+basswoodbend Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 We are novice lap top users. On our first trip the motel had cable hook ups and we were able to log our finds and run PQ's just fine. This last one it was phone dial up. We haven't used dial up for a number of years. We got a disk and signed up for AOL to use the free hours. We quickly discovered again why we didn't like AOL. Is there any other provider that one might use on a low cost or temporary basis? How do you access the internet on trips? Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 At one time Netzero had a free account so long as you stayed under a certain number of hours. I'm not sure if that's true anymore. It wasn't that many hours. Quote Link to comment
+IVxIV Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Watch out connecting your laptop to a phone line at some motels... If they're using a PBX phone system it can fry the modem in your laptop. The plug looks the same, but the power output is higher. Quote Link to comment
Hoary Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 I saw ads on TV a few times. You can try them: http://www.peoplepc.com/ And don't forget to call AOL and cansel you subscription! They are famous for attempts to charge people years later. Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 (edited) Check with your current high speed internet provider you use at home. Many of them also give you access to a dial up number. Edited March 2, 2005 by Stunod Quote Link to comment
+sodajerk Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 My DSL SBC Yahoo has free dial up for just the reason you want. One of the cheapest dial up I have found is aaahawk.com under $10.00 a month, month to month. You could get it for just one month, thousands of numbers. I am not affiliated with them, just a happy user for several years until I got DSL. Quote Link to comment
+maleki Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 I was checking out of a hotel last year and the poor people in front of me were dealing with a $ 180.00 dial up bill on ther room fee because her kids had hooked up the computer and the local access number for their ISP was across the state and billed at long distance rates thru the hotel. Be careful out there. Get a wireless card and check in at place that offers wireless access as part of the room charge. Quote Link to comment
silverwolfe Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) Yes, check w/your cable provider if they have dial-up numbers you can use on your same plan (an 800# would be really great!). I've used Netzero for years now. $9.95/mo = unlimited hrs; free = 10 hrs/month/household. They have many many numbers now, but obscure places may still be hard to get local lines?? So far, usually can get local access w/my laptop on trips..... I've wondered if there is a 'surge-type protector' to put on the modem line though when traveling at hotels, etc..... Also wonder if you could use a 'phone-card' like at costco and use that as your 'long-distance access' when in 'obscure' locations (type all the numbers in the dialing string....)? OOOO I see that I'm not a tadpole anymore!!!! I'm a 'real' geocacher!!! whoo hooo.... Edited March 3, 2005 by silverwolfe Quote Link to comment
+CompuCash Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 I love my $10 EV1 account - I fight with Comcast all the time - never once in 7 years have I called EV1 - I believe this is the same company as NetZero. -- Yup - dial up is slow compared to cable but it is always there when I need it. I kept the dial up for the e-mail account and as a backup. Sure glad I have it some times. cc Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 I know that AOL stands for Always Off Line (or Awfully Operated Lunitics or other things I can't type in a family-freindly forum ). They don't advertise it, but they offer dial up for 4 hours per month (I think) for $4.95. I subcribed for a long time to use it when out of town. My local ISP (Time Warner) now offers dial up numbers when you are on the road. Quote Link to comment
+benjamin921 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Verizon cell phone Quote Link to comment
+park2 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Does you laptop have a 802.11 card? If not, I'd buy a PCMCIA one. Many hotels offer it for free. If not, it's amazing how many places you can find an open router. Quote Link to comment
silverwolfe Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Yep - AOL 4 hrs = $4.95, I kept that just for my email name that is there..... but then netzero free =10 hrs. Benjamin w/the Verizon cell phone - can you internet your laptop thru it?? I think I can w/my Nokia but haven't gotten the cable yet. hmmmmm, could I run internet on my ipaq thru my phone!! ooooo ideas ideas..... Quote Link to comment
+Couparangus Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 (boast mode on :-) I got one of these recently. You can go to the site to read hints or check coord's, logs etc. What I did last weekend was create PDF files for each cache and mail them to myself. This way you can view the attachments quickly if you need help (which in my case is most times!) Cheers! C-A Quote Link to comment
+GixxerUT Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Verizon cell phone how do you do that? Quote Link to comment
+Sputnik 57 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Verizon cell phone how do you do that? WAP Quote Link to comment
+GixxerUT Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Verizon cell phone how do you do that? WAP sorry, I thought he was inferring that he used his cell phone to connect the laptop to the internet (Topic: Dial Up For Lap Tops) but thanks for the link to THAT Quote Link to comment
+benjamin921 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) Yep - AOL 4 hrs = $4.95, I kept that just for my email name that is there..... but then netzero free =10 hrs. Benjamin w/the Verizon cell phone - can you internet your laptop thru it?? I think I can w/my Nokia but haven't gotten the cable yet. hmmmmm, could I run internet on my ipaq thru my phone!! ooooo ideas ideas..... Verizons 1X data. Some plans will have what is called MOU (minute only use) but if you use it A LOT they will charge you for it. They have data plans for the same thing but just using MOU is much better than the $$ they want for it. This is not illegal, they just had some type of loophole. Once again if you use it A LOT they will charge you $$$$. Go to HoFo and go to the Verizon section and look around. The speed can be up to 144 but is usually faster than dial up. There is also just the old cell phone, not using their 1X, at 9.6 (slow slow slow). Yes you will need a cable to use your cell phone to connect your laptop to the internet. Edited March 3, 2005 by benjamin921 Quote Link to comment
+benjamin921 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 Verizon cell phone how do you do that? WAP WAP works to and not just for Geocaching. Quote Link to comment
+JohnnyVegas Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 The only place I stay when on the road includes free high speed internet through a Dat line in each room. They also include a free happy hour and free breakfast in the morning (not one of the cheesy continental breakfast, a real one cooked to order) We get a suite, Happy hour, free high speed internet, and a real breakfast at a good price. It's to bad they don't have many locations. Quote Link to comment
+Team Dougherty Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 I use www.allvantage.com $7.95 per month. Nationwide unlimited access. Quote Link to comment
+The Cached Potatoes Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 You should check out all2easy.net It's $4.95 per month (month-to-month). I haven't used it myself, but probably will this summer. Quote Link to comment
+leatherman Posted March 4, 2005 Share Posted March 4, 2005 (edited) Yep - AOL 4 hrs = $4.95, I kept that just for my email name that is there..... but then netzero free =10 hrs. Benjamin w/the Verizon cell phone - can you internet your laptop thru it?? I think I can w/my Nokia but haven't gotten the cable yet. hmmmmm, could I run internet on my ipaq thru my phone!! ooooo ideas ideas..... Verizons 1X data. Some plans will have what is called MOU (minute only use) but if you use it A LOT they will charge you for it. They have data plans for the same thing but just using MOU is much better than the $$ they want for it. This is not illegal, they just had some type of loophole. Once again if you use it A LOT they will charge you $$$$. Go to HoFo and go to the Verizon section and look around. The speed can be up to 144 but is usually faster than dial up. There is also just the old cell phone, not using their 1X, at 9.6 (slow slow slow). Yes you will need a cable to use your cell phone to connect your laptop to the internet. Actually it connects at 14.4, and it seems faster than 56k. For the time being it is free other than your minutes. There are hints that it will be scuttled in the future. However when is not known. I use a Gormadic PDA to Cell cable. There are instructions on their FAQ page for setting up the connection. No ISP needed. Available nation wide in metro areas. Works great on free nights and weekends. edit:highlighted what I was actually quoting. Edited March 4, 2005 by leatherman Quote Link to comment
+Team Dougherty Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 try www.allvantage.com. $8.95 a month unlimited. I have them and they work great. Paul Quote Link to comment
+LBSurfer Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 The only place I stay when on the road includes free high speed internet through a Dat line in each room. They also include a free happy hour and free breakfast in the morning (not one of the cheesy continental breakfast, a real one cooked to order)We get a suite, Happy hour, free high speed internet, and a real breakfast at a good price. It's to bad they don't have many locations. Embassy Suites? Quote Link to comment
+Redwoods Mtn Biker Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 My ISP offers iPass, but you can also get it from various resellers. Here is one example charging a $20 setup fee and $2.50 per month. I don't know how these places do the per minute or per hour dialup fee. With my ISP, it's very cheap. Rich Owings www.MakeYourOwnMaps.com "We were desert mystics, my friends and I, pouring over our maps as others do their holy books." - Edward Abbey Quote Link to comment
+Logscaler and Red Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 We went with a wireless card for our laptop. Just find a hotel/motel with free wireless connection and your set. There are also a lot of wireless hotspots where we just stop on the street or a nearby parking lot and log on and go online with the browser without having to have a dail-up number. Works great so far anyway. Logscaler. Quote Link to comment
+sbell111 Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 I'm a Priority Club member and always stay at Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza or one of the other hotels under the Intercontinental umbrella in my quest to move up from Gold to Platinum status. One of the benefits is that high speed internet access is free. I just keep a wifi card and a ethernet card in my bag so I'm covered whether the hotel is wired or not. Quote Link to comment
+Muddler Posted May 27, 2005 Share Posted May 27, 2005 Without a doubt the only way to go is getting a wireless card and only stay at motels that offer wireless connections in the room. I would not do it any other way. In addition there are getting to be more and more placed that are providing access using wireless. Goto Yahoo maps and search for a town, then select the WIFI hot spot locater ther are in most cities. Cheers Muddler Quote Link to comment
+tnfishdaddy Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 I have a laptop that I want to make wireless. What do I need to do that? Quote Link to comment
+Jeeping Family Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 A WiFi PCMCIA card is how I do that. Of course, my PDA has 802.11B and Bluetooth built in. Quote Link to comment
+Logscaler and Red Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 As for the wi-fi card, we picked ours up at Staples. Saves a lot of hassles when we change routes. Just locate a signal, run a PQ for the new area, load it to GSAK, Export to one or two different mapping programs and away we go. Logscaler. Quote Link to comment
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