Best ISP for International Travelers
Oct 25, 1999, 11:26 pm
#1
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Best ISP for International Travelers
I will be doing a lot of traveling outside of North America for the next two months. I have a cable ISP on my office PC and have just acquired a new PowerBook for working on the road. I will be traveling mostly to the southern part of South America (Chile, Argentina and Uruguay) as well as to France and Spain.
So, from your road warrior experiences, which telephone-based ISP would be best for me to sign on with? I have 100 free hours from AOL, but not sure how their international access is? (And I've never been a fan of AOL, except that for two years they supplied me with all the free diskettes I could use through the mailouts...)
I'm based up in Canada, so don't know if I can sign on for MCI/Worldcom (?) which I've seen advertised in inflight mags and on CNN et al.
Advice please.
So, from your road warrior experiences, which telephone-based ISP would be best for me to sign on with? I have 100 free hours from AOL, but not sure how their international access is? (And I've never been a fan of AOL, except that for two years they supplied me with all the free diskettes I could use through the mailouts...)
I'm based up in Canada, so don't know if I can sign on for MCI/Worldcom (?) which I've seen advertised in inflight mags and on CNN et al.
Advice please.
Oct 25, 1999, 11:35 pm
#2
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At one time, Compuserve was the best thing going. IMHO
Oct 26, 1999, 4:48 pm
#4
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My company uses Compuserve Networks(actually run by WorldCom/UUnet now) for dial-up services/internet access worldwide. Very reliable service, with local phone numbers everywhere worldwide. I don't think this is the most economical way to go, but you get what you pay for in this case.
Check out http://networking.us.uu.net/customer...rs/index.shtml to search for a number.
Check out http://networking.us.uu.net/customer...rs/index.shtml to search for a number.
Oct 26, 1999, 5:04 pm
#5
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IBM.net was rated as one of the best ISP's for international connections (as well as reliability) by a number of magazines, and has dial-up numbers all over. LondonFlyer is correct, it was recently bought by AT&T.
There are over 1,300 local access numbers in over 50 countries worldwide, including over 500 in the United States and Canada.
If you are a US resident, they have a $19.95 for 150 hours/month plan.
Here is the link for more information:
http://services.attglobal.net/svc?ty...TTWEB&p201=ATT
[This message has been edited by steve100 (edited 10-26-1999).]
There are over 1,300 local access numbers in over 50 countries worldwide, including over 500 in the United States and Canada.
If you are a US resident, they have a $19.95 for 150 hours/month plan.
Here is the link for more information:
http://services.attglobal.net/svc?ty...TTWEB&p201=ATT
[This message has been edited by steve100 (edited 10-26-1999).]
Oct 26, 1999, 6:45 pm
#6
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As a long time user of the ISP formerly known as IBM Global Network, I'd strongly advise against using it. At one time their service was superb, and their coverage was unmatched. However, since the takeover by AT&T (and before) the service has declined markedly.
It began with an increasing number of countries disappearing from their phone list, and finished with reduced features and hefty user fee increases. For example, if you are outside of you "home zone" you may be charged up to $24/hour extra. (Canada and the US are in the same zone.) Additional e-mail addresses, personal web space, etc, all used to be free, but now incur additional charges.
Finally, their actual technical performance has declined as well, although it may actually be due to increased subscriptions. Busy signals, dead lines and disconnects were unheard of when I signed up, but now I get them several times a week. A telling indicator, in my view, is that IBM used to prominently and proudly display it's standing in ISP ratings every month. But the last time they did that was in February of this year, which is about when the service began to decline.
I don't know if there is a better service, but I'd find it difficult to believe that there isn't.
Regards,
Ken Hamer
It began with an increasing number of countries disappearing from their phone list, and finished with reduced features and hefty user fee increases. For example, if you are outside of you "home zone" you may be charged up to $24/hour extra. (Canada and the US are in the same zone.) Additional e-mail addresses, personal web space, etc, all used to be free, but now incur additional charges.
Finally, their actual technical performance has declined as well, although it may actually be due to increased subscriptions. Busy signals, dead lines and disconnects were unheard of when I signed up, but now I get them several times a week. A telling indicator, in my view, is that IBM used to prominently and proudly display it's standing in ISP ratings every month. But the last time they did that was in February of this year, which is about when the service began to decline.
I don't know if there is a better service, but I'd find it difficult to believe that there isn't.
Regards,
Ken Hamer
Oct 26, 1999, 7:18 pm
#7
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This may sound scandalous, but I've actually had really good fortune with AOL - India, China, Thailand, New Zealand, South Africa, throughout Europe (don't know Latin America). I've had challenges with hotel phones, etc., but that's not AOL's fault. They have lots of access numbers.
The one problem I had was the first time I tried to use it in China, but on my return, I learned that I had misconfigured (have to have loaded additional drivers for the access points in certain areas). Come to think of it, the other place I had problems with it was in Stockholm. They had access numbers for the 75 largest cities in Sweden - except Stockholm. I had to call Uppsala (~60km away, I think) so the Grand Hotel toll charges were not cheap.
'Tis not inexpensive, but I don't think any of them are, and it's much less costly than AT&T Direct (or your preferred equivalent) back home to get a local access. Chile, for instance, has a surcharge of $12 per hour.
For access numbers, you can go to http://intlaccess.web.aol.com/
to check for availability.
Have a good trip!
Greg
The one problem I had was the first time I tried to use it in China, but on my return, I learned that I had misconfigured (have to have loaded additional drivers for the access points in certain areas). Come to think of it, the other place I had problems with it was in Stockholm. They had access numbers for the 75 largest cities in Sweden - except Stockholm. I had to call Uppsala (~60km away, I think) so the Grand Hotel toll charges were not cheap.
'Tis not inexpensive, but I don't think any of them are, and it's much less costly than AT&T Direct (or your preferred equivalent) back home to get a local access. Chile, for instance, has a surcharge of $12 per hour.
For access numbers, you can go to http://intlaccess.web.aol.com/
to check for availability.
Have a good trip!
Greg