Anyone Use Laptop and AOL Dial up @ DVC?

[LIFERBABE]

I have an old Tecra laptop that I would need to take if we extend our trip out for another 2 weeks.

I rarely use it, but I am taking online courses and I really need to get away! I would also need to pay bills if we stay that long.

Can you use dial up at DVC resorts? Ive read about Hi Speed access but if I need to use the phone line will I be charged more. Are there extra fees involved?

Anyone with experience?

We will be at BCV and SSR (if we extend) if that makes a difference.

Thanks
Crystal

 

[beccasmom]

I used Hi-Speed access on my trip in February and it worked out very well. However, a few years back, I did log on using AOL....it worked fine, but was pricey. Check out the local numbers listed on this site (All-Ears) and remember that Disney charges for local calls...

http://allearsnet.com/pl/access.htm

 

[DBBN]

We use AOL dial-up while at the DVC resorts (usually at OKW) on a regular basis. We choose dial-up for the price advantage over the $10.00 or so per day the resort charges for the hi-speed access they offer. We check our e-mail messages and the DisBoards once, sometimes twice per day for a total of maybe 1 hour each day. We use a cable modem at home but still find dial-up at OKW to be reliable and acceptably fast. The resort charges .35 cents per call for DVC members - as noted by beccasmom check for local numbers.

Have fun.

 

[cseca]

Did the AOL thing a couple years back.
It worked well cuz we had a pretty fast computer.

Like DBBN said if you're DVC member 35cents/connect.
So not bad if you connect once in the morning and once at night which we did.

 

[LIFERBABE]

That's great news! Thank you!

My Tecra is so old, it could qualify as a desktop today and I sure dont want to lug it, but I really dont have a need for a new laptop so I'll bear it.

I received the AOL 60 day trial in the mail so I will use that.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

So if I have 3 hours of dial up free with AOL every month (I have DSL) does that mean for th ecost of one local call ($.60) I can go online?

Thanks for the info!

 

[DBBN]

So if I have 3 hours of dial up free with AOL every month (I have DSL) does that mean for th ecost of one local call ($.60) I can go online?

Thanks for the info!

Based on your statement I would say yes except that the price for each call to a local number for a DVC member is .35 cents. Make one local call and stay online for one 3 hour session and your cost is .35 cents.

Here is how my billing works. At home I have Cable as well as AOL BYOA (Bring Your Own Access). My monthly charge for unlimited AOL through other than AOL equipment/modems is $14.95. When at home I access AOL via my cable provider. Included with my AOL BYOA is 5 free hours of dial-up from a local phone number for each billing period (extra charges apply if I use their toll free number). Anything over the first 5 hours included in my plan is $2.95 per hour. So with my plan I can access dial-up on AOL from any of the DVC resorts for the first 5 hours when using a local phone number for the cost of the call which is .35 cents. One session for 5 hours is .35 cents. 5 sessions for 1 hour each is $1.75 (5 X .35).

 

[buzz5985]

I also have AOL BYOA for the $14.95/month with 5 free hours of dial up. I just noticed this past vacation that there is also a BYOA with 10 free hours of dial up for the same price of $14.95/month, so I switched to that during vacation.

I don't understand why one is 5 hours and the other is 10 hours for the same price. But I checked my bill and I wasn't charged for any of my dial up.

 

[DebbieB]

I used AOL dialup at OKW and BWV with no problem. I have DSL with BYOA at home. When I am going on vacation, I change my plan to unlimited dialup for that month ($24.95?) and then change it back when I get home. That way I don't have to watch the time when I'm on vacation.

 

[Disneyaholic]

Just double-check the AOL phone number you use with the front desk before you dial-up. Not all the Area Code 407 phone numbers are considered local calls. As long as you use one of the local numbers, each call will be 35 cents, for as long as you stay connected. If you get one of the other numbers, your phone bill may be huge!

 

[LIFERBABE]

Just double-check the AOL phone number you use with the front desk before you dial-up. Not all the Area Code 407 phone numbers are considered local calls. As long as you use one of the local numbers, each call will be 35 cents, for as long as you stay connected. If you get one of the other numbers, your phone bill may be huge!

How do you know they are telling you correctly? Do they call and check first or some other method. I just want to make sure I get solid info since the front desk is centralized.

 

[DBBN]

I also have AOL BYOA for the $14.95/month with 5 free hours of dial up. I just noticed this past vacation that there is also a BYOA with 10 free hours of dial up for the same price of $14.95/month, so I switched to that during vacation.

I don't understand why one is 5 hours and the other is 10 hours for the same price. But I checked my bill and I wasn't charged for any of my dial up.

Thanks for the tip buzz. It looks like we were both on one of their old plans. I just changed to the 10 hour plan and noticed the 5 hour plan is no longer offered. Thanks again.

 

[wdwstar]

since your laptop is so old, do you have problems with it freezing up or locking up and you have to restart it, and does AOL still have problems kicking you off and you would have to pay for another call. our laptop was not that old about 3 or 4 years old, Dell and it would run slow, lock up and we were always restarting the laptop. we were also using wireless connection. does your laptop have a place for wireless connection? if it does , in the long run, you could pick up a wireles card for around $40 and they always have rebates and other discounts. we finally invested in a new laptop just recently just because of the fact of the old one locking up. we brought it with us at easter and we used it several times, while at the dolphin $10 a day along with coffee, tea bottle water, whether you use the items or internet service or not. and the wireless worked great. then we were at the poly, they are still on the dial up method so we didnt use it there, the funny thing when we went outside wdw , you could actually get on the internet by wireless in some hotel parking lots DH was waiting for me to come out from a restaruant next to a hotel, picking up dinner and he was surfing the internet needless to say we ate dinner in the van Hey, maybe you can just sit in the parking lot of a non wdw hotel if you get the wireless to pay your bills & classes

 

[DBBN]

How do you know they are telling you correctly? Do they call and check first or some other method. I just want to make sure I get solid info since the front desk is centralized.

I was concerned with this as well. I can't seem to remember exactly how I sorted this out though. I believe I compared all of the available AOL numbers with the exchanges listed as local calling exchanges in the phone book and selected one of the local exchanges.

 

[rtobe]

I travel using a laptop with AOL dialup - just check the phone book at each DVC for what is considered a local call, white pages usually have this in the first 20 pages somewhere. I can't image that dial-up would be any different at DVC - as long as there access to the phone jack. When I have stayed at the WDW hotels including value resorts, this was never a problem. Some places charge for the local call and also start adding charges if you stay on-line for more than a set period of time - check the phone policy at DVC

 

[LIFERBABE]

Just wanted to say THANK YOU!!!

I dug my LT out of the closet this evening and had to call AOL to get logged on. I checked my rate plan and I had the $14.95 BYOA but no dial up hours at all!!

Thanks to this thread I knew to ask about the BYOA with dial up hours. She checked and came back with $9.95 with 10 free hours of dial up. So now I will have the computer access I need for less .

Man this thing is slow!!! I was ashamed to tell the AOL tech who was helping me as he named off operating systems, XP, NT, 98? And I said Windows 95 LOL!! Then he asked what version of AOL and Im running 6.0 but its working so im thrilled!!

Thanks Again and now I can check in on the Dis during my 1 month stay at DVC!