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18 April 2006

AskMeCha! Help Specklet get internet at home!→[More:]
Is there such a thing as getting dial-up without a landline phone? In other words, can't I just keep my cell phone and pay like $10 a month for internet access?

I can't afford no fancy broadband.

I want to be able to talk to you guys more than these illicit snatches from work!
post by: Specklet at: 15:16 | 22 comments
Do you know anyone with a wireless ethernet card on their laptop? Have them come over and look for open networks, you could be swimming in a sea of free internet.

(Of course, some would consider using it technically wrong).
posted by Capn 18 April | 15:19
There's also these dohickies, but you pay through the nose for access. More than broadband probably.
posted by Capn 18 April | 15:20
Dial-up requires a dial tone, natch, so no.

See if you can get affordable ISDN, though.
posted by stilicho 18 April | 15:23
I want to be able to talk to you guys more than these illicit snatches from work!
Of course you do, they don't even know us yet.
posted by Wolfdog 18 April | 15:24
Are there other apartments/units in the place you are moving to? Maybe you and your neighbors can team up and share a wireless broadband network. That would require someone trustworthy to administer it, though.
posted by matildaben 18 April | 15:30
You can get DSL without phone service for $55 a month, cable internet for $55 a month, 64K ISDN will probably run at $30 a month, and I'm willing to bet that your new place will be near a Personal Telco node, so you might well get free wi-fi with full consent of the person who pays the bills.
posted by cmonkey 18 April | 15:31
I want to be able to talk to you guys more than these illicit snatches from work!

Well, you'd better do SOMETHING!

SOMEBODY HELP SPECK!
;-)
posted by shane 18 April | 15:32
Depends. The short answer is yes, you can dialup through your phone, if you have bluetooth. I've done it. With Cingular, it was about $45 a month for unlimited MB. With T-mobile, it's just $20 (but then you have T-mobile cell phone coverage). It's about dialup speeds (well, the computer said it was something like 115kbps, twice a 56k modem, but I'm used to cable internet). I only used it for my primary internet connection for about a month, as an interim solution while I was waiting for the cable guy to come (no frickin' self install, you gotta be kidding me).
posted by Eideteker 18 April | 15:32
Oh, and VeriLAN's service will work if you have line of sight to them.
posted by cmonkey 18 April | 15:34
Huh, that VeriLAN stuff is sweet. Wonder if we have anything like that in Seattle.
posted by matildaben 18 April | 15:42
Dial-up requires a dial tone, natch, so no.

*snurk* Oh, right! Duh. My aunt had me half convinced it was possible.

I truly can't afford anything more than about $10-15 a month for now, so cable is definitely out. No bluetooth. And I don't think I want to share an account with neighbors: too much of a hassle.

I'll wait and see if I have one a them nodes or VariLAN near my new place.

If not, I can save up for a card from T-Mobile (who is my carrier) for my laptop, and see what kind of deal my T-Mobile buddy can swing me.

Thanks, guys!
posted by Specklet 18 April | 15:47
*hopes against hope*
posted by mike9322 18 April | 15:55
If the Glory that is Specklet's Breasts isn't bad enough, now she's talking about her illicit snatch!
posted by essexjan 18 April | 15:56
Tee hee!
posted by Specklet 18 April | 16:00
I'll admit that I giggled at "illicit snatch", but fearing that I might ruin my reputation as a sober, upstanding gentleman, I quietly said nothing.
posted by cmonkey 18 April | 16:04
I was wondering how long it would take for someone to take that bait (and who it would be).
posted by matildaben 18 April | 16:05
#1 bait taker.
posted by Wolfdog 18 April | 16:07
MEOW.
posted by mike9322 18 April | 16:11
<aside>Eideteker, in Portland Cingular has the shit-tastic-iest coverage of them all. They inherited AT&T's excuse for a network, and unless they've done a TON of work they're dropped call central. T-Mo, which has the (relatively) cheap option of $20/mo. wifi from Starbucks and EDGE and the like from elsewhere actually has a decent network here, all things considered</aside>
posted by togdon 18 April | 16:19
You know, I have to say that I really didn't think anything of writing "snatch"...

You all just have dirty minds.
posted by Specklet 18 April | 17:15
You don't need to bait it, I'll take it anyway.

Anything that leads to more Specklet is a Good Thing, so I hope you can come up with a solution.
posted by dg 18 April | 17:28
Wow, the West Coast is like upside-down land. T-mobile has teh worest coverage everywhere I've been on the East Coast. Usually it's Cingular or Verizon who have the best network, and you can forget about getting quality tech from Verizon (do they offer more than one bluetooth phone yet? do they have a plan with more than 5 MB a month of data yet?).
posted by Eideteker 18 April | 18:03
← THIS IS A SHOUTING THREAD! || This thread does not have 156 comments. →

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