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What Internet Service Provider Is Right For You?
Choosing an Internet Service Provider ( ISP) can be quite complicated. With so many providers entering the marketplace, making a decision is no doubt confusing. However, before selecting an ISP shop around. As a consumer, it's your job to compare features including access, price, technical support, and e-mail to get the best deal.
Access: To access the Internet you need an ISP. Technically speaking, this is done when your computer connects via a modem to the ISP. Considering access is important, you will want to go with a provider that offers an 800 number or a local number to access their service. If a provider does not offer these features, you will be incurring the cost of toll calls. An added charge not included in any ISP pricing plan.
To find an ISP with local access in your area click here.
Price: ISP's offer a variety of pricing plans according to your needs. You may decide to go with the hourly plan, unlimited plan, or a free service.
- Hourly Rates: These plans are best for those who use the Internet only a couple of hours a week, typically to check their E -mail. Hourly rates can vary a great deal. Usually you will pay a flat fee for using their service, which typically includes from 3 to 5 hours per month. Additional costs are incurred by the hour for any time spent online in excess of the above. On these plans keep an eye out for startup fees.
- Unlimited Pricing: This one is ideal for Internet junkies. Many ISP's offer a standard rate for unlimited access. Some provider's provide discounts to customers who pay a full year in advance, normally one month free.
To compare prices on-line click here.
Technical Support: Look for an ISP that has live support available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week. Also, make sure that the ISP has an 800 or local number. You never know when you will need help.
e-mail: Your ISP stores your incoming e-mail in a mailbox on their computers (the mailbox is often referred to as a "POP" which stands for " Post Office Protocol"). Usually, you get at least one mailbox/ POP per account. It's a good idea, however, to find out in advance if you can add on more than one.
To avoid excess junk e-mail, inquire about filters that are setup by the ISP to reduce unwanted mail, which is oddly referred to as " Spam Filtering".
Comparing ISP's: While there are too many ISP's to name, let's take a look at some of the major players and the pro's and con's of each. All companies mentioned charge a fee for Internet access.
- American Online: AOL is the oldest and largest ISP, but is different than any other ISP in that it evolved from a non-Internet service into an Internet service over time. This fact adds complications as to how AOL works with the Internet (see cons below). For more on AOL
click here.
Pros: Setup is easy and end-users can have several e-mail accounts; there are message boards galore and a slew of chat rooms. Instant messaging is also a popular feature that allows you to chat directly with another user who is online too. With AOL's 20 million plus subscribers the community like features do tend to be very active. AOL is the only service that provides any meaningful content of its own in addition to that from the Internet (though most of it is available on the Internet too).
Cons: 3% a month, or 36% a year of AOL subscribers leave for other services, mostly from dissatisfaction with AOL's service or support. With AOL you will be continually bombarded with advertisements and will be cutoff from the service anytime you are inactive online for a relatively short period. This AOL directed disconnection also happens frequently when trying to download a large file. AOL is incompatible with many standard Internet services and programs, e.g., you cannot use the very popular Outlook Express e-mail program or Microsoft Hotmail. Also with AOL you are very limited to the types of e-mail messages that can be received since AOL cannot display RTF e-mail (rich text messages which produces Web page like e-mails) that virtually all others can today.
Other issues include the generally higher price verse that of competitors, frequent busy signals in trying to access their network and extra time to access their network (there are several additional steps in signing onto AOL versus that of others). Additionally, with AOL you may receive excessive unsolicited e-mails, you will have all the e-mail routing information included in e-mails received, and you cannot use desktop shortcuts for specific web pages for easy reference to favorite sites or web pages. With AOL you do have to be connected to their service online to operate many of the features that you can do offline with other services.
- AT& T WorldNet: AT& T is the worlds largest direct ISP service (AOL is not a direct service since you must access AOL's network before you can access the Internet). AT&T's network is vast and includes the former IBM global service. For more on AT&T
click here.
Pros: Internet users have access to up to six separate e-mail accounts, instant messaging, tons of local access numbers, "Cyber Highway" software to control child access, sweepstakes, and several pricing plans. Also, they provide up to 60 MB of space for personal pages. Available at additional cost is an Internet call waiting service that allows you to get voice messages while you're online (a feature called Pagoo).
Cons: Worldnet does not provide high-speed DSL or ISDN services, though they do offer high-speed cable modem service.
- Earthlink: Is another large, national, ISP like those above. Earthlink can be used easily by novices, experienced Web users, and businesses alike. For more on Earthlink
click here.
Pros: Like AOL, Earthlink provides easy setup and use. They have many access numbers so it is likely that you too can find a local number to avoid toll charges. Their service has basic features such as instant messaging and, as with AT&T, unlimited access is cheaper than AOL. DSL service is also available in many areas too.
Cons: Earthlink does not have any significant benefits that are not available with many other ISP services.
Free ISP's: Several companies are gaining an edge in the competitive ISP marketplace by providing free and easy access to the Internet. All of them require you to watch ads for the entire time you are online. The ads are typically displayed in a separate window that is about half the size of a ruler. Here's a look at the top guns.
- AltaVista: Unlimited Internet access available throughout the United States and Canada is available for free with a large selection of local access numbers. The service includes MyAltaVista Live (giving you a personalized home page) and the MicroPortal, displaying news, weather and sports.
For more on AltaVista click here.
- BlueLight.com: Kmart and Yahoo have paired together for this one. Like the other free ISP's you get free Internet access and free e-mail (Yahoo's). This offering does require you to watch a very short Kmart video as you are signing on to the Internet, but the service does integrate with the highly popular Yahoo services and support.
For more on BlueLight click here.
- FreeISP: This one is provided by the folks at Excite, and as with the others it offers free Internet access, free e-mail and allows you to use any
Web browser you wish. With the Freelance Navigational Bar, the mandatory ads shown are targeted to your interests based on information you provide.
For more on FreeISP click here.
- Juno: A nationwide service providing unlimited free Internet access and e-mail. With Juno you can also build your own Web site with up to 12 MB of free space. Technical support is available online as with the others. Their inbox has both fax and voicemail capabilities (note faxes delivered to your email can be had with any service free using efax,
click here for more information). Juno also offers a low cost paid service that does not require you to view advertisements.
For more on Juno click here.
- Lycos: Here's a free Internet service with all the basics plus AOL's Instant Messenger (available as a separate service no matter what service you use
click here to get it), free games, bonus software, and free Music Player.
For more on Lycos click here.
- NetZero: This is the oldest, and largest of the free Internet services. Consumers are offered unlimited Internet access, e-mail, and navigation tools for free.
For more on NetZero click here.
For more answers to your questions about ISP's click here.
By Maria DeCristoforo | | |
