# Calling your ISP from two locations @ the same time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 1999, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-your-isp-from-two-locations-the-same-time/11597 "1999-12-01T02:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-your-isp-from-two-locations-the-same-time/11597/1 "1999-12-01T02:33:00Z")
Well, I got curious. I put a live web cam on the net, went to a second house, called in with my same account, and what do you know? The thing connected just fine & I could watch the web cam. What this means is my ISP allows me or many people to call in using my account from several computers all at the same time. Seems like a security leak to me. So anyone get any funny message when they get on the net with the same account from more than one location? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-your-isp-from-two-locations-the-same-time/11597/2 "1999-12-01T03:33:00Z")
handy, This is precisely why I set up 2 accounts w/the ISP. My partner and I use it at work and she’s got access from home, as I do. ISP said if we _ever_ see your account logged on twice simultaneously, we’ll assume it’s (your password) been compromised and will kill it (our account) at once. Well, truth is, we try to avoid it, but it’s happened on a few unscheduled circumstances and they’ve not caught it. But, not a happy practice… ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-your-isp-from-two-locations-the-same-time/11597/3 "1999-12-01T13:49:00Z")
It’s not so much a security issue as it is a cost issue for the ISP… if you’re logged on from two places, you’re using two phone lines, and thus doubling their costs. Most ISPs will frown at this. The ISP I used to work for (Mindspring) just charges a buck an hour if you do it. My experience is that most ISPs don’t notice it. * * * [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-your-isp-from-two-locations-the-same-time/11597/4 "1999-12-01T14:35:00Z")
If one of us is in the back room using the computer on that phone line, and the other of us tries to go on line from the second computer and phone, the ISP simply refuses to recognize the log-in. ---
**Author:** ![StrTrkr777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@StrTrkr777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrTrkr777)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-your-isp-from-two-locations-the-same-time/11597/5 "1999-12-01T16:47:00Z")
When I was using AOL, they would not let you do this. If my wife was on at home and I tried to log in from work, it would give me a message saying I was already logged in. Apparently other ISPs allow it. Jeffeyr ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-your-isp-from-two-locations-the-same-time/11597/6 "1999-12-01T17:01:00Z")
The guy who owns my ISP used to have the biggest BBS here. Sometimes it would not hang up the connection so when I called in again, it would give a message of, ‘you are already logged in’ then hang up. I don’t see how its a security issue though, but it must be.