High Speed Cable

Dial up Internet service providers, or ISPs, are mostly organizations, companies or business that provides people who want access to the information superhighway the chance to do so. People who use dial up ISP are provided immediate access to the Internet through their own telephone lines. All you need is a computer, a telephone line and a modem that serves as the medium and channel between the phone line and the computer. Dial up ISPs provides users Internet connections that are around 56 kilobytes per second, or less.

Dial up ISPs also provide other services - they are not just limited to dial up access. They also provide Internet transit, domain name registration and domain name hosting. These dial up ISPs are mostly telephone companies, but not all of them are.

One of the disadvantages of relying on dial up ISPs is a slow connection. This sluggishness can be particularly annoying to people who are use to accessing the Internet through fast DSL, cable or broadband subscriptions. The average Internet speed through dial up ISP services is only 30 kilobytes per second, or 50 at most. But many people like dial up ISP because it is less expensive; if you don’t need speed, use dial up.

Finding the right kind of dial up ISP for you is not very difficult. However, the thing that you should remember is that, just like deciding on any other product or service, the best dial up ISP is the one that will provides quality service and gives you exactly what you need.

Dial Up provides detailed information on Dial Up, Free Dial Up, Dial Up ISP, International Dial Up and more. Dial Up is affiliated with Dial Up Access Numbers.

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There’s a lot of hype these days surrounding Internet-based voice communications (VoIP) replacing traditional telephone service. Most of this revolves around companies such as Vonage who coin themselves as the ‘Broadband Phone Company’. So what about those of us who don’t have a broadband connection? Just because you don’t have high speed Internet, doesn’t mean that you can’t save a fortune by using VoIP for your long-distance calls. Whilst a broadband connection will usually result in more consistent VoIP call quality, comparable results can be achieved using a dial-up connection provided some simple guidelines are followed.

Shop Around

Not all VoIP service providers support dial-up users. Companies such as Vonage bill themselves as alternatives to traditional telephone service and shy away from the dial-up community (who are tied to those ‘traditional’ networks to access the Internet). Furthermore, some service providers only support dial-up above a certain speed (e.g., 56Kbp). Two companies whose VoIP softphone applications work well over low speed connections include Callserve and Go2Call.

‘Free-up’ your System Resources

In order to ensure the highest call quality, close programs that are running in the ‘background’. For Windows users, these applications can be seen in the taskbar at the bottom right of your screen. ‘Right-click’ the icons and close those programs that aren’t critical to system security (e.g., don’t close anti-virus software, firewall applications and the like).

If you’re using Windows XP with user switching enabled, log off all users except the one that will be used to make the call. This will prevent the other user identities from running software and/or using your bandwidth while you’re making calls.

‘Free Up’ your Internet Connection

Given the limited data capacity of dial-up connections, it’s important that you devote as much of your bandwidth as possible to the VoIP softphone application. To achieve maximum call quality, don’t do anything that uses your bandwidth whilst making calls. This includes instant messaging, checking email, using a webcam, browsing the internet, downloading, etc. In Windows, you can look at the two little computers in the bottom right of your taskbar to see whether your connection is being used prior to calling (the little computers illuminate when data is being uploaded and/or downloaded).

Scan your System for Viruses, Spyware, Adware and Malware

Some of these malicious programs can hijack your browser, tie up your internet connection and slow down your system (not to mention seriously invade your privacy!). I recommend AdAware for free scanning and removal of Spyware/Adware. Once you’ve checked and cleansed your system of these nasty programs, your virus definition files should be updated to minimize the chances of re-infection.

Use a Headset with an Integrated Boom Microphone

Last but not least, using a headset with a boom microphone should eliminate those annoying voice echoes often associated with PC to Phone calls. Echoes are caused by your microphone detecting the voice coming from your computer speakers and re-transmitting that voice signal back to the person you’re talking to. By using a headset, the voice signals are limited in volume (due to the headset being directly adjacent to your ears) and thus the chances of your microphone ‘re-transmitting’ those voice signals is greatly reduced.

So there you have it. A Lack of high speed Internet needn’t mean a lack of PC to Phone VoIP capability.

Nathan Smith

Nathan is the owner of netphonedirectory.com which deals specifically with PC to Phone and PC to PC VoIP. The site includes a comprehensive directory of PC to Phone service providers as well as information on VoIP and what you need to make inexpensive long-distance telephone calls using your computer

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Most of the information that we need, along with most of the things that we want and can be found over the Internet. From word definitions to grocery and shopping to ordering your next meal -the Internet provides instant access to anything and everything you could possibly want or want to know about. That is the very reason why most people want to have Internet access available in their homes. Dial up is slower than DSL or cable connections, but they are still used by some people who want access to the Internet but don’t need speed.

Although a bit outdated, dial up access is still widely used today to gain access to the Internet. It is the most inexpensive way to connect compared to other ways to access. All you need is a phone line, a prepaid Internet card or an inexpensive monthly package with an Internet service provider, and you’re in business.

However, dial up access is considerably slower than the other high-tech ways of accessing the information superhighway, such as broadband and cable modem. Dial ups work through the use of a computer modem. This modem is actually connected to the computer and serves as the medium between the computer and a telephone line. Through this modem, the computer is able to ‘dial up’ the Internet service provider, who in turn connects the user to the World Wide Web.

Just like any other product, dial up has its own share of ups and downs. However, many people say that it is better to have dial up access rather than have no connection to the Internet at all.

Dial Up provides detailed information on Dial Up, Free Dial Up, Dial Up ISP, International Dial Up and more. Dial Up is affiliated with Dial Up Access Numbers.

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