"Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote in message
...
What's his phone carrier?

I can't remember offhand but my first guess would be AT&T. Or Verizon. I
know it's one of those. So the technology is available at some cost. They
are in an urban area so there are options but that would be WAY more change
than he could handle. Even if I did all the work. If everything didn't go
100% smoothly, I'd hear about it daily for months. (But hey - at least I'd
be able to talk with him!)

Qwest handles quite a lot of the
West. You can also order a "measured service" line in some areas
that is super cheap and there's no charge for INCOMING calls but
charges by the minute for OUTGOING calls.

The exact opposite of what you would want for a dedicated computer line.

Do not immediately
dismiss a 2nd phone line as too expensive until you have checked it
out.

I'm going to check out the second phone line cost. I've told my brother to
do it but he almost certainly won't find the time. So *I* will the next
time I'm up there and can check the carrier.

Speaking as someone who ran modems since the early 80's dialing
into mainframe terminal servers, (my first modem was a 300 baud
job, less than 1% of my current DSL speed, Missy!) if your running a
modem for Internet access a 2nd phone line is a requirement - unless your
Internet access consists of 1 10 minute e-mail session a day.

Or unless you don't care if people can't get through to you.

You CAN try the instant-messaging route, assuming he is connected
most of the time.

I've avoided IM myself. I only carry a cell phone in my pocket when I'm
away from home because of ill parents. Otherwise, I don't need to be that
available or connected. And it wouldn't work for the majority of the calls
that I need to get through. My other brother may be trying to call to check
in between his patients or I may be calling from a weekend dog show or a
doctor's office may be calling. Mostly people who don't have easy access to
IMing him.

The slowest speeds of DSL are DIRT CHEAP and there's no
excuse to not get it. In fact your ISP and phone company both
want you on DSL it's cheaper for them.

Apparently he doesn't need an excuse. I've tried to convince him to at
least check into it. I think he's intimidated by any change.

Oh, and the next logical way was to get cable into the house and include
internet access. He talked once with a Time Warner Cable guy who told him
all sorts of terrible things about how they treat their employees so now he
refuses to consider letting Time Warner into the house. Since my mother
couldn't handle TV cable anyway (although I thought it would be a nice thing
for my brother), I haven't pushed it.

The temptation
to play with the new system will suck him in.

Nah. It probably won't. You are thinking as if he were a "guy". He's not.
He was born an old grandmother. Even my mother (who has dementia) says so.

I sent him an e-mail yesterday telling him that *something* is going to
happen. I gave him the basic choices - the callwave.com, a second phone
line or changing the setting on his computer so that he'll get kicked off
every time the phone rings. I may add the possibility of finding a cheap
DSL option. He hasn't answered me - that's his normal way of saying "No".
But it's going to happen. After all, if I call and arrange for a second
phone line and plug his computer into it, what's he going to do? Unplug it
and plug it back into the first line? Refuse to pay the bill? I suppose he
could have them come and remove it but I don't think he'll do that. Whereas
*I* can claim nothing but the best intentions getting the line installed,
taking it out would be a declaration of war and he won't go there.

Ah. Enough of my soap opera. Back to your lives. Thank you everyone for
your suggestions.

Judy