says $9.95 on their website. Terms of service says:

"User agrees to have their online session automatically terminated after fifteen (15) minutes of consecutive inactivity. Inactivity is defined as less than 500 bytes of data transferred between User"s modem and the Copper.net Service.
User agrees to have an online session automatically terminated after four (4) hours of consecutive time, regardless of data transferred during such specific online session."

»www.copper.net/Support/FAQ.aspx

In the *dark ages*, when I used dial-up, my last provider was frys.com for $5.99. Their policy is and I know this is true:

"With Fry's Basic service, you get unlimited Internet access, one email account, free 24/7 tech support and free webmail access to your email. What you don't get is ISP generated timeouts, disconnects or advertisements."

»www.frys.com/isp/ispfaq.html

jmn1207
Premium Member
join:2000-07-19
Sterling, VA

jmn1207

Premium Member

Re: Nice Price

said by Derrick344 :

$4.95 for Copper.net? Must have been a promotion because it says $9.95 on their website.
Yes, every new customer gets 6 months at 50% off. I haven't bothered to look at the bill lately, but it must be at $10 now.

I suppose after 4 hours you have to wait one minute and then log in again. There is also a maximum monthly limit of 200 hours, or about 6 hours a day.

I've been very happy with their service, the support is top-notch, and they don't have a bunch of useless bells and whistles that piggybacked my Earthlink dial-up account. Simple and reliable.

Earthlink is still pitching $9.95/mo for the first 3 months then $21.95/mo after on their website.

dslwanter
20 years on this site
Premium Member
join:2002-12-16
Mineral Ridge, OH
·Armstrong
Ubiquiti UniFi AP-LR
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter X SFP

dslwanter

Premium Member

Dial-up lives

Dial-up will live if it can continue to get cheaper, especially in our economy. The price for basic DSL for instance from AT&T with phone service is $14.95. Now back in my AOL ($21.95) days, I would say that's a pretty good deal. But if Dial-up can fall even further, let's say to maybe $4 from Earthlink's nearly $8 a month, I suspect a big revive.

baineschile
2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI

baineschile

Premium Member

Number Crunching

35%, 19%, 13%....thats 57%. What do the other 43% have to say?
phantom6294
join:2002-02-27
Abingdon, MD

2 recommendations

phantom6294

Member

Re: Number Crunching

said by baineschile:

35%, 19%, 13%....thats 57%. What do the other 43% have to say?
They thought they already had broadband access 'cause they were connecting at 56k speeds instead of 28.8.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: Number Crunching

They already have "HiSpeed Dialup" which is broadband (200kbitps), "So fast, you wouldn't know its dialup".

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Paying for a POTS line as well

If you're using dialup, aren't you paying for an expensive POTS line as well?

I guess if you're going to keep your POTS line anyway it would make sense, but I dropped the POTS line I had to save money and I use voip to make calls.

chif
@sbcglobal.net

chif

Anon

$5 dial-up

I had $5 internet from All2ez before I switched to DSL.

I would've moved to DSL sooner if I had to pay any more than $5 for 56k.

back2u
@henkels.com

back2u

Anon

RE

The other 47% are still dialing in!

Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23

Fox McCloud

Member

The fallacy here is....

first of, let's assume for a moment that Dial-up is $5 a month....ok...most of the basic phone service out there, after tax, costs you $30-$33 a month...now add on $5 to that.

That's $35-38 a month....are you really saving that much? One could (if it's available, that is) get the lowest tiered dry DSL package and the cheapest VoIP plan and it'd likely be cheaper than that $30-$38, and you'd have way faster speeds to boot.

IMHO the only reason it's doing well is because people aren't looking at the big picture on the cost of dial-up here.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Re: The fallacy here is....

Naked DSL isn't widely available, yet. The real reason people probably don't try naked DSL and VoIP is that they are to technophobic to do it.

Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23

Fox McCloud

Member

Re: The fallacy here is....

of course, I realize that, and for those who don't have access to naked DSL or unbundled cable, dial-up really could save people some money...but those that do (especially lower speed cable) and still retreat into the dial-up hole...well, I don't get those people.
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Austin, TX

iansltx to battleop

Member

to battleop
Naked DSL here starts at $40 per month plus taxes and fees.

Naked cable is $35, though with basic cable you can get it for $25.

Also, if you're on a really low-end landline plan you can get service for around $22 per month. LD might bring it up to $30 if you don't talk tons and shop around. Throw in LifeLine, which kills about $18 per month and you're looking at a compelling reason to keep POTS+dialup.

Also, you just can't do VoIP over an unreliable connection, namely some WiSPs and all sat systems.

Ben
Premium Member
join:2007-06-17
Fort Worth, TX

Ben to battleop

Premium Member

to battleop
said by battleop:

Naked DSL isn't widely available, yet. The real reason people probably don't try naked DSL and VoIP is that they are to technophobic to do it.
One reason why some folks maintain the landline is not because of technophobia. I'm hardly technophobic, but I use a landline anyway for good reason.

A) It's highly reliable; the most reliable utility I've ever had.

B) Due to line power, it will continue to function even if I lose power. Very useful if I need to complain to the power company.

C) If my cable goes out, dial-up really is better than nothing at all. For that I use dialup.cc/Wirestar. $8/mo. for Unlimited.

I've considered downgrading the landline to Local + CID + Call Forwarding, and using VOIP for LD, but I'm worried about the reliability.

I've played around with VOIP a little bit, and I know a lot about it, but I've never used it extensively.

BIGMIKE
Q
Premium Member
join:2002-06-07
Gainesville, FL

BIGMIKE to Fox McCloud

Premium Member

to Fox McCloud
said by Fox McCloud:

first of, let's assume for a moment that Dial-up is $5 a month....ok...most of the basic phone service out there, after tax, costs you $30-$33 a month...now add on $5 to that.

That's $35-38 a month....are you really saving that much? One could (if it's available, that is) get the lowest tiered dry DSL package and the cheapest VoIP plan and it'd likely be cheaper than that $30-$38, and you'd have way faster speeds to boot.

IMHO the only reason it's doing well is because people aren't looking at the big picture on the cost of dial-up here.
you beat me to it.

Scatcatpdx
Fur It Up
join:2007-06-22
Portland, OR

Scatcatpdx to Fox McCloud

Member

to Fox McCloud
The big problem is you are not look at the big picture. The cost of DSL plus VOIP is higher the same land line plus dial up. With DSL or cable one still faces a bill of $40.00 to $50.00 for the Internet alone, then add VOIP to that.

Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23

1 edit

Fox McCloud

Member

Re: The fallacy here is....

said by Scatcatpdx:

The big problem is you are not look at the big picture. The cost of DSL plus VOIP is higher the same land line plus dial up. With DSL or cable one still faces a bill of $40.00 to $50.00 for the Internet alone, then add VOIP to that.
not necessarily. Depends on the who the DSL and Cable provider is, and it depends on which VoIP company you go with as well

edit: and those who have a Grand Central number, a PC dialer, and an ATA device ($50-$60), and are willing to put up with a couple tiny quirks...well, you can pretty much completely eliminate VoIP charges.:)

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

dial-up? why not can-tenna?

The idea of dial-up is so very painful. I'd rather fashion a pringles cantenna and steal wireless from my neighbors.

POB
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium Member
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA

POB

Premium Member

Re: dial-up? why not can-tenna?

said by morbo:

The idea of dial-up is so very painful. I'd rather fashion a pringles cantenna and steal wireless from my neighbors.
Heh. Good one, morbo. Old skool wifi jacking.
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: dial-up? why not can-tenna?

Now lets begin a thread about the world biggest organic ISP called "Linksys".

AlexNYC
join:2001-06-02
Edwards, CO

AlexNYC

Member

This is silly.

This is silly. Most broadband ISP's have economy tiers for $15 - $25 per month ... saving $17 a month at best, is not really worth the dial-up hassle.

hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium Member
join:2005-06-29
Florence, SC

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

Re: This is silly.

but to get that price they really want you to bundle to get the savings if not they jack it up.
rid0617
join:2003-07-20
Greer, SC

rid0617 to AlexNYC

Member

to AlexNYC
It is if you need that $17 to pay towards a utility. My case it would pay my water bill
wvcaver
Premium Member
join:2005-04-17
Millersburg, OH

wvcaver

Premium Member

Whats dial up ?

??

wwefan91
@sdfree.net

wwefan91

Anon

I've been on dial up for a while!

I currently live in La and use socalfree.net It is literally free. I've been using them for more than a year and its been great. I've try netzero but wasn't worth it since the speed was pretty much the same as socalfree. I'll pretty much continue using socalfree as long as they are free to use.

EveryName
Premium Member
join:2001-12-05
Montreal

EveryName

Premium Member

Basic POTS line in most of Canada is $14.95

So if you can pay $14.95 a month (bundled) or $19.95 a month (unbundled) + the $5 for dialup, you really would be saving some money, if you need a phone line.

Although you can get 500kbps from the same company (albeit with a 1GB/month limit) for $14.95 a month as well.

»www.bell.ca

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

Dial up sucks

I am one of those people that cant switch because I dont get anything out here other then dial up . I hope that broadband stimulus plan does something for me.

Sinister Joe
@metrocast.net

Sinister Joe

Anon

Cable is missing out...

A $10 or $15 "dial up replacement" might not make any real money but it's a foot in the door for upgraded service(s) In this economy I think it's a big mistake for the cable industry to be focusing on these expensive all-you-can-eat VIP packages for $100+ month. A very basic minimal TV + local phone + slow broadband for $60/month would be a great way to expand their customer base.