3 ms·
I still remember getting an $1,800 phone bill when I was 16 because the state I lived in split 2 counties into separate area codes and my ISP had a number I use
by nickjj 7y ago
I still remember getting an $1,800 phone bill when I was 16 because the state I lived in split 2 counties into separate area codes and my ISP had a number I used to use labeled as local even though it was now long distance.
My mom was pissed but luckily we got the phone company to drop the charge due to all of the confusion.
This was shortly after the BBS era when dial-up ISPs started to pop up everywhere. Earthlink, Mindspring, NetZero, etc.. It was nice having a lot of competition back then. There was one ISP in NY called Red (or Red something). I remember it gave the best ping times in Quake. Does anyone remember what that ISP was named? It was during the late 1990s or maybe very early 2000s.
- rhacker 7y agoAnyone remember that period where FREE dialup was everywhere - even freaking KMart had one- little ad appeared at the top of the screen. Here it is: https://archive.org/details/bluelight_201711 https://archive.org/details/bluelight_201711
- tomc1985 7y agoFiguring out how to game those systems so you could connect without the ads was always fun
- tomduncalf 7y agoAhh yes, in the UK there was one called X-stream (and another called ic24) for a while which did exactly the same thing with an ad banner in exchange for a toll-free number. I think it was only free at weekends, and you’d have to retry hundreds of times to get through once word got out, only to end up with a crappy connection so slow you could barely use it. Still, it was free! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Stream_Network https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Stream_Network
- jamespo 7y agoSomeone I knew wrote a little program that killed the ad window...
- ganoushoreilly 7y agoI remember a lot of them setting up 3 year contracts and giving an instant $400 on a new computer in exchange for signing up. Aol and Prodigy both had them and i'm pretty sure a few others did as well. Then there was the whole NetZero hacking to disable the ads (that ate half the bandwidth). Those were the days in deed.
- rwwr 7y agoHappened to me too in my teens! New England telephone (later Nynex, later Verizon) had the most arcane pricing scheme in Massachusetts. Calling a BBS in the town next to mine in the same area code was a long distance call, etc. Anyways, I can still remember the panic/shock I felt as a 12 year old getting a $500 phone bill. I laugh it now because I was running an autodialer to hack long distance calling cards at the time. Karma :)
- alt219 7y agoInteresting! I helped start an ISP in Central Mass in the mid-90s and at least part of the reason we picked the town we did for our POP was because it reached a ton of towns as a local call. For whatever reason, calling the next town over in a different area code was even considered a local call. Great memories from this era!