In countries where you pay for local calls, (e.g. no free local calls) generally some ISP's get into profit sharing arangements to take a percentage of the phone companies local call revenue and use that to subsidize Internet access.

This is VERY common in the UK.

I would suggest using one of these ISP's such as Freeserve (if you are in the UK) and need a "free" ISP account. (You would pay just local hotel charges..etc..)

UK ISP Freeserve: http://www.freeserve.net
(Click Join Freeserve... All you really need is a UK address (your hotel?). You can setup your account *BEFORE* you leave. BTW: Freeserve only allows UK numbers to connect to it's service.

Additionaly they are generally about 230ms (at 33.6-56KB) to most U.S. sided routers. So you can even use VPN (Virtual Private Network) software to connect to your office network and get OK connection speeds.

Any questions on this, let me know...



[This message has been edited by NickP 1K (edited 02-10-2000).]

One more comment;

Connection Speed difference around the world (from my travels)

All connections were done back to an AT&T dial in number back in San Jose, CA (unless noted)

Dialing from MY house in San Jose: 26.4Kbps - non x2 compliant line

Dialing from London UK: 36.6 - 40Kbps

Dialing from London UK (to freeserve): About 46.4Kbps

Dialing from Delhi, India: 19.2Kbps

Dialing from Mumbai/Bombay: 44Kpbs

Dialing from Sydney, Australia: 51.2Kbps

Dialing from Chicago, IL: 31.2Kbps


Some notes: I RARELY get descent speed dial up connections in the US. Even if my ISP's virtual dial up number is only a few miles away (inferior phone lines...). It's pretty sad that dialing from Sydney, Australia to San Jose, CA that I get a FASTER connection speed than back home...



[This message has been edited by NickP 1K (edited 02-10-2000).]

In a related note I just came across earlier today:

SAN FRANCISCO- SoftNet Systems, which provides fast Web connections over cable-TV lines, said it started a venture with CMGI and Compaq Computer to sell wireless Internet service in airports and hotels.

SoftNet and its partners will invest $100 million to start SoftNet Zone, targeting business travelers throughout the United States. As part of the plan, SoftNet said it will pay $48 million in stock and cash to acquire closely held Laptop Lane, which sells Internet access in 12 U.S. airports.

The company, based here, said it's working with Cisco Systems, the maker of computer networking equipment, and cell phone maker Nokia to sell Web service to travelers for about 50 cents a minute. SoftNet wants to take advantage of the surging number of people going online using laptops, cell phones and other wireless devices.
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-202-1546650.html

AOL wins hands down in my book.
It is the only one to have numbers in remote places. Even Ouagadougou.
i don't use it for anything else (it is really a bad bad ISP) but no one has matched them for internet access abroad. Never a problem.
you can sign up for 9.95/mo

Thanks for all the information on this thread.

ATTGlobal looks like a possibility but their rates seem on the high side, and I'm put off by some of the negative comments here.

UUNet doesn't have nodes in countries I will be travelling to in the near future, so they're out.

CompuServe or AOL may be of interest, but I have a question. Can you access them through the standard tools in Windows: Dial Up Networking, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express? (I don't want to use their proprietary front ends.) And can you pick up and send e-mail to and from a non-CIS/AOL address (i.e., dgolds.com)? I was a CIS subscriber for years but got tired of stupid restrictions like not being able to send file attachments over the Internet.

since i use both aol and att globalnet i can tell you that AOL is of no use if you dont want to use their frontend. you can still access aol mail through their web site but of course you will need an ISP for that.

as for your q about using windows tools to access - att = no problem but aol = no possibility.

i'm sure youll find good and bad reviews for most of the big ISP's since they have such a large number of customers. imho att has a decent service with the best number of possible connection points.

In answer to Dgolds question.. yes, CompuServe Classic allows complete use of normal email clients (Outlook, Eudora, etc.) and 56k access globally. I was in London two weeks ago today and able to send/receive mail at 56k, as well as check FT (yes, I did). But ATT, MSN, UUnet, Earthlink, and a few others of the bigboys also offer international dialup in the popular countries as well.

As far as I can gather, CompuServe's web site doesn't advertise CIS Classic, only version 5.0. I wonder if you can still sign up as a new customer for "Classic."

Strikes me that CIS is headed away from any kind of open standards access model and towards something like its new masters, AOL. Maybe not the way to go for a new customer who is really looking for something else.

dgolds: Although they "push" Compuserve 2000 5.0, click through and they still offer Compuserve 4.0 (old, classic Compuserve).

Compuserve 2000 is only for Windows 95/98, so if you have Windows 3.1, NT or Macintosh PPC, you need to get 4.0.

COMPUSERVE CLASSIC is easy to access worldwide, except in Thailand, where it's not available.

Could someone post a link where I can get information about Compuserve Classic? I can't find any references to it at compuserve.com.

Thanks in advance.

http://www.compuserve.com/trycsrv/cs...nload1.asp#WNT

(It's Compuserve 4.0 for Windows NT -- it should also work on Windows 95/98. Compuserve 4.0 is the classic (non-AOL) network.

I have used IBM (now AT&T) in the US, Mexico, and Switzerland. My connections abroad have been as good as my friends' local ISP's, and my connections in the US have generally beaten my ISP in connection speeds.

You can use regular mail clients/web browsers with AOL as well. Just connect to AOL using their software and then minimize it. Then start your regular mail/web software, works fine.

ATTGLOBAL.NET has been 'split' up into different regions and when you're within that region, you are not charged 'roaming' fees. US-based ATT accounts have free reign in Canada, Mexico and South America, Europe-based accounts have free roaming in Europe and South Africa. Asian-based accounts have access to Asia and South-West Pacific (Australia & NZ) access. I have 3 seperate ATT Global net accounts to serve my needs. I also use AOL Global Net as a backup in places where ATT does not have any service (like believe it or not, Bali - Indonesia) and AOL does and just connect quickly to send/receive emails.

IBM was good, and yes I have to comment that since ATT took over, some areas have gotten worse in terms of connection. Like in Singapore, ATT is handled by their local ISP called Cyberway. Don't bother calling them on a Sunday for service - they're closed..and you're SOL!

In Thailand, you must get a local ISP as there are no international service nodes - not ATT , nor AOL.

Happy connecting!