Does your phone company offer ISDN lines? While ISDN still is very slow (some say it's stands for It Still Does Nothing) compared to cable, DSL or sat, it can be better than dial-up. If you can get your phone company to install an ISDN line there are many National Dial-up Providers that can give you access to a single or dual channel ISDN line. Most do have a hours per month restriction but the few people that have used it through our company found it to be enough to meet their needs.

Also phone line quality is a big issue for those still forced to use d/u. Really old lines that have been tapped to the hilt will perhaps not sound bad when on the phone but won't support more than 28-38 k on a 56k Modem if your lucky. If you call the phone company (at least in CA) and complain, they'll tell you that they don't support more than 9 k!! What I tell my clients in this case is to complain about basic phone quality and NEVER mention internet and if you keep complaining and get your neighbors involved, they will eventually clean it up. It's a matter of playing the game.

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