Internet Service Provider

Hi. With the star party season upon us, our local astronomy club could
use an internet connection at our facility. I hope someone here could
give a suggestion.

I had my dialup isp on the club computer for years. Last fall, however,
my isp implemented a new security feature. When someone dials from one
telephone, all other phones are locked out for eight hours.

Our dues barely cover expenses, so a new $100/year bill for a dialup
connection is unlikely. Not for what little we would use it. I was
hoping someone else in the club could loan a dialup connection, but I
know only one club member who even has dialup.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated...Dennis

See if someone nearby would let you share their wireless lan. They'd
have to be within 100 yards at most.

Other options are to see if you can share time(/cost) with a generous
user on a real ISP, or find a local ISP that provides real service to
you.

I'm only familiar with AOL on this, but you can have up to 7 (or
more?) different screen names on one billing account. It's just that
only one screen name can be dialed or IPed in at a time. Web mail
remains available (but you need an ISP to get to the web) regardless
of whether another name is logged on.

"Security feature", indeed! Sounds more like a way to cut back their
service to you. I mean, what about folks who might want to use it from
home and work and/or on the road (even if locally, such as a cell
phone connection), and/or from a hobby site (like you)?

"Dennis Allen" wrote:
I had my dialup isp on the club computer for years. Last fall, however,
my isp implemented a new security feature. When someone dials from one
telephone, all other phones are locked out for eight hours.

=============
- Dale Gombert (SkySea at aol.com)
122.38W, 47.58N, W. Seattle, WA
http://flavorj.com/~skysea

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:01:17 -0400, "Dennis Allen"
wrote:

I had my dialup isp on the club computer for years. Last fall, however,
my isp implemented a new security feature. When someone dials from one
telephone, all other phones are locked out for eight hours.

Our dues barely cover expenses, so a new $100/year bill for a dialup
connection is unlikely. Not for what little we would use it. I was
hoping someone else in the club could loan a dialup connection, but I
know only one club member who even has dialup.

If your ISP won't reverse this policy in your case, it is worthless. Why
not just cancel your account, move to a better provider, and continue to
share your access with the club? And if a better ISP costs you $20 or
$30 a year more, maybe the club can subsidize just that amount.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

"Dennis Allen" wrote in
:

Hi. With the star party season upon us, our local astronomy club could
use an internet connection at our facility. I hope someone here could
give a suggestion.

Netscape. $9.95 a month for dialup. You can connect directly to their local
lines using DUN once you have your username and password and avoid the
dialer and the browser toolbar. You never get booted for inactivity if your
DUN options are set correctly.

Couple of miles to the nearest road. Good skies, wireless lan
doubtful...Dennis

"Don't Be Evil" wrote in message
oups.com...
See if someone nearby would let you share their wireless lan. They'd
have to be within 100 yards at most.

For a $10/month dialup, it's been good service. Never had a busy
signal. The speed is slow, but that's the phone companies fault (they
had a short along the main trunk and switched to an old backup line).

"Chris L Peterson" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 21:01:17 -0400, "Dennis Allen"
wrote:

I had my dialup isp on the club computer for years. Last fall,
however,
my isp implemented a new security feature. When someone dials from
one
telephone, all other phones are locked out for eight hours.

Our dues barely cover expenses, so a new $100/year bill for a dialup
connection is unlikely. Not for what little we would use it. I was
hoping someone else in the club could loan a dialup connection, but I
know only one club member who even has dialup.

If your ISP won't reverse this policy in your case, it is worthless.
Why
not just cancel your account, move to a better provider, and continue
to
share your access with the club? And if a better ISP costs you $20 or
$30 a year more, maybe the club can subsidize just that amount.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

I've hesitated switching isp. For a $10/month dialup, I've had good
service. Never a busy signal. Lots of newsgroups (including this one).
The speed is not that great, but that's the fault of the phone company.

Are you using Netscape? Do you like it? Hmm. If Netscape will allow
me to add a startup icon to the club computer, maybe it's time I
switched...Dennis

"elaich" wrote in message ...
"Dennis Allen" wrote in
:

Hi. With the star party season upon us, our local astronomy club
could
use an internet connection at our facility. I hope someone here
could
give a suggestion.

Netscape. $9.95 a month for dialup. You can connect directly to their
local
lines using DUN once you have your username and password and avoid the
dialer and the browser toolbar. You never get booted for inactivity if
your
DUN options are set correctly.

Hello Dennis

$8.25 a month for dialup. http://www.intergate.com/isp/index.shtml
100 email addresses, 100mg of web space, newsgroups. Never a busy signal.

Cathy
Diamond Bell, AZ

"Dennis Allen" wrote in
:

Are you using Netscape? Do you like it? Hmm. If Netscape will allow
me to add a startup icon to the club computer, maybe it's time I
switched...Dennis

I used it for over a year before getting dialup. It's great.