Dial-Up on the (Laptop) Move (UK) When Away From Broadband Base (Return to Subject)

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Sorry to return to this, but it's a fast moving world on this front; may be some change over the last six months.

Quite simply, are there ANY UK ISP's supplying Broadband to the home and unlimited dial-up on the move at the moment (not local call rates)?

Thanks again.

[IO540]

Most of the better broadband ISPs will allow you to dial in also.

In the UK they won't offer a free number but typically you get a 0845 1p/min one or something like that. From abroad, you will likely need a different number to call, and it will cost as normal.

The problem is that you may not be able to dial in while the broadband connection is active (ADSL modem switched on) so you would need to switch off your ADSL modem when going away. Worth a check.

Another solution is a VPN back to your home PC; you just need

1) a router at home that supports a VPN (e.g. Draytek 2600/2900)
2) set up a VPN on a win2000+ PC (under 1 minute)
3) a fast internet connection (wifi or ethernet cable; GPRS works but only just) where you happen to be

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Sorry IO5040, perhaps it's me, but I think we've got our wires crossed.

As you will see from the thread title, I'm talking about using a laptop on the move around the country when one has a paid Broadband account at home. ...It was perfectly possible until fairly recently to use a laptop on unlimited free dial-up from any number in the UK as an addition to the home account (Broadband being limited to the home address of course). ...Then it wasn't. ...Just wondered if any ISP had gone full circle yet (?).

More of a commercial question, than a technical one.

Thanks.

[419]

BST,
The only ISP that I am aware of, that has this set up, is AOL.
It is called their "AOL Broadband Gold Plus" package. I enquired about this a while back. Here's a cutting from their reply to my e-mail.

When on the AOL Broadband plan if you wish to connect to AOL using the freephone access numbers also, you can select the AOL Broadband Gold Plus plan which is £ 31.99 per month. �31.99 Broadband Gold Plus plan which means you will have unlimited access on Broadband and also on narrow band (56k modem). If you travel a lot, or just want to be able to use the Internet when you're away from home, take a look at AOL Broadband Gold Plus. For just �31.99 a month you get your AOL Broadband Gold connection at home plus you're able to use AOL dial-up away from home.

Hope this helps

[IO540]

BST

Yes I did realise you want to use the laptop when away from home, and it can be done except that the ISPs that I have done it with require the ADSL service to be inactive for it to work.

Presumably the key will be finding one that will allow dial-in (into the same ADSL account) while your home ADSL is active.

If you are the only person at home using ADSL, just switch off your ADSL modem on your way out, and then you can do this with many ISPs.

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

IO540.....

Right...............I'm with you now.

Thanks; that's an aspect I hadn't considered.

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/images3/isprsmall.gif

"News - July 5, 2005
V21 Offers Free Dialup With Broadband

By: MarkJ @ 12:42 PM - UK ISP V Two One (V21) has begun offering a free phone dial up account FREE of charge for its Broadband customers to use when they are away from their computers:

Famous for setting internet connection pricing standards, V Two One's Managing Director, Steve Kaye, said: "Quite simply this had to happen, we want to be a market leader in customer satisfaction, our customers can now use our service even if they are away on business or simply visiting friends or family."

V Two One offers several ADSL packages, tailored for customers with differing degrees of web usage and needs. The standard 512K connection, which is 10 times faster than dial-up, costs just £16.99 per month for a totally unlimited and unrestricted service.

Steve concluded, "There are exciting times ahead for our customers and new customers that wish to join us, we are now only days away from launching our V21 Telecom offer. This will give our customers FREE home telephone calls in the evening and weekends."

Further information on V Two One is available at http://www.v21.co.uk , by e-mailing [email protected] or by calling +44 (0)870 442 9600.

Some other providers also offer an 0845 (local call rate) and, in some rare cases, 0800 (unmetered) dialup modem backup number. Sadly many still do not."


Have checked it out . . . . .
Broadband to home - 512k/£16.99, or 1Mb/19.99 (unlimited/unrestricted) PLUS freephone number dial-up access for laptop on the move (via BT lines only within the UK).

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

Mike Jenvey.....

I think your assumption is correct, re. the only advantage to AOL 'Gold Plus' being freephone numbers in the UK. ...That said, my interest is solely movement around the UK; I've always understood the situation abroad to be more complex.

Notification back here in April of this package seemed a step in the right direction (and the first one I had seen) but bizarrely a big secret on the AOL website. ...It took a really convoluted route to find it; today I can't find it at all (!). ...I thought it a bit pricey at the time for the privilege (maybe me) but this latest devlopment looks good value (in the UK).

A couple of years ago a colleague at work said he was with V21; I'd never heard of them, then or since. ...I mentioned it again today and he confirmed he still is; more to the point he has been very happy with them. ...A bit of investigative surfing would seem to indicate similarly promising. ...Anyone else have a view on them?

[BLUE SKY THINKER]

So far so good.....

Just signed up with V21. ...1Mb broadband 7days plus, to allow BT to get the ADSL sorted, but freephone laptop "on the move" dial-up access up and running within 30 seconds.