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[oldfogy]

Has anyone got a suggestions for a Dial-up ISP (but NOT AOL)
This is for someone who is just starting so a dial-up will be fine before committing to a contract.

I was going to suggest Supanet, but for the last few days I have been unable to check even my own email from the site, (this was my first ever account from 15 years ago and I still use their email service).

I have a Tiscali disc, would this be of any use?

[UncleUB]

It should be OF,I was with Tiscali dial-up 18 months ago before I finally took the plunge into BB.I had one of their disc's which I used to install and configure their dial-up product without any problems.

[oldfogy]

Thanks UB.
I'll go and check-out their homepage.

Although I was just playing around and managed to get into Supanet, quite strange really because at the same time as accepting a (accept or reject) notice a couple of "new" icons I placed on my desktop also just changed (for the better) and email was also downloaded from Supanet.

[roseway]

You can get anonymous dial up (i.e. no registration, just use it). One example is

020 81149845
Use anything for username and password

I don't know what the calls cost though.

[Edit] A better option might be http://www.free-dialup.net/?gclid=CKOV7vm4wJYCFQWR1QodqSLuxw

If you Google for 'anonymous dial-up' you'll find several

[oldfogy]

mm, not too sure about that, although it probably does have a place in the scheme of things and may well come in handy for a one-off access.
But a little on the unknown side and "possibly" dearer calls than.

************
We crossed whilst I was typing.

That sound quite reasonable, cost wise, but no mention of a email address.

Weekday calls between 8am and 6pm 3.95 pence per minute.*
Weekday evening calls between 6pm and 8am 1.48 pence per minute.*
Weekend calls between midnight Friday and midnight Monday 1 pence per minute

I don't really want her (my sister) to have to start changing at a later date for a proper personal account.
(But then "what is a proper account") gmail, hotmail....... etc 
Although they are worth considering.

[Pwiggler]

the free-dialup  is:

Weekday calls between 8am and 6pm 3.95 pence per minute.*
Weekday evening calls between 6pm and 8am 1.48 pence per minute.*
Weekend calls between midnight Friday and midnight Monday 1 pence per minute.*

[tonyappuk]

I'm on Plusnet for broadband but they offer a payg and anytime dial up packages. The link to the page is http://www.plus.net/residential/dialup/?resheader=dialuptab I've not used them for dial up but it gives you another option to explore.
Tony

[jid]

Here is the link to PAYG dial up from Tiscali:-
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/dialup/pay-as-you-go.html

[kitz]

Supernet I'd be wary of, I may be wrong now, but at one point their dial up software was very very hard to get rid of... and well...

-------

Depends how often they are going to be online - Ive put people on the PAYG 1p per min type before now.  Most ISPs service on this is very similar and its more a case of choose which ISP you want.  Even tiscali PAYG dial up is ok.

Another option for a starter is the Fraico type dialups - such as the one recommended by tony, if theyre going to be online during the daytime period then this can work out cheaper than the 1p per min.

If this is a "dip in the water" type of thing and you think it will eventually grow.. then to make things easier set up with an ISP that will give decentish service through all packages, and that they can upgrade without any major hastle, whilst still being able to keep the same email address and account.

Again something like the Plusnet one would possibly be ideal... where they can go from PAYG --> FRAICO dialup --> low usage cheap adsl --> next stage packages. 
Theres other ISPs that do similar... but off the top of my head Plusnet would probably fit the bill for at least the first 3-4 stages, whilst still being reasonably priced.

[oldfogy]

1. Supanet I'd be wary of, I may be wrong now, but at one point their dial up software was very very hard to get rid of...
-------
2. If this is a "dip in the water" type of thing and you think it will eventually grow..

1. Point noted, I probably mentioned it as having used it for a long time without any problems.
... (Actually I still use the email through my BB connection and the account is still live and active, which surprises me as I don't use any dial-up software or Supanet software to access it)

2. Yes at the moment it is going to be a "dip in the water" so I don't want to setup something too elaborate etc.
... So probably with  a bit of hindsight I think what I'll do is set her up with a second user-name on my Supanet account just so she can play around and practise for a short while.

~~~~~~~
Thanks to everyone for their input and I have taken note of all thats been advised and will no-doubt be using some of it in the near future.

[poppy]

Check out http://www.mipcards.com/.  It is supposed to be the cheapest dialup around at 0.5p per minute. Two options available - just prepay - no direct debit or contract.
E-mail available.

[oldfogy]

Thanks Poppy
Unfortunately I don't know who her telephone supplier is, but as with the other options, they are all being kept in mind.

Actually she mentioned it to me only today.
I don't know, she has a PC for 5 minutes (just to play with mind you) now she wants internet as well. 

[oldfogy]

Just an update and to say thanks for all the info.

Although the original PC has not yet been done.
I have just completed one for someone else which was a similar problem and this is what I ended up doing.

1. Setup a Google (gmail) address and configure Outlook Express to suite.
2. Input the "Free dialup" (although it's not free but will suffice) for the time being.

This will then enable them to not only have a permanent email address without having to change it at a later date and without having to subscribe to any particular ISP, but also search the web whenever they want to.

************************************

Additionally what I also came across is the facility for existing Virgin Media "broadband" customers to be able to use Virgin Media's dial-up service at no extra charge when away from their main BB connection which obviously can be a great advantage.

Relevant set-up info and details can be found here:
http://www.virginmedia.com/help/dialup/setting-up.php

[kitz]

Good idea re the gmail as it will be 'portable' through all ISPs. 
I'd forgotten that you can set it in OE - which makes it much easier for new users.