small problem 2

[petermeachem]

I am a bit disappointed that no-one has bothered to reply to my request below. I am sure that a lot of the ppl in the forum are from the USA, and the answer is probably fairly obvious. I am from the UK and it isnt. Please help me on this.

We are off to the USA for our hols soon. I thought I ought (actually a customer thought this, not me) to do email support whilst I relax!

If I were coming to the UK instead, I would pick up a FreeServe disc, but I don't know the best and cheapest way to do this in the US. A hotmail account would be fine, but how do I dial them up. Are there free isp's? etc

Apparently the house we are staying has a phone, but not long distance, and requires a calling card. Could someone translate this into English for me please? Peter Meachem
peter@accuflight.com

 

[pansin]

The best and most reliable way is to sign up to a Global Access service. Your ISP should have a global access service of their own. If not AT&T has an excellent one and you can gain access in almost any country you travel to as long as you can get to a phone line. The downside is that there is a charge (small monthly charge) for this but it's worth it. They give you an ID and password and you download the necessary software and you're in business. In operation it's just like using your own service at home.

I'm not from the USA so I'm not sure what's available there in terms of free access. I'd go for the Global option where you pay a small amount each month and it's always available no matter where you go for your holidays. Come to think of it, just lie on the beach and forget about the

http://www and

e-mail

 

[pansin]

Peter : I forgot to add to my last post that you can get a calling card from your telecommunications provider/carrier (BT, Cable & Wireless) in the UK before you leave. It's essentially like a credit card but for telephone use only. If the house you're staying at is blocked to long distance (toll calls) you will need to dial the operator and tell them you want to make a calling card call. They will get you to quote your card number etc and they then connect you. However the card is set up by your carrier, you will get the bill when you get home and the charges will be converted into GBP from USD. Some calling cards are like the phone cards you use in public telephone booths where you insert them and during the course of the call, the charge is automatically deducted from the card.

I hope this helps and I hope despite these frustrations you have a great holiday.

Pat A

 

[petermeachem]

Cheers Pat, thats helpful. The lounge around on the beach option looks good, but I've a couple of customers having kittens. Not that they do ring me, but the might want to! Peter Meachem
peter@accuflight.com

 

[pansin]

Peter : I know only too well what you mean and I hope your kitten-laying customers appreciate your efforts to be available to them.

Have a great holiday. At least you'll be able to get some meat in the US so customer intrusion may be a small price to pay

Take care.
Pat

 

[petermeachem]

Contrary to popular opinion we can manage to buy meat in the uk. We also have electricity and some telephones, just a few obviously. Thanks for your help. Must go and mend the thatch. Peter Meachem
peter@accuflight.com

 

[mrcoons]

Depending upon where you are going in the US there are free ISP's that you can use to connect up with.

NetZero.Com
Bluelight.com

are 2 I can think of off the top of my head. The question would be if they have local numbers you can get to from where you will be in the US. You can check their websites and find out, as well as download their software if need be, before you leave home.

CNet.com would be a website that would lead you to all of the available free ISP's in the states.

Mark

 

[petermeachem]

Thanks, just the info I need. Peter Meachem
peter@accuflight.com

 

[nnash]

When I travel I use a service called FreeNet. Seems to work fairly well and they have local access numbers all over the US.

 

[littlebuddy]

You can also go to WalMart and get a CD for AOL. We get them in the mail all the time here - several hours for free. I recently heard that WalMart had them.