Eat well
I got my first computer in 1998 and it took two days for me to learn I needed an ISP, which in those days was a dial-up connection. (at a monthly cost, of course)
Since then, I have played ISP tag dropping one for another a little less expensive. The last dial up I had was $9.95 a month ... very slow, but all I did was read FreeRepublic and play Freecell, (with the required Google searches prompted by FR articles)
THEN, folks started posting Youtube links that sometimes I watched the next day after leaving the machine on all night long to download (true story!!)
Now I have Comcast highspeed, which is pretty good except ... I STILL have occasional foul weather issues reminiscent of the old phoneline dial up.
So ... what exactly does one need to go on line without an ISP of some kind?
Is it really so complicated or expensive?
Steal your neighbor’s wi-fi....
p.s., Freerepublic and Freecell are the best things to do with a computer....
Unless you want to shell out some money for a T1, you will need some sort of service provider, be it cable, DSL, or wireless. There are places that provide free WiFi, however, I assume you mean at home instead of trudging to the library every time you want to get online.
move to NY
You’d be amazed at how many of your neighbors have unsecured wifi available.
Of course, that would be stealing...
first off, you've got to be sure you're logged in ... are you?
Yes and yes.
I have DSL.
My power went out earlier this week for about 6 hours.
But my phone still worked, so I rigged up stuff to get power to my DSL box so I could get online.
Nix, nada, zip. Even though the phone was working, the DSL subcomponent would not connect.
So there ust be some relay type equipment upstream used by the DSL stuff that runs off of the public power, so it was out also.
You can’t.
You’re asking for electrical service without powerlines, prepackaged foods without grocery stores, books without publishers. Ain’t happenin’.
To connect to FR (or whatever website or other internet-connected computer) you need to rent space/time on the infrastructure between FR and you. The owner of that infrastructure, or whatever piece thereof you’re going to connect to, _is_ your ISP. SOMEBODY owns whatever piece of the internet you’re using to connect, and you’re going to have to pay for that connection. Your only alternative is drive to CA, find Jim Robinson, and talk him into letting you plug into the FR computer(s) directly.
Remember: ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. If you want internet service, you’re going to pay someone to provide it to you. “The Internet” is not free; it’s toll roads the whole way.
ISP = Internet Service Provider
If you want to connect to the Internet, you either have to go through an ISP or become one. To become one, there is a whole lot of expensive equipment to purchase, people to hire, connections to be made ... and guess what, you will STILL be connecting to other ISPs.
So the short of it is.... there always has to be an ISP. However the technology on how you connect to that ISP can differ. Generally speaking, your choices are land line, wireless or broadband.
Land line starts at dial up, passes through ISDN, then to DSL and goes up to T1 lines and higher.
Wireless can be mobile phone as a modem, 3G, wifi, satellite, microwave, etc.
Broadband is generally either cable or fiber optic but in some rare instances can be delivered via power lines.
In short... no, you have to have an ISP and you are limited by what they offer and the means of getting that connectivity to your house.
What you would like to become is a “peered” ISP.....
I own a small wireless ISP in SE Florida, we’ve invested close to $3.5M for this network.
Not to mention the re-occurring cost or human overhead necessary to manage it.....
Find a reliable ISP in your area and pay your $45/mo.
$30/month form Quest. $70/month Blue Sky or Hughs net.
Eat well
Obama’s gonna give you free broadband. Of course he’ll be sure that the internet is scrubbed of any undesirable content and the IRS will be there to tax your hard drive content.
Do you use a laptop or a desktop? I think you can even use wireless internet on a desktop with some cell phone providers and weather isn’t too much of an issue. You are always going to be paying SOMEONE for the connection. It’s like saying “I want to be able to call people, but I get sick of paying the phone company.” I mean unless you want to hook a line up directly to everyone you might call, you are going to have to use SOMEONE’s service. Might as well pay the company that has the infrastructure up already.
However there are satellite internet companies out there. But even then you will have connection issues if a heavy storm is in the area.
Well, okay, I suppose you could make yourself your own ISP, but the cost would be prohibitive.