Central Coast (CA) Dial-up Help.

[BarbeQueGuy]

The misses and I want to pay for my mother-in-law's internet access for the next year, she dropped her service to save some money. The problem is, we live 3000 miles away and I have no idea which service is reliable in her area. Any help from you Central Coasters, (Arroyo Grande) would be appreciated.
I'm looking for an ISP with an adequate number of local lines so she doesn't have the hang-ups or disconnects you get with some of the national providers. I checked at WWW.Thelist.Com, but they only list them, not rate them. We're not looking to cheap out on this either, I think we should be able to find good service for $10~$15 a month.

Thanks in advance.

 

[NutBucket]

SurfSide

 

[Electric Amish]

Softcom has always been good in Utah. They are based in California. I don't know if they have service where you need.

Only $10/mo unlimited when you buy a year at a time.

amish

 

[BarbeQueGuy]

Surfside... seems to have a few local numbers, I'll ask the wife if she remembers if any of them are toll calls.

Softcom... the link to softcom is for software, didn't find any ISP infor there.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: BarbeQueGuy
Surfside... seems to have a few local numbers, I'll ask the wife if she remembers if any of them are toll calls.

Softcom... the link to softcom is for software, didn't find any ISP infor there.

I used SurfSide in LA for a year or so. They're California only I think. I never had a problem with them but I don't know how good it would be in up there. For what its worth they're a great company. Actually, if you called and asked I wouldn't doubt they would give you an honest answer.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: BarbeQueGuy
Surfside... seems to have a few local numbers, I'll ask the wife if she remembers if any of them are toll calls.

Softcom... the link to softcom is for software, didn't find any ISP infor there.

DOH!! Sorry. Softcom.NET!!!!

amish

 

[BarbeQueGuy]

Softcom unfortunately doesn't even serve the 805 area code, but thanks anyway.

I'll take your advise and give Surfside a call.

 

[Zebo]

When I lived in SLO is used Digital Puddy. **Local**, broad band hosting etc they have it all.

BTW- The central coast has the best interacces ever IMO since they have all the North south backbone fiber going right though town.

 

[faZZter]

Is she in Santa Barbara County or north of there?

If she is in SLO county I would forget the dialup idea and get her level 1 (256Kb download) service through Charter Communications. (cable)

It is way faster than dialup and more convenient, and not that much more than an average dialup account. It is currently 29.95 a month.

Other than that I had decent luck with MSN in this area and alot of people use a service through Best1 for dialup accounts. I know they had some pretty cheap accounts available. It is a local ISP.

Here is a link to Charter if you're interested in that.

Charter

Here is one for best 1....

Best 1

 

[DAWeinG]

accessforless.net

Unlimited internet access.

They have several 805 area codes. $5.95 per month. They go by monthly charges not some yearly crap like the other ISPs and $8 one time setup fee. Means you can end your contract anytime. If anyone else is interested, they serve nationwide.

They used to be $4.95 per month but jacked it up $1.00. Times have changed.

 

[RossMAN]

BOOKMARK ME

 

[faZZter]

"BTW- The central coast has the best interacces ever IMO since they have all the North south backbone fiber going right though town. "

That may be true, but doesn't do much good if you can't get DSL in half the town and they don't have high speed cable yet. (Santa Maria)

We finally got high speed wireless (802.11b) but that is line of sight so you might get screwed there too. It is fast though (that's what I have)

Also I am pretty sure an ISP guy had told me one time that the central coast ISP's don't tie directly into that high speed fat link running through the area.

Maybe that has changed?

 

[ThisIsMatt]

I live in Arroyo Grande....although somewhat on the outskirts...

I've currently switched over to fry's isp They have a number in AG, Nipomo, Pismo, and San Luis Obispo (all local toll-free calls). So far so good:

dialup[619-1555 via U.S. Robotics 56K Fax PCI @ 40000bps for 2d 4h 6m 4s (198.82MB up, 428.86MB down)]

I had this server, IVWNet.com, which had lots of local number, but I got TOS'd for being online too much. Stay away from them and anyone else that uses their backbone provider. Their backbone had abbreviations ST, UU, QW, and TE, whatever those stand for...

I also know AOL has number in San Luis Obispo and they work fine. Earthlink has multiple local numbers as well (AG, Pismo, Nipomo, SLO). A friend of mine uses a local ISP, Surfari.net, and they work fine. I think they might have a senior rate, too.

You could give fry's a try, though. Their first 3 months are free, then it's just $9.95/month after that. It's totally no thrills, but that's great for me. They run on the o1.com network...

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Originally posted by: faZZter
"BTW- The central coast has the best interacces ever IMO since they have all the North south backbone fiber going right though town. "

That may be true, but doesn't do much good if you can't get DSL in half the town and they don't have high speed cable yet. (Santa Maria)

We finally got high speed wireless (802.11b) but that is line of sight so you might get screwed there too. It is fast though (that's what I have)

Also I am pretty sure an ISP guy had told me one time that the central coast ISP's don't tie directly into that high speed fat link running through the area.

Maybe that has changed?

Yup yup, dsl and cable provisions around here pretty much blow. They're still totally spotty and not much of a bargain.

 

[BarbeQueGuy]

Wow, Digital Putty is very impressive. I read through some of their site and they DO really have it all.

The wife used to have charter, I remember it being more than 29.95/month. Her mother isn't really a computer geek, dial-up should be all she needs.

I'll take some time and sort through the Freedom List, it has a lot more info than TheList.com.

 

[Electric Amish]

Originally posted by: BarbeQueGuy
Softcom unfortunately doesn't even serve the 805 area code, but thanks anyway.

I'll take your advise and give Surfside a call.

Sorry.

amish

 

[ThisIsMatt]

Originally posted by: BarbeQueGuy
Wow, Digital Putty is very impressive. I read through some of their site and they DO really have it all.

The wife used to have charter, I remember it being more than 29.95/month. Her mother isn't really a computer geek, dial-up should be all she needs.

I'll take some time and sort through the Freedom List, it has a lot more info than TheList.com.

Charter has 3 different service levels, I can get the info if you want.

Also, I've never really had any major disconnect or busy signal problems with any of the isps I've used around here.

Netzero is also an option...10 free hours a month...

 

[faZZter]

The ISP provider for my fixed wireless service is Digitalputty. Has been quite good so far.

Charter has about 3 levels of cable internet service available in the area (excluding Santa Barbara county). Level 1 is 29.95 a month. I just checked their website. Yes, they have plans that are more but this is the cheap one.

Just for not either having a second phone line or keeping the line busy, plus always on service, it is worth the extra 10-15 bucks IMHO over dialup.

 

[hzl eyed grl]

I saw her in the store the other day. What about MSN or TCSN? (Isn't TCSN what George used to use?) Also, what about Juno or Earthlink?