Having Internet service in the home is becoming more necessary than ever before, but proves difficult for many rural and low income families. Dial-up internet may be your sole solution to get that much needed Internet service. Whether you’re preparing to connect for the first time, or connecting in a new home, some preparation is necessary to ensure that you will be able to use dial-up. You may want to cover all these checkpoints before signing up with the ISP.

1. Your phone line. You must have an analog landline telephone service to have a dial-up connection—not just a phone jack, or a digital VoIP phone, or even a cable-provisioned phone. Dial-up modems will not connect if they do not detect an analog dial-tone. Your cell phone may have a dial-up modem that can be used with dial-up. Check with your phone provider if you are not sure of these details.

2. Your dial-up modem. Most computers have dial-up modems already included, but some computers are now available without dial-up modems. For your desktop computer, check your tower for a phone port (laptops would have a phone jack along the back or sides). It should look just like the phone jack in the wall and may be labeled with the picture of a phone jack or the word “line”. The dial-up modem phone port is not the same as the Ethernet port, which is slightly larger and used for broadband cables. If you don't have the phone port, you don't have a modem. You will have to buy an external modem, with you can usually find online or in a computer or department store.

3. Your dial-up features. You need to have call waiting on your phone service if you want to be notified of incoming calls while you are online. You also need a V.92 modem—the latest standard for dial-up modems. Caller ID is not necessary, but beneficial if you want to determine if it is worth disconnecting from the Internet to take the call. To check what type of modem you have on your computer, check the phone and modem options on your control panel, refer to the computer/modem manual, or check with a local technician. All new modems come with the V.92 features.

4. Your access numbers. Check with your potential ISP for an access number for your area. Ask for several numbers if they have them and call your phone company to verify that these numbers will not incur any charges on your phone bill. Even if you have unlimited long distance, you should try to obtain the nearest number possible to keep a better connection. Your long distance phone company may have a policy for using data transfer numbers excessively, so check with them anyway.

5. Your total expenses. There are variety of ISP’s available to choose from, so do a little research. Do they have contracts or hidden fees? What are the payment methods? What do the plans and prices cover, and do the prices change over time? While a cheap price is appealing, you don't want to sacrifice quality. However, be on guard for additional “features” that are not worth the extra cost. Clarify the signup, billing, and cancellation procedure to avoid unseen fees and complications. Is there a satisfaction guarantee? There are many ISP’s wanting your business and offering great prices. Once you have chosen your ISP, look for a first time customer discount and save more money!

Now that you are prepared for dial-up Internet, you can connect quickly and avoid some “first-timer” complications.

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Written by Hannah Miller, Online Marketing Representative and Customer Service, Copper.net.

Copper.net is a nationwide Internet services provider that is all-American owned and operated. Call today, 1-800-336-3318 or sign up online at www.copper.net! Check out my blog for more articles! 

Dial-up Internet is a narrowband Internet connection that figuratively downloads information at 56 kbps (kilobits per second). That's 56 bits, or 7 bytes of data per second that can be downloaded to your computer from the Internet, whether it's email, websites, or files.

If you use dial-up, you may have noticed that you are not connecting to the Internet at 56 kbps or 56000 bps. Or perhaps you've noticed that your downloads are slower then 7 bytes per second. Who's fault is it? The ISP? Although many people choose them as the first to blame, the ISP is minimally responsible for your connection speed.

In order to understand Internet connection speeds, here is a basic overview of how dial up works:

1. You click connect on your computer to initiate a dial-up connection.
2. Your dial-up modem places a call on your telephone lines to another modem on your ISP's end.
3. The two modems then send and receive test packets of information and agree on the optimal connection speed that they can send without losing or jumbling the information (hence, the screeching sounds).
4. The connection and speed is established, allowing you to send and receive information, that is, webpages, email, etc.

The dial-up modem itself can receive information at 56 kilobits per second, but since it's using the telephone lines, several limitations apply. The connection speed, then, is the highest speed possible to send and receive packets of data based on the type of modem you have, the amount of inhibiting line noise or static is on the line, and the distance between your modem and the telephone company's central office. With these factors in play, few dial-up users are physically capable of a connection speed much higher than 48-50 kbps.

Furthermore, the FCC has limited the maximum download speed to no more than 53.3 kilobits per second. This was to prevent “cross-talk”, where the activity of the dial up connection would run over into other lines and be heard on nearby telephone conversations. In the most ideal situation, you would live next door to the telephone company, and have brand new lines and modem. Your connection speed would most likely be 51-53 kbps.

Since dial-up modems have to hear analog signals over your phone line to send and receive information, one of the biggest factors of slow connection speeds and disconnects is the telephone line. Some things can be done, like shortening the distance of the phone cord to the modem and rewiring phone cords in your house. Unfortunately, many rural dial-up customers are often left with little or no solutions. If you live too far from the phone company's central office, you may not be physically capable of getting faster connections. Sometimes phone company cannot afford to replace large sections of phone cords, especially if they are still in usable for phone conversations.

If you notice that you are getting low connection speeds, consider the following:

• Are you using a splitter or a phone cord longer than 5 feet? Try rearranging your computer set up to give your modem the closest access to the phone jack. Most modem ports have a second jack for your telephone so a splitter is not needed.

• Do you often hear static or humming on your home phone? You may need to rewire the lines in your house or the phone company may need to repair wires going to your home.

• Have you recently had inclement weather? Sometimes storms and heavy rain can cause temporary slow connection issues.

• Are you connecting to a local access number? Get several numbers for your area from your ISP, then check with your phone company to make sure the are local. Try several local numbers and see if one connects better than the other.

• Is your modem out of date (and lacking the latest compression technology)? Perhaps you need to buy a new modem or download new drivers for your model from the manufacturer's website.

Keep in mind that there are other ways to improve your download speeds and load webpages faster. You could update to the latest version of your browser, install web accelerators, and eliminate unnecessary processes running on your computer. See a local technician for help and more advice.

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Written by Hannah Miller, Online Marketing Representative and Customer Service, Copper.net.

Copper.net is a nationwide Internet services provider that is all-American owned and operated. Call today, 1-800-336-3318 or sign up online at www.copper.net! Check out my blog for more articles! 

The Internet has increasingly become a necessity for work, entertainment and education, to name a few. Many workplaces have broadband connections and people are switching to broadband at home every day.

While broadband connections are convenient for fast access at home, many people who travel for work, retreat to summer homes, or go on vacations will have to pay for another internet service while they are away, or do without. The latter option is become more difficult as the demands for internet access increase.

There is a simple solution for these situations—dial-up Internet. Although dial-up has lost popularity to it's broadband rivals, it is still useful (and sometimes the only option) for travel and vacation. There are many reasons why:

• Dial-up is quick and easy to set up—just plug in one phone cord and create a dial-up connection on the computer.

• Dial-up is also easily moved, since it works on any land line phone, as long as the username and password is correct.

• There are thousands of access numbers available throughout the US, making dial-up one of the most broadly available Internet services.

If you decide to start using dial-up for travel, you must first choose the best ISP. Many dial-up providers do not have contracts or term commitments, which means you can quickly sign up and then cancel after a vacation or business trip. If you take this option, be sure you understand the cancellation process to avoid a misunderstand or a billing dispute when you get back from vacation.

Some dial-up providers offer a limited hours package for a few dollars or for free. If you travel often, this would be helpful alternative to signing up and canceling multiple times a year. Furthermore, if you keep the service year-round, you will have a back up Internet service you can use at home in the event of an issue with your broadband connection. Having a back-up is convenient and provides a useful troubleshooting tool. If you take this option, ask your ISP what the consequence would be if you go over your limited number of hours per month. Some companies will not allow you to connect after your limit, and others will charge heavy fees for usage over that limit.

Another important factor to consider is the access numbers. If you need dial-up for your vacation home or travel frequently to one or several locations, you can ask your ISP how many access numbers they have for that area. You must also check with the phone company where you will be using the dial-up to be sure the access number(s) will be local. Your ISP has no way of guaranteeing this for you, so be careful not to run up your phone bill because you forgot to check the access number.

Once you find the company that suits your needs, and you understand your terms of service and availability, you will have a stress-free, reliable, and convenient Internet connection away from home without paying a fortune for two services. You won't have to worry about missing an important news event or email while on vacation again!

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Written by Hannah Miller, Online Marketing Representative and Customer Service, Copper.net.

Copper.net is a nationwide Internet services provider that is all-American owned and operated. Call today, 1-800-336-3318 or sign up online at www.copper.net! Check out my blog for more articles!