[Ham-Computers] RE: What ISP for an Old Computer

[Jim Hill]

Thanks to Aaron and others who responded to my request.  I no longer have 
the computer, so phoned him for info.

Minimum Requirements:
I guess for whatever the reason, there are requirements.  Unfortunately 
many/most sites don't list them, sales personnel don't know, and getting a 
free answer (or even contacting them before you sign up) is a problem.  I'm 
currently checking Access4Free, and have sent my second email to their tech 
support.  No answer from my first email.  I used Access4Free on another old 
time computer given to another friend.  Don't know the spec's of that one, 
and unfortunately this friend has terminal cancer so can't check. Earthlink 
is an example of a site with good info, 
see  http://www.earthlink.net/home/software/sysreq/

Purchasing more ram:
 From my experience with a Dell just any ram doesn't work.  Appropriate RAM 
for that vendor costs about twice that of other ram of the same general 
type.  I think it is another profit center for manufacturers.  I checked a 
Crucial and another on-line site with no luck.   I think the computer is an 
ACER Aspire AB164.009, but will need to contact him again to be sure.  I 
was dubious about spending money, so didn't look too hard.  I would 
appreciate names of other sources.

Local ISP's:
My friend says he checked the yellow pages, but I'll query him again.

What microprocessor, etc:
  Where do you check on a Win95/98 machine for this info, particularly 
microprocessor speed?

This computer originally was used by a school teacher, who had access to 
her school district ISP.  She accessed the net, sent email, etc.,  but 
after some major virus problems (I couldn't talk her into spending money 
for an anti-virus program) she bought a new computer.  In retrospect, she 
did the right thing - and this time is using an anti-virus program.  I 
eliminated the problem by reformatting the hard drive.  Since the computer 
was on the net before, I figured it could be on the net again and give my 
friend some experience before actually spending money for one reasonably up 
to date.

Thanks again for your help.  I'll be leaving shortly for a long weekend, 
but will check this coming Monday .
73's Jim w6ivw



At 10:44 AM 10/6/2004 -0700, you wrote:
>No ISP actually "requires" any memory on your system.  The requirement is
>actually for the software used to do the on-line "sign-up".  There's often
>also additional software installed for connection diagnostics and possibly a
>proprietary connection gateway of some sort.
>
>In reality, Win9x/2K/XP all have built-in dial-up and networking
>capabilities.  For example, if I wanted to sign-up for SBC DSL, they require
>64MB and recommended 128MB RAM.  The reason is that the installation CD they
>send install several applications - a customized version of Internet
>Explorer, a connection manager, a diagnostic tool, a PPoE client (SBC uses
>PPoE for DSL), the DSL modem manager, and some other crap.  Are any of these
>things absolutely necessary?  No.  Only the PPoE is needed to make the
>connection and even this can be bypassed if you use a $60 router with PPoE
>support.  The only thing that is really "required" is the ability of your
>computer to connect to either a dial-up "POP" or an ethernet network.  The
>software is for ease of installation and diagnosing problems when you need
>to call SBC with a problem.
>
>Unfortunately, 24MB of RAM *IS* pretty limiting.  32MB is recommended just
>for Win95/98 and a "sweet spot" is 64MB to 128MB.  Recommended minimums for
>Win2K and WinXP are 128MB and I usually advise at least 256MB.  Stripped
>down versions of Linux will run fine with 8 or 16MB, but I don't think any
>browsers will work.
>
>Do you have any additional specs on this system?  A model number?  CPU type
>and speed?  Type of RAM?  HD size?  This info will definitely determine
>whether or not it will be worth spending the time to get the system 'net
>ready.  There are many people on the list who might have older parts lying
>around cheap or even free.
>
>73,
>
>   - Aaron Hsu, NN6O (ex-KD6DAE)
>     {nn6o}@arrl.net
>     {athsu}@nbcuni.com
>     No-QRO Int'l #1,000,006
>     . -..- - .-. .-   ".... . .- ...- -.--"
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jim Hill [mailto:hro5-2 at cox.net]
>Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 5:47 PM
>To: "mailto:"@mailman.qth.net
>Subject: [Ham-Computers] What ISP for an Old Computer
>
>
>Hi:
>I'm helping an impoverished friend get on the net.  He has a donated old
>computer, an ACER with only 24 megs of ram.  Unfortunately, at least 32
>megs of ram is needed for all ISP' s we have checked, aside from possibly
>AOL.  My friend doesn't have a credit card, and AOL chargers an additional
>$5.00/mo for billing.  I've looked for additional ram, but no luck so far.
>Also, I'm not sure it's a good idea to spend any money upgrading that
>computer.
>
>Can anybody suggest a suitable ISP?
>Thanks, Jim, w6ivw
>
>_______________________________________________
>Ham-Computers mailing list
>Ham-Computers at mailman.qth.net
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ham-computers