ISP recommendations
 

Bit of a long-shot, this one, but I'll give it a go:

Can anyone recommend an ISP which:

- I can use in the USA (and preferably in the UK too)
- In can install on Windows 2000 without any local administrator priveleges.



A bit of background: I'm shortly heading off to the US for a few weeks, and I was planning on taking my work-issued laptop with me. I can dial in to the office from the laptop, but this has some limitations (not being able to access my non-work e-mail account through the firewall at work is the main one).

Yesterday, I tried to install AOL onto the laptop so that I can access my e-mail while I'm away. It failed, of course, because I'm not a local administrator on the laptop - I can't believe it never occurred to me that this would be a problem. I haven't tried any other ISPs yet, but I assume they'd all have the same problem. The chances of me getting any local admin privileges are somewhere between zero and none, so if anyone knows of a way around this, please let me know! Otherwise I'll have to either give my work e-mail address to everyone I want to stay in contact with, or find an internet cafe.

Thanks!

FFF
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Suggest you try Compuserve. Not free but cheap and world-wide. Keep away from Compuserve 2000 or whatever it was called. Go for the original now at Ver 4.

Installing software is obviously a problem if you do not have Admin status, but you don't need the softare at all. Just the contract and the dial-up privileges. I've used it in hotels and on my mobile (that's slow, of course). There are Points of Presence telephone numbers for all the US States and other countries published on the Web.

Thanks fobotcso. Sounded like the ideal solution.

Logged onto the the Compuserve website last night. After much searching, eventually found the page to subscribe. Entered all my details, and was then told that "a registration pack will be sent to me within the next 5 days".

Fantastic - even if it does arrive in 5 days (which is unlikely with the huge backlog of post) I'll be gone by then!

Anyone else got any suggestions? Preferably something I can download and subscribe to on-line?

Cheers,

FFF
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FFF,

I've used MaGlobe very successfully in Europe for much the same reason as you. No reason to suppose it would be any different for the States.

Dunno about the need for Administrator privs, though...

HTH :ok:

RTFM, thanks - never heard of them, but I'll give it a go tonight.

As long as the ISP uses the standard Windows dial-up interfaces, it should be ok - I can install everything on my desktop PC, then copy the dial-up settings onto my laptop. It's only AOL that's the problem, since that doesn't use the Windows interfaces and won't work without installing AOL's software (which needs local admin rights).

FFF
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I hadn't until somebody pointed me to them (forget who, sorry.)

As an ocassional dial-up provider from my laptop via mobile, no less, they've been very good. Handy when trying to get a ballooning met forecast in the middle of the Compienge forest, or in the foothils of the Pyranees :ooh: (been successful on both of those :) )

You subscribe and can top up your minutes online with a credit card. Your unused time doesn't seem to expire forever (I've had about 30-40 mins pre-paid with them for a least a couple of years :)

As for AOL, I tried it out once, back in the modem-only days, when they sent out free CDs. Bl**dy virus, if you ask me, insinuating itself into all sorts of places it shouldn't. Took a rebuild to get rid of. :yuk: Haven't touched AOL since...

HTH

Sorry to hear that. I've just called them on this number:

0870 600 0800 (option 2)

and the nice Irish lady said that you might get it done in 48 hours but the delay is something to do with the method of deducting payment from your credit card.

They are, by the way, based in Bristol and I have their address somewhere in case you could pop-in.

RTFM, you are a star. I'm now a fully paid up and connected member of MaGlobe. (Having some difficulty getting it to work, but this seems to be a problem with the PC - probably the browser configuration - not with the ISP, so I'm hoping the tech support guys at work can fix it for me today.)

(As for AOL, I agree - but they are the only ISP I could find that would give me unmetered access on a Telewest phone line. I don't use their cuddly, friendly, virus-like software, I just use them to connect to the internet.)

FFF
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Aw, shucks... := happy to be of help...
Hope it all works out :ok:
Bit of a b*gg*er, isn't it... :ugh:

Have a fun trip :)