I'm in Northern Idaho, my Biz is in SC. I joined the local Marine Corps league here and I want to provide a dial-up service to the internet for our members......for FREE! I will donate my time and any equipment needed to make this happen. My Goal/Concept is simple. It will be used ONLY for Servicemember dial up access tot he internet...............for which THEY will pay nothing.

I did 24.5 years and I want to give something back to those less able. I was amazed at the number of vets up here that cannot afford dialup access or don't have the kowledge to do it............either way I am going to try..

If anyone has any information on where I need to start please post it here. We have a VFW that I can install the equipment at. I'm also willing to buy the bandwidth. I just need the right equipment/contact to get this thing off the ground...............

Semper Fi........

If you have DSL as your ISP they give you a list of #s for dialup access while not at home. I would think you could probably get enough guys togther to poll those and make this happen without much if any effort or cost.

That's a neat project. Here are some questions you should be thinking of:

How many users do you expect to be using this service?

What ratio of users to incoming phone lines is acceptable?

Who will be in charge of your technical support? (setting up new users, answering email questions, handling virus's, etc)

Hosting an ISP even for a dozen users is a good deal of work to set up.

Personally, I recommend striking a deal with an ISP to give your group cheap or free service. Go out and find sponsors to cover any additional costs.

You should be able to find a dial-up ISP for $5 to $10 per month for unlimited usage. Consider that your incoming phone lines are more expensive than that if you set up your own ISP.

Hope these thoughts help you in your very worthwhile project.

-Rob

Yes I am going to check that.............strike a deal.................

thanks for the tip......

Incase you have a hard time striking a good deal...

Something you might look into is the term "Reseller Program".

There are many Dial-up ISP's which offer a reseller program, while they provide everything including tech support. You might be able to buy 10 lines from them, and share them among 50 people, or something like that.

Best of luck... and THANK YOU for protecting my freedoms with your life. My children sleep safe at night thanks to Marines like yourself. I've been around the world and seen the difference you make.

Just came across this:

10 hours per month Free dial-up from NetZero

http://account.netzero.net/s/landing?gr ... &PID=61738

thanks much!