I was looking around for a dialup ISP tonight and thought, “oh hey, what about Juno”. They (and Netzero) offer 10 hours of free dialup via their free dialer (I did try without the dialer, using both username and [email protected] login conventions but alas; it looks like their dialer does something a bit juicier than straight up RAS).
Juno’s dialer software is ~version 8, last released in 2016, and has a buffer overrun.
That would be “hell nope”.
Some other options for dialup providers (I’ve not tested these, at least not yet)
- copper.net
- dialup4less
- basicisp (same PO box as copper.net, unclear if same folks)
- dslextreme (unclear if custom dialer software needed)
but do note the profitability of dialup services is no doubt waning, and additional charges such as setup fees or an extra monthly service fee may also be present when signing up with a dialup ISP.
It does appear some of the FreeNet’s like the Vancouver Community Network and National Region Free Network still offer dialup services, but do donate if you opt for one of these choices to help with opcosts.
Now, one might be wondering why on earth anyone would want dialup in this day and age of broadband? A lot of areas still don’t have it, and indeed, many areas in the USA have now lost 3G and dialtone is the only connectivity available. In an emergency or even for just light weight telecommunications, a straight up dialup connection in text or even low speed PPP/SLIP is more than enough to keep in touch and up to date.
But not at the expense of having to install compromised custom dialer/ad-serving software.
