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A dialer software dials into another computer to give you internet connectivity. Many ISPs these days release dialer software that comes bundled with unnecessary extra features. This results in the bandwidth being wasted and the computer slowing down. PeoplePC dialer, for example, always keeps a window open that shows ads and links in the form of their website. If you close this window, you get disconnected automatically.

You can easily bypass the dialer software and go online by creating a dialup connection yourself. I will use Microsoft Windows as an example OS for this: go to your “Control panel” and double click on the “Network Connections” icon. Then, click on “Create a new connection” to open the “New Connection Wizard.” You will be asked about the type of connection you want and the way you want to connect. Choose the “Connect to the Internet” and “Set up my connection manually” options respectively. You will then be asked about the nature of your connection hardware. Choose “Connect using a dial-up modem” option for this.

This will create a dialup connection for you in the network connections area of the control panel. Simply double click this connection and enter the following three pieces of information whenever you want to start connecting to your ISP:

Information you need to connect to your ISP

1. Your ISP username that you chose while signing up
2. Your ISP password that you chose while signing up
3. A local access number to dial into

A local access number is a number you dial into to get an internet connection. I have listed below the local access numbers for some major ISPs within the United States to help you:

List of local access numbers for a few major ISPs

• AOL dialup access numbers
• AT&T and SBC Yahoo dialup access numbers
• Earthlink dialup access numbers
• Fry’s dialup access numbers
• NetZero dialup access numbers

Sometimes it is not easy to find local access numbers for an ISP through their website. For example, I could not find a list of access numbers on the PeoplePC website. If you run into a similar situation, follow these four steps to find a list of local access numbers:

4 steps to find out local access numbers for your ISP

1. Install the ISP dialer program.”What!? I was just told that it’s the most evil thing in the world!“, you are thinking. Do not worry. We will remove the dialer program in the fourth step.
2. Use the dialer software to find a list of local access numbers. The dialer software will show you a list of local access numbers before it connects you to the internet.
3. Write down all the local access numbers for later reference.
4. Uninstall the dialer software.

You now have a list of local access numbers you can use to connect to the internet. Whenever you feel like surfing the web, simply go into your network connections area and open the connection you created. The benefits of taking this route are simple: you save time by connecting in fewer steps, you do not install any additional programs that you do not need, and you end up saving a little bit bandwidth.

I hope this helps you in some way. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know either via email or by posting a comment here. Thank you for reading this.

Updates
I am getting several e-mails from many people asking questions about the direct dialing route I post above. I will slowly add updates to this page to include any questions that may help you successfully dial into your ISP without using your ISP’s dialer software.

February 15th, 2007 - 9:05 am PST

The following question was sent to me by a wonderful reader who said that basically they could not connect directly to PeoplePC using my method above when they used their usernames which otherwise worked well when used in the PeoplePC dialer software. If you enter your username and it gets denied, try entering your full PeoplePC or your ISP e-mail address in the login box [like username@peoplepc.com ] . That should solve the issue. If you are using your e-mail to login, try entering only your username [username instead of username@peoplepc.com ]. Basically you are switching the two to see if you can login, and in most cases, you will be able to login without further issues. Thank you.

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It was very easy to sign up. I called 1-888-TW-CABLE [1-888-892-2253] and was told that some technicians could come to my place after 10 days. My SBC renewal date was coming up, so I decided to call again after a few minutes to get some other person on the line to help me. I called back after about 3 minutes and was told that someone could come over in 2 days. That was great. So far, calling Time Warner over the phone to get a new service was a good experience, and very fast.

The contracted technicians came and hooked up the new cable to the house. The technicians gave me a receipt and told me that they had no welcome package or any other paperwork for me, as the service was so easy to use. For me, that was fine as I already knew how to use the service. However, I wondered how new customers who had never used a broadband connection before would get started without a welcome package. For me, though, the service worked flawlessly and it was at least 3 times faster than the dsl connection I had from SBC.

On Tuesday, December 5th, around 3 pm, my internet connection dropped suddenly. I called the Time Warner helpline and heard an automated recording that talked about the entire Adelphia network in my region being upgraded at that moment, and the possibility of the entire process continuing until 11 pm, Thursday. The recording also told callers not to call regarding any connection issues until then. For me, that was unacceptable and a good example of bad communication. One of the last things a company would want is for customers to panic, and having no internet connection all of a sudden without any notice or a warning surely results in many customers who go crazy. I didn’t get anything in the mail regarding this, nor was I emailed anything. I could live without the connection for a few hours, but being prepared for such a thing is better. Unexpected surprises that are unpleasant are, well, unpleasant. The connection did come back on for me after a few hours on the same day, and it’s been good since then.

Communication is the central key to any good relationship, whether it be a one on one relationship or a business relationship. The recording on helpline did address my specific question right away. Even then, however, I would prefer a message coming from the businesses to the customers notifying them of any outages in advance, instead of customers reaching out helplessly to the businesses asking them about any sudden emergencies or issues.

Has anything similar happened to you? What is your outtake on this?

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