If you're considering this ISP for dial-up, just toss the 21.95 a month out the window. At least you'll get fresh air for it, which is better than the nothing Earthlink provides.

I've been an Earthlink dial-up customer for seven years, this time around. Other than satellite, dial-up is the only type of access available in this area, and until a couple of years ago, Earthlink was the only local provider. Earthlink dial-up used to be mostly reliable. When there were issues, they had good customer service. It's good for Linux users that no proprietary software installation is required.

The connection on the two access numbers available to an obvious overload of customers here has become less and less reliable over the past few years. It's no longer a surprise to go a week at a time with absolutely no access and tech support that only plays pass-the-buck.

Tech support does not call back when they say they will. I think it's simply a way get the customer off the phone when the language barrier makes it impossible for the problem to even be understood. Earthlink's customer help (and customer's personal information) is outsourced to India. Each time I've called about their access numbers not working, they have repeatedly asked me irrelevant questions about my account. That seems to be the extent of their knowledge. There is no way to escalate a complaint about non-working numbers to a knowledgeable "higher up."

Reliability of service may be different in other geographical areas or for high-speed, but I can't imagine customer service, if ever required, would be any different.

I'm in the process of getting satellite access set up. The cost of it is justified by the countless hours spent on the phone, trying to get through to customer support that doesn't have a clue, and by the monthly fee I basically donate to Earthlink. Think twice and then again before signing up for this shoddy "service."

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 21.95
Version Number or Year: 2008