As Mikie mentioned, dial-up routers are pretty are rare these days and the ones that do exist are going to be used or rather expensive. She probably doesn't really need one. If she is going to use dial-up, you need to find her an ISP that provides dial-up service. I don't know who they are any more but Google should be able to help. She doesn't need to contact the phone company unless she wants DSL. If she happens to be on one of the restricted minute phone plans, she'll need to change that. Dial-up is just like a voice call and would count toward her call allowance. Unless the laptop has a built in modem, she's going to need an external one that connects via USB. With that setup, there will be no need to worry about wireless networking.

Debbie, to use wireless cellular service, you must be near a tower, so in the mountains that may not be practical. Check that out first. Most plans that I've read about require a 2 year contract and the cost is around $60 per month. I doubt any sort of prepaid card is available for data service (which is different from voice service). If there is wireless service available in a hotel, coffee shop, etc. you simply connect via the card in your laptop. Check the various carriers' websites for maps of their service areas, etc. Verizon is buying Alltel, so your choices are probably Verizon, AT & T, and Sprint. I don't know if there are other carriers of data service or not. This service is provided via a USB modem or an "air card" of some sort. Each carrier has their own which you must purchase when you sign up for service.

Hi, mlou_51... grandms is correct that most wireless routers are fairly easy to setup. I know the Linksys comes with very good instructions, both the quick guide and the users manual. And, it has a cd for doing the setup. Basically, you would just replace your wired router with the wireless one. You can use the enclosed cd to help set up the new router. I'm presuming you would not want to set it up manually. After you follow the instructions from the cd, including, I believe the security settings, you should be able to go on-line. Of course, you can pay 75 for your time. The tech will set up everything and is responsible for ensuring it is working properly. I can only guess what happened in your house two years ago. I don't know what the installation agreement was between Adams Networking and you. But, I would bet that the wired router was included in the installation. A wireless router would probably have been an additional $50-100. Even if they had put in a wireless router two years ago, today it would probably work okay. But, it would be slow by today's standards. I suspect you would not be pleased. So, the bottom line is you can install yourself and presuming everything works, you will be pleased and proud. Whether you do it yourself, or someone else installs it, you will enjoy the freedom to use your laptop anywhere around your house. Additionally, as bpgreen said, you should be able to connect at some coffee houses, hotels, and some fast food places. Take a LAN cable and you can connect to wired outlets when available. Hope this helps, :-) --majickmann

The reviews on Amazon don't give me that warm fuzzy feeling. :) There's only 6 reviews and half of them are bad. That is, if you read the actual review. There are a couple of 4 stars that don't sound like they should be 4 stars if you read the comment. Now that it actually exists, I wonder how many people are willing to spend 30 bucks plus shipping for it. As a side note, this thread seems like one that lots of people feel the need to sign up for a Houzz account, make one comment on this thread pointing everyone at SwitchFlip and then not participating in any other discussions. Is it possible that these people have an ulterior motive in promoting this product? :)