Do you know of a pay as you go broadband provider? I would like to be able to use broadband for a few days a month ....

it's always struck me as naturally being a permanent connection, with the biggest investment being the capital equipment that lies idle when not in use, so it doesn't seem well fitted to a "pay as you go" scheme.   But I did come up with some ideas ... probably all not really what you're looking for but you never know, and they might be things others haven't come across.

a) Hotels are now starting to offer Broadband connections (especially in the USA).  We have used a couple - one was included in the room price which I felt was suitably inflated, and the other really was broadband pay-as-you-go in 24 hour chunks.

b) In this country, BT's open zone allows wireless connections - see http://www.bt.com/openzone. It's a pay-as-you-go type service and there's an access point in ((Removed writer's home town. There are said to be 1400 access points around)). Cost - 10 pounds for 120 minutes per month, and I don't know if I trust the connection speed.  I spoke with BT about this service for an article I was writing and although the immediate connection you get is at wireless speed to the local hub, the next link in the chain is often just an ADSL line and for some reason it took quite a while for them to tell me this.

c) Ever though of sharing a broadband connection (via wireless perhaps) with a neighbour?

d) I saw an ad in the paper a couple of days back - think it was Tiscali - offering "broadband" at about 15 pounds a month.  Advert said "150k" in the smallprint and I was wondering if this really even counts as broadband - I felt it was misleading, but it might just be a step in the direction you're looking for of always-on service at less than 20 quid monthly.

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