Not just anybody can get on EchoLink.  You have to have a ham radio license 
and you have to prove your license is valid.

Unfortunately, I have a very slow dial-up connection so I don't think 
EchoLink would work for me.  I could get dsl, but I'd have to change to AT&T 
and I really don't want to.  My apartment complex is unique because the 
telephones are connected from the street to a room with a bunch of wires in 
it.  Then the signal goes from this room to the individual apartments. 
Since all of this wiring comes from AT&T, my ISP would have to have some 
agreement with AT&T which would allow them to use a different faster 
bandwidth and since they don't have an agreement with AT&T, there's no 
possibility for DSL for me without changing ISPs.

But if I could have Echolink it would be an optionsince my hf antenna is 
broken.  When I moved in 8 years ago, I received permission to put up 
outside antennas.  Since then the building has changed hands.  I haven't 
been asked to take anything down, but I don't know if I'll be allowed to 
replace my present antenna.

Terri, Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA.