<p>I am visiting my Dad. and we are considering purchase of a laptop for him at Best Buy. He is overwhelmed at the thought of $50/month internet access fee, so I’m investigating less expensive options. </p>
<p>Has anybody used Netzero for ISP? Or other suggestions?</p>
<p>I have clearwire which is $25 a month I think.</p>
<p>Does he have cable? A landline? Sometimes if they bundle the internet with one of those services, it’s just another $20-30/month. That’s what we pay. There also may be even less expensive dial-up, but it can be frustrating if he may have graphics & also if folks try to call his phone and it’s busy because he’s on the internet.</p>
<p>I was going to mention the bundling, but if he is on fixed income & doesn’t need those other services there isn’t much point in paying for what you don’t need.
I can’t imagine dial-up, my D already complains that our connection is too slow.</p>
<p>Whether or not the other services are needed, if he NOW has either cable or landline and wants to add internet, it can be cheaper, so those carriers can be contacted to ask what options are available.</p>
<p>A thought if he’s on fixed income, it could be a nice gift to give him internet service & if the cost is shared among loved ones, it wouldn’t need to be that high & might be better than lots of little gifts for different occasions instead, especially if its an add-on to a service he already gets.</p>
<p>I (actually a family member I set up) used Netzero dialup (free) a long time ago and it worked okay however that person eventually went to broadband. What the person actually needs depends on how they’ll use it. If it’s just for email every now an then, then dialup is fine. However, if he wants to use video Skype to see the kids/grandkids, watch some online video content, maybe do his shopping online, then broadband would be nicer or possibly necessary. </p>
<p>The $50 price you mentioned seems high. Check to see what broadband’s available at his house. Outside of the satellite solutions it usually boils down to cable, DSL, and AT&T U-Verse. Compare the costs for the most basic broadband and see what it really comes down to.</p>
<p>How mobile is he and how close to a wi-fi hotspot? I know people that only use free internet at Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, or the nearby public wifi hotspot.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advise. Very much appreciated! </p>
<p>“it could be a nice gift to give him internet service” - My gift is a new laptop + 2 years of Best Buy geek squad hardware and software support. Since he will be paying for the internet access himself, I wanted to make a prudent choice. </p>
<p>Here’s what we decided… he’ll spend $29.95/month (+ tax) to his TV cable bill for internet service. If he sometimes decides he needs the faster service, it will cost another $13/month. </p>
<p>We are considering a triple play offer which folds in his home phone service economically (for only about $10/month instead of the $50+ he now pays). But we need to study that more. It sounds like 911 would still work, but it would not function w/o power. That does not sound so good if power outages. </p>
<p>We’ll be looking at adding home phone via addition to his Verizon cell plan. That is $20/month with unlimited long distance and battery backup. Chime in if you have thoughts on this idea 
Thanks much!!</p>
<p>Sounds like Colorado_mom came up with a great solution. One I want to throw out for others to maybe consider is getting their elder an Ipad (with docking station keyboard). They just need internet surfing and mail. It turns on instantly, works everywhere, easy to navigate as just have to hit the icon on the screen to go to whatever, lots of apps we downloaded for them. I can’t recall, since we aren’t in the US, but I think the 3G service is $30 a month unlimited (correct me if I’m wrong - surely others will know the real monthly cost in the US!).</p>
<p>I think Ipad could work for elders with docking keyboard My dad tried the touch screens at Verizon, and they drove him nuts (me too). Also the 2 year contract requirement was a deterrent. </p>
<p>The ipad screens are small, but they’d be fine for email and simple internet viewing. As we teach Dad, we realize he will only want to have one screen open at a time - otherwise too confusing. </p>
<p>The control-plus and control-minus tricks are good for zoom in and out.</p>
<p>I forgot about the contract aspect, that is a great point.</p>
<p>It is pretty small. You can enlarge the print using your fingers on the screen which is nice (it’s relatively intuitive, take your finger and thumb together, and open them wider and viola, print enlarges). But overall not a lot of screen.</p>
<p>I think simple and one screen is the way to go. There should exist some very basic, non-complex computer for older folks new to the technology. Same with cell phone. I would love to find a simple cell phone with just 3 big buttons that my mom can push to call one of us.</p>
<p>If he’s willing and able to use a cell phone then consider skipping the landline altogether and save that cost. The cell already has battery backup and is portable so he can have it with him wherever he goes if he wants to.</p>
<p>If he’s anything like my H, he may find the text on cell phones too small for old, tired eyes. H doesn’t see the point of “smart phones,” since the screen is way too small for him to see or do anything more than the phone #s!</p>
<p>Thanks for the cellphone hint. It could work for many folks, but it won’t be good for Dad. We did try an ipad-like device at Verizon, and it was clear that he was much more comfortable with a traditional keyboard (he once had one for mainframe email in a corporation). </p>
<p>I may start a “Computers for Grandparents” thread. In the meantime, I’ll make an updated that the cable internet seems to work well. Except in our case we keep loosing connection, and we’ll ensure that gets fixed before porting his phone. If this all works, his tripleplay bill (at least this year) for cable for tv+internet+phone will be almost $25/month cheaper than old tv+landline bills.</p>
<p>Good news… connection problems for Grandpa seem fixed (after some repairman trips), and the cable modem phone reception is good. Hopefully he won’t pass out when he sees the $80 charge for porting his old phone #… he’s had it for 30 years, didn’t want him out of touch with friends and relatives.</p>