telephone dial - up is n’t beat . According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project , as of March 2007 , 23 percent of home cyberspace user still practice dial - up . This is specially true in rural expanse where high - speed broadband incursion is only 31 percent . traveller also use telephone dial - up Internet services . Some hotels only offer telephone dial - up , and in some locations it ’s prosperous to find a telephone set connecter than an net café .
If you sign up up for a normal telephone dial - up net plan , you ’ll pay around $ 10 to $ 20 a month for outright access ( although there are additional fees for dialing in from outside the land ) . But not everyone needs unlimited minute . What if you do most of your connection surfriding at oeuvre and only need a dwelling connection to check your einsteinium - mail once or twice a day ? Or maybe you just want dial - up access as a backup in sheath your broadband association fails .
This is where postpaid Internet come in . prepay net works just like a prepaid career bill . You buy a sure amount of moment for a fit price and only yield for using those minutes . There are no monthly charges . When you hunt down out of bit , you simply buy more . Here ’s how a typical postpaid Internet design works :
There are also prepaid Internet services that allow you to grease one’s palms minutes online or recharge your report without buying a physical card .
In this HowStuffWorks clause , we ’re going to explain the advantage and disadvantages of prepaid Internet , discourse different type of prepaid programme and what to look for in a postpaid Internet supplier .
Let ’s start with the advantages of postpaid Internet .
Advantages of Prepaid Internet
The chief vantage of prepaid net is that you could use it as small or as much as you like . If you ’re a light Internet drug user – only log on on occasion to ascertain e - mail or the conditions – then you ’ve no need for limitless monthly minutes .
If you expend the cyberspace periodically – a lot one calendar month , almost never the next calendar month – you’re able to buy the appropriate minutes for your usage habits .
Or perhaps you have broadband at family , but you ’re looking for a " plan vitamin B complex " if you unexpectedly drop off overseas telegram or DSL Internet access . Most postpaid Internet cards are good for a year . you may invest in one $ 10 board a year and keep it in a drawer as a relief .
Prepaid net also is helpful for travelers . Most prepaid Internet providers come with tens of 1000 of local access numbers , national and external . Wherever your change of location take you , all you need is a headphone line to get at the cyberspace . If there ’s no local access figure available , most architectural plan also come with toll - free access numbers that are charge at a gamy per - moment rate .
Even if you do n’t have access to a landline telephone connection , you may practice your cell phone as a modem . Here ’s how it works :
Prepaid Internet is also just for hoi polloi with deferred payment job . Most monthly cyberspace overhaul plan require a credit card for billing . prepay Internet cards , however , can be purchase with cash [ informant : Phone+ ] .
Finally , prepaid Internet can be a good way for parent to control their children ’s Internet use [ source : Phone+ ] . If a kid is given one $ 10 card a calendar month , then he can only use that many bit .
Now allow ’s look at a few drawbacks of postpaid net .
Disadvantages of Prepaid Internet
The main disadvantage of prepaid Internet is that it ’s slow . The standard dial - up cyberspace speed is 56 kbps , which is the maximum data point electrical capacity of a digital phone transmission line in the United States . Dial - up Internet connections make it painfully slow to consider image and nearly impossible to stream music or video . According to thePew Internet & American Life Project , 57 percent of Internet user watch on-line telecasting .
We should note that several postpaid Internet providers offer prepaid " broadband , " which still run over a headphone line . We ’ll spill more about this service of process in the next segment .
Another disadvantage of postpaid net is that you need to bribe another card or reload your write up whenever your minutes run out . Until you do that , you ’ll be without cyberspace access . This means you have to keep caterpillar tread of how many minute of arc you have left so you wo n’t be surprised when they expire . There are several unlike ways that you could keep track of your minutes with postpaid net :
Another problem is losing or draw a blank your access number . If you purchase many postpaid cyberspace cards , then each one has its own long access phone number . If you mislay the scorecard or forget the figure , then you lose the money you pay for the calling card .
Also , if you ’re a backbreaking net user , or you need to get at the cyberspace from outside of the country , prepaid cyberspace card can become expensive . If you be after to use the net for more than just checking eastward - mail or emergencies , a monthly plan might be more economical .
Now have ’s look at your selection when choosing a prepaid Internet architectural plan .
Prepaid Internet Plans
A basic prepaid Internet plan prognosticate a set amount of second for a sure price . But it ’s important to read the ok print . The amount of minute listed on the bill or quoted in the plan look on your location . For most U.S. prepaid net plans , you only get the full amount of minute if you ’re dialing up through a local access number within the adjacent United States and Canada ( not Hawaii or Alaska ) .
Let ’s say you buy a prepaid Internet bill of fare that enjoin 600 minutes for six dollars . Your literal number of minutes – or how much you ’re charged per minute – depends on where you ’re dial from and whether you ’re using a local access or toll - complimentary act :
There are also particular outside programme for frequent traveller , offering better rate for sure external location .
In addition to individual prepaid cyberspace plans , you’re able to also contract up for group or corporate architectural plan . incarnate plan declare oneself some advantages for businesses that need to provide employee with dial - up access while off from the role :
Some prepaid cyberspace providers bid what they call postpaid " broadband . " They claim to use special server to rush up download and upload speeds beyond the conventional 56 kilobyte telephone dial - up modem . These are not , in fact , true prepaid broadband connections , since they work through the same telephone dial - up applied science . The provider make no claims to the actual focal ratio of their " wideband " armed service , other than it ’s faster than normal dial - up . For more information on how this works , check out outHow High - Speed Dial - up Works .
WiFi access is another service offer by a few prepaid cyberspace providers . With prepaid WiFi , you could use some of your minutes surfing wirelessly from blue-ribbon WiFi hotspots . Generally , you pay more per moment for this service .
In Europe , Australia and elsewhere , there ’s also something called prepaid mobile cyberspace . prepay wandering cyberspace apply 3 GB mobile devices like a BlackBerry , iPhone and other smartphones as modems to connect a computer to the cyberspace . It resembles using a cell phone as a modem , except that these devices can transmit data at a faster rate . postpaid mobile is advertize as " wideband " since it transmits at rate up to 115 kbps [ source : bmobile ] . postpaid mobile Internet typically charges by the kilobyte or megabyte of data point transplant .
Now permit ’s verbalize about what you should look for when choosing a prepaid net provider .
Prepaid Internet Providers
There are many prepaid net providers out there , so it ’s important to know your choice . First of all , many prepaid Internet providers command you to download special computer software or run an induction CD before you could use their serve . That ’s not a problem for a lot of people , but if you want to avoid having to get at the Internet through a particular programme , look for ISPs that take into account you to simply configure your computing machine to dial into the service .
You ’ll also want to take care for a prepaid cyberspace avail provider that has a lot of local access turn . Most of the ISPs ' Web internet site admit a list of all their local access numbers . await up your hometown , plus any other destination to which you journey frequently . Dialing up through a local accession numeral , as defend to a toll - free bit , is much gimcrack , sometimes half the price .
For toilet facility , you might want to look for a postpaid Internet provider that allow you to buy plans and recharge invoice online . Most ISPs now volunteer this choice , but there are a few that only sell architectural plan through prepaid Internet cards sold mostly in gizmo stock .
A prepaid Internet provider is only as dependable as its internet . Look for ISPs that apply established telephony networks with dependable repute for high call quality and few example of connection downtime .
But mostly you need to depend for a service that gibe your especial need . If you ’re a sale handler look for chintzy out - of - office cyberspace access for your sales squad , then focus on incorporated prepaid Internet supplier . If you just need a reliable accompaniment for your dwelling house broadband electronic internet , then find a card that last the long clock time without expiring . If you holiday in an RV park with WiFi , see if the ISP offers prepaid cyberspace .
For lots more information on prepaid net , see the helpful liaison on the next pageboy .
