Internet Service Providers in USA

[courto]

My brother will be in the USA for about 6 months and he will be moving around quite a bit. What are his best options for internet access while he is there?
He has a laptop to use for dial up for access.

[K A Hall]

If he is going to be moving around from state to state, he will need a national ISP. Earthlink, or MSN is has lots of local access numbers. Of course there is AOL but I do not recommend it.

[bailey]

I agree with that one.
do not use aol.

[azscary]

Earthlink has more local POP's than any other provider in the USA.

[courto]

Thanks guys, and yes I was hoping to find some alternatives to AOL, hence the reason for posting the question. I will pass the information on to my brother and let him work it out from there.

[Edave]

My father-in-law uses Earthlink,and loves it.I was messin around on his puter,and it ran really nice.53.333 connection and he is WAY out in the boonies.Then again my Grandfather uses AOL,and I wont even get close to his puter

[Mr N8]

Another vote for earthlink. they have great service, and access numbers all over the country.

n8

[glc]

Definitely Earthlink. It's the only one of the Big 3 (AOL, MSN, Earthlink) that does NOT require you to install their crap software to get connected - standard DUN setup works like a champ. Make sure his laptop is compatible with our 115 volt 60Hz AC power - and that his modem is compatible with our phone system!

They publish their entire list of access numbers on their public website - you can search them without having to be a customer.

Their rate is $21.95 a month unlimited - and you CAN find signup deals from time to time - I was able to get my first 60 days for $1.

[courto]

Thanks glc, power supply accepts input voltages from 110 to 240 volts. I think the modem should be ok, I expect it will just need the correct driver?
Earthlink definitely sounds like the way to go.

[azscary]

I work for Earthlink, and they will TRY to get you to use their software too. Branding and advertising links inside the software creates added revenue. However glc is correct that it IS NOT REQUIRED to use their access. The last special I saw on the web site was $21.95 a month unlimited use, 7 cents a minute Sprint long distance with a monthly credit for the Sprint monthly fee of $5.95, 8 e-mail boxes, 10MB of web space FOR EACH MAIL BOX and 24/7 Tech Support.

As glc said, Earthlink is the only large ISP that uses DUN and TCP/IP that comes as part of every OS. All the others use their crappy software to perform the DUN and TCP/IP functions. Why reinvent the wheel?

[DaGooseman]

Here's another vote for Earthlink (this coming from an AOL user. One of these days I'll get some brains and dump AOL)

[glc]

AZ - there used to be a link on findanisp.com to get 60 days for a buck - I dont know if it's still there, and it was kinda hard to find.

Courto - the modem may or may not be compatible, you need to find out - but worst case he will have to buy a cheap card modem here.

[huck]

Anyone looking for an isp should go to the site Freedomlist.com. Not only do they list low cost isp's but they also review them. Many are listed under $10.00. Find one that seems interesting then go to its site and check their local numbers....If you look before you sign up with a higher priced national company....you might find that you do not need one. I am paying $9.99 for my isp and have had no problems with it. Hope this helps....

[doctorgonzo]

I used to have Earthlink as well for a short while, and it seemed to be fine. Now I use an ISP that costs half as much. However, if you need to use something while moving around, your best bet is probably Earthlink.

[systempat]

My vote would be for ATT Worldnet.
Their 16.95 deal works for me. Once you have their software loaded changing access phones numbers is simple, just have to look it up on the settings table.