Broadband: Dial up internet
Recent Ofcom figures suggest around 12% of UK internet users still have dial up. Among members of the Which? online panel, it’s just 3% according to our 2008 survey.
Many of you said you have dial up internet rather than broadband to save on cost as you only pay for what you use. Others think it’s too much hassle to switch, don’t use the internet enough, or haven’t got round to upgrading.
Just 6% of respondents said they use dial up internet because broadband isn’t available in their area.
How to choose
There are plenty of dial up ISPs to choose from. But switching from one to another can be a hassle – you may have to change your email address, for example – so it’s worth checking out several dial up ISPs before signing up.
Dial up internet customer satisfaction
Whatever your reason for choosing dial up, there's no reason to put up with a less than satisfactory service. The Which? dial up internet customer satisfaction chart can help you decide - it's based on ratings of nearly 500 online panel members who use dial up.
PAYG vs subscription dial up
One benefit of dial up is that most ISPs offer a pay as you go (PAYG) option where you pay per minute for the amount of time you spend online. If you don’t use the internet very much, this type of dial up would suit you.
Charges are no more than a few pence per minute. Waitrose, for example, charges 3p per minute during week days and 1p per minute for evening and weekend dial up use.
Because there's no minimum fee, you don't pay a penny if you don't use the dial up service. So PAYG dial up can also be a useful back up for broadband users who want to be sure of being able to get online if their broadband service goes down.
If you want to spend lots of time online, for a fixed monthly fee, you can get a dial up package offering capped or unlimited access, or unlimited access at certain times of the day.
Dial up usage caps
Many subscription dial up services place limits on their services to prevent people from staying online all of the time. These are often around 150 to 200 hours per month, although some also apply daily limits.
Some dial up ISPs charge less for services that are capped at a relatively low usage allowance, such as 60 hours per month. Many ISPs also time out after, say, 20 minutes of inactivity, or two hours of constant use. This means you have to dial up again for a new connection when this happens.
Dial up speed
Waiting for web pages to download over a dial up connection can be a constant frustration for internet surfers. There are several links in the chain that will affect the speed of your internet connection, but much of it is down to your ISP.
Even with the best dial up ISP, you’ll face waits to download big files. To reduce these, consider upgrading to a broadband internet connection.