Adding a Dial-up account as a backup to Broadband

Dial-up (Pay-As-You-Go) Accounts

These are very handy if your Broadband connection happens to go down or is faulty. Most Dial-up (Pay-As-You-Go) accounts cost about 3 pence per minute, which is expensive, but at least you can check for urgent emails that you might be waiting for. You will be able to surf the internet, but those 3 pences soon mount up on your phone bill, so be careful.

This can be done even if your Broadband connection has actually failed, but you would need to print this out and keep it as a reference. This happened to me and I was waiting for an urgent email reply, so these are my notes of how I did it for a UK account using Windows XP (Vista may be different, and so might other countries).

1. Connect your modem lead up and plug it into your phone line socket.
2. The following is a list of links you need to click:-
3. Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections > Setup
4. The "New Connection Wizard" should appear, so click "Next" to continue.
5. Tick "Connect to the Internet", then click "Next".
6. Tick "Choose from a list of Internet Service Providers (ISPs)", then click "Next" and then "Finish".

The Wizard should now close, and the "Online Services" window should open.

1. Double click the "Refer me to more Internet Service Providers" link.
2. Ignore the "Use MSN" link, unless you are in the U.S.
3. It should now dial out on a (UK) 0800 number.
4. Your firewall will probably ask you to grant permission, so you'll need to temporarily allow it.
5. A list of available ISP's should appear.
6. Choose a Pay-As-You-Go account of your choice by clicking it, then follow their instructions.
7. You will have to choose an email name, but as this is going to be a temporary measure, anything will do.

What has actually happened is that it has downloaded a list of ISP's (for your own country) that are available to you. These are not the only ones, but they are the main large providers which they recommend.

How to switch between Broadband and Dial-up

Your Broadband is back up and running again (hooray!), so you now want to return to using it.

• Go into Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections, then:-
• Tick "Never dial a Connection" to use your Broadband account.
• Tick "Always dial my default connection" to use your Dial-up account.
• It's as simple as that, and you can switch back and forth as much as you want.

When you've finished using your Dial-up connection, always pull the phone lead out of the socket, just to be absolutely sure the connection has terminated, or it's possible you might be faced with a hefty phone bill.

How to remove a Dial-up account

• If the account was terminated, or you just don't want it any more:-
• Go into Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > Connections, then:-
• Select the Dial-up account from the window, and click "Remove".
• Then tick "Never dial a Connection".

How to use Dial-up

If you've never used a dial-up account before, be prepared for a shock as it goes at a snail's pace. If you have more than one phone, tell everyone not to touch the phone or it will disconnect you. My wife has cut me off by trying to make a call on the other phone, while I've been surfing the net.

1. By clicking your Internet Explorer icon, it should bring up the Dial-up Connection box.
2. Click the "Connect" button.
3. There is usually another box that pops up with the dialing details.
4. If these are correct, hit the "Dial" button.
5. It should now take you to the default homepage, which will normally be the ISP's homepage.
6. You can change this in the Internet Options > General window, by typing in a new homepage address.
7. When you close Internet Explorer, it should ask whether to Stay Connected or Disconnect Now.
8. Select which one you require.

1. When checking your email, provided that you have Always dial my default connection selected, it should attempt to dial-up when you select Send or Receive.
2. When you close Outlook Express (or whatever email client you're using), it should ask whether to Stay Connected or Disconnect Now.
3. Select which one you require.
4. If it doesn't or you're not sure, disconnect the phone line from the socket. Better safe than a large phone bill.

Note 1: Even though you've created this account using a new email address, you don't need to use it, as your regular email should work as normal. I have many emails such as Gmail, my private ISP email and others which I use for different purposes, and they all worked fine. You could however configure your email client to use this new address, if you so wished.

Note 2: Some ISP's may close your account if it is not used within a certain time period (example: some are 90 days, but others vary). If you Don't use it and Lose it, no sweat. Just delete it and create a new one!