Until recently, I lacked broadband. Then through a miracle, wireless broadband made it across the hills and downs last year. But it's not enough. While I love my providers for being first, I still can have a spotty connection at times. I need backup! Today's a good example. Wireless has been down all morning, forcing me back to dial-up through AOL.

Now BT has finally upgraded our exchange, so backup via ADSL is possible. Time to pick a provider. I went with AOL. AOL? Yes, I've long had a dial-up account with AOL because of the flexibility it gives me during travel. No matter where I've gone, Australia, Germany, the US or the UK, I can always get connected somehow via AOL.

My AOL dial-up account cost 15.99 pounds per month. I needed to maintain that account for the occasional travel, so looking at what broadband provided made send. At first glance, the "silver" account at only 17.99 seemed an easy jump to make. Just a bit more and "All AOL Dial-Up features*"

Oops. What's the * calling out? Down in the details, you find:

* If you access AOL through our narrowband network (i.e. via a standard dial-up telephone connection), then you will have to pay per minute local rate call charges. The local call rate charge will not apply when you connect to AOL through your Broadband connection. The local call rate charges only apply when connecting through a dial-up modem.

So for the privilege of paying AOL 2 pounds per month more, I lose all the advantages of free dial-up access when elsewhere in the UK. Hey, thanks for that great feature. Now when traveling, I'll have to use a nationally charged number at 1p per minute.

It's not that big a deal, as I don't travel that much and tend to find wireless or wired broadband now provided by hotels (at a rate of around 10 pounds per day, itself a rip-off compared to dial-up, but I pay because it's so darn convenient for the speed).

AOL did tell me I could do the Broadband Gold plan, where for 31.99 per month, I could travel and have dial-up as well. That's 2 pounds more than its Platinum plan, all for the benefit of free local dial-up and no increase in broadband speed?

Here's an idea -- how about throwing in free dial-up as part of the gold or platinum plans?

Next Post: Goodbye AOL, Hello BT Broadband
Previous Post: Getting US TV Shows In The UK
All Posts: Daggle Archives
Posts By Category: Daggle Categories
Return To: Daggle Home Page

Comments

Want to comment? If you are signed into TypeKey, you'll see a form below. No form? Click on the sign-in link below, and you can sign-in or sign-up for a free account. Sorry you have to use TypeKey, but I use it to avoid comment spam. All comments currently appear automatically after posting.

Leave a comment

Name

Email Address

URL

Remember personal info?

Comments (You may use HTML tags for style)