Free Dialup ISP's that work well with Dreamcast

[peccatum]

We all know that most free ISP's stink, with high pings, and low speeds....

However, I have tried really hard to find some good ISP's and try them out,
So here they are...

http://www.freedialup.org/
Important quotes from site

Currently our commercial service area includes Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Southern Florida. This service is made possible due to excess capacity on our modem pools as well as to support internet community.


We have a few restrictions. First we blocked access to SMTP (Outgoing Mail Server) port, so you can not use your email client to send mail. We have also blocked port 119 for newsgroup access. This is because we don't want any spammers abusing our service.

How do I connect to FreeDialup?
Setup a dialup networking (DUN) to call one of our numbers. Use your phone number as your username and your password.
New Hampshire (Main Site):

603-371-5050

Massachusetts:

617-313-4444

508-470-4444

781-524-4444

978-434-4444

413-728-4444

Rhode Island:

401-584-4444


Pros -
Free
OK speeds

Cons-
Only in New England
High pings if You're not in the states listed.

Metconnect.com
http://www.metconnect.com/signup.html

sign up with a user name and password (thats it) Use something easy to type on DC...
Welcome to MetConnect, New York City's Free Internet Service Provider

* No burdensome advertising banners

* No privacy invading tracking software

* No mandatory links to be clicked

* No time limits

User name and Password are your DUN info.

Access Numbers:

212-359-2000

347-562-0000

516-630-2000

631-236-0000

646-496-0000

845-727-9001

914-595-8001

Pros-
Free
GREAT speeds

Cons-
ONLY IN NEW YORK




http://www.fastfreedialup.com

any username and password
Nothing else to put here besides their website sucks

Pros-
Free
CRAPLOAD of access numbers, way to many to put here

Cons-
California exclusive

http://www.juno.com/free
Pros-
Free
NATIONWIDE

Cons-
Slightly slower
LONG signup
Ads when browsing web
Limited to 10 Hours a month without a special trick


# Free Internet Access - Surf the Web free for 10 hours a month*
# Reliable Connections - Thousands of access numbers nationwide*

Ok, so the trick for all you cheapskates is to do this -- put in your "dialing prefix" menu this number ( *67 ) the caller ID blocker.
Thats it


Hope I could help everyone!

PS- Hey MODs? can I have a sticky? Pretty Please? Thanks!
RE- THANKS for the sticky!

sssss

[madmax2069]

Netzero still works as well. its just like Juno (hell i think they are the same). You do have to use a conversion chart with your password for netzero http://tinyurl.com/2du4yz7 and i had to format my username like 9:[email protected] (might have to follow some sort of software version #) or it would not connect.

[game_player_s]

Yeah, NetZero and Juno are both owned by a company named United Online.

The NetZero username and password conversion issue isn't the only problem with using NetZero. The PC dialer software, which you obviously won't be using on the DC, is part of an eloborate setup to prevent anyone from leaving their PC idle whille connected to the internet or defeating the advertising banner/box.

For free account users, the software pings the connection server once every ten to fifteen minutes to check for new advertisements to the ad banner/box. If the software fails to ping after the fifteen minute mark NetZero will terminate your internet connection.

For paid NetZero accounts, like the one I have, the software pings forty-five minutes after the last web page change or refresh. At which point a pop-up box will appear to let you know you're connection has been idle for forty-five minutes and that if you don't click the "stay connected" button in the box you will be disconnected in 60 seconds, which is shown with a countdown timer. And it doesn't care if you're playing an online game or chatting using an IM program, NetZero really only counts web page refreshes as being connected activity. So for instance, I have to play PC PSO in windowed mode or else the pop-up to warn me my connection has been idle will not show up.

What I'm gettin at is, if you did pay the $9.99 per month for an unlimited NetZero account you would only get 45 minute clips of online play time with the DC.

And if you use the free account you will only get up to 15 minute clips of online play time with the DC. And I know this from first hand experience.

[Het_Nkik]

Juno doesn't seem to work. Not with Dreamcast web browsers anyway.

Any page I try to load brings me to a Juno page telling me I can't use the internet because I'm not using the official Juno browser.

[davyK]

UK people can use this:
http://www.aardvaak.net/free-isp-dreamcast.html

It works - I've tried it and just browsed a little bit - but it seemed OK to me. You will of course need DreamKey 3 to use this but I got a disc off eBay sealed for a few quid..

[alexh86]

Juno doesn't seem to work. Not with Dreamcast web browsers anyway.

Any page I try to load brings me to a Juno page telling me I can't use the internet because I'm not using the official Juno browser.

Has anyone tried to use the free Juno account for gameplay? I don't need to use the web browser but would sign up for the free account if it worked for gameplay. Going to the page, they seem to be pretty strict about which OS you are running. It won't even let you sign up for an account if you are not using Windows. This makes me think it wouldn't work at all for Dreamcast.

[noiseredux]

I was never able to get Juno to work for games on my DC, though I gave up kind of quickly. When I have some time I'm gonna check out that FreeDialup one though, as I am in New England.

[alexh86]

Has anyone tried vtrocket.com? They aren't free but they are the cheapest paid dial-up ISP I've ever seen. Reading through their FAQ, their terms seem very favorable as well. If you buy 30 hours/month (probably less than most of us have our Dreamcasts online each month) and buy a year at once, the cost divides out to $2.90 USD per month. They also will just cut your service after the 30 hours are used rather than kill you with overage charges. They have local access numbers all over the US, don't spam you with ads or share your info, and will even give you a prorated refund if you cancel before the year is over. I will let all of you know how it is if I decide to take the plunge.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that they also specifically name the Dreamcast as compatible with their service.

[noiseredux]

EDIT: I forgot to mention that they also specifically name the Dreamcast as compatible with their service.

^that is really intriguing. Let us know if you take the plunge.

[noiseredux]

FYI, FreeDialup got rid of MA and RI access numbers, so it's NH-only now.