It's time for a new ISP

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The Critic

The Critic

Joined
Aug 30, 2004
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Location
CA
A Little History:
2 years ago, I prepaid for two years of dial-up internet access with Joi Internet for $6.50/mo, service was excellent. About 6 months ago (give or take), Joi Internet was acquired by Earthlink, and Earthlink began providing service and honored the contract until its expiration date, which for me is 12/31/05.

At the end of the contract, Earthlink has already stated that it will NOT allow me to renew the contract at the current price, and my monthly rate will go up to $9.95/month. Unfortunately, the service with Earthlink has been less than stellar beginning two months ago, with many annoying problems with the dial-up connection. Multiple times, my username/password is rejected by the server, and I occassionally receive a very slow connection.

Thus, I plan to switch upon the termination of my contract. I'm currently leaning towards Netzero Platinum, since they're offering it for $6.95/month with a 12 month prepayment.

I'm not looking into DSL at this time or any type of high-speed connection due to cost, as I'm trying to keep the price at mo.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

TIA,
Michael
 
I switched from ATT ($19.95/mo) to Netscape ($9.95) and I've been perfectly happy with Netscape. I switched about 6 months ago.
 
I will say one thing, in our area Verizon offers DSL for $14.95 at 768k. I can't even imagine paying for dial-up.
 
My 4 Mbps cable connection is about $30 on top of my normal cable TV. That may sound steep compared to your $6.95, but now that I'm used to a high speed connection, dial up has become painful during the limited times I'm forced to use it. If you can get a cheap DSL connection, you should seriously consider it. It makes a world of difference.

BTW, has anyone tried NetZero HiSpeed 3G? They claim it's as fast as broadband, but knowing what phone lines can be like, I'm skeptical. Does this live up to its claims?
 
Thanks for the replies so far...Netzero 3G is actually $9.95/mo if you prepay for a year, just not sure if its worth an extra $3/mo. As for whether or not its worth it, it certainly does make web pages load faster but not enough for me to care.

Actually, I split my surfing 50/50 between a T1 and dial-up connection and I honestly don't find that much of a difference. Most of the pages I view consist mainly of text, so dial-up loads 'em quite rapidly anyway. Hard to justify an extra $9/mo for DSL.
 
I have been with ev1 for 5 yrs now. $10/month, unlimited e-mails, 300 mb free web space. I have been very happy with them. Their tech support has been very helpful the few times I needed it. They also have a free wbb accelerator (called Web Jet) for free.
 
For less than 10 bucks a month I wouldn't expect too much as far as performance or reliability. They have to sacrifice something to be that cheap.
 
Try your local phone company, or other utility company. Often they offer dial up for cheap if you're already using their service.

-T
 
I was going to recommend "Wal Mart Connect", which is (or was) a rebadged AOL service for $9.94 a month. You used to be able to pick up the installation CDs free in the stores. I've been using it for about two years and it has been fine.

But, I went to the WM web site just now to post the link and now they are not selling it. Instead WM is pushing a Netscape service for LESS than I'm paying OR and AOL service for MORE!? I don't understand, considering I'm still on the old service and haven't seen any changes. Maybe they are just no longer offering what I have to new customers?

(I also noted on the WM web site that they no longer have their own DVD rental service, either... now referring users to Netflix. A couple of months ago, they stopped selling the Crest-knock-off "Equate" toothpaste I liked, too. Seems like WM is changing strategies on some house branded items.)
 
quote:
For less than 10 bucks a month I wouldn't expect too much as far as performance or reliability. They have to sacrifice something to be that cheap.
Click to expand...
My dialup costs $0 from www.nocharge.com . However, they only serve western Washington state and some of the northeast US. Performance is what you'd expect (good) and outages only occur maybe twice a year. No popups or other annoyances and free email, too. The only "sacrifice" is service as there's no free helpdesk support; it costs $10 per incident. But, the service is so easy to install and use that I've never had a need for help anyway.

If I had to go to an ISP where I actually had to pay something then I'd probably choose Netscape.
 
For a total of $72 a month, I get unlimited phone service and high speed cable internet. My free calling area starts at the Rio Grande and goes North. $45 to Brighthouse and 27 to vonage. Better quality voice than my former phone company.
 
Got any neighbors with cable?

Slip 'em a few bucks under the table and borrow their 802.11 wifi.

Most cable companies give a half dozen "family" email addresses so your neighbor can hook you up. Otherwise you'll have to go with hotmail. (ew)

Be sure to use some security stuff like firewalls.
 
I didn't know places still offered free dial up! last time I had free dial up was netzero a few years ago and it sucked. I'm on roadrunner and it's fast. we got some kind of deal where it's 80 bucks for a year with basic digital cable. I went from aol and regular cable to roadrunner and digital cable only payed ten bucks more with the package we got.
 
quote:
Most cable companies give a half dozen "family" email addresses so your neighbor can hook you up. Otherwise you'll have to go with hotmail. (ew)
Click to expand...
It's always a good idea to get you email through some address you can keep when you change ISPs.

Hotmail's not that hot, but Yahoo's and Google's email both work well.
 
For cheap internet access I use IPS.com. Right now it is $8.95 a month for unlimited access. I used to have NetZero but I dropped them after many problems...
 
My take is to talk to your neighbor to share their DSL with you for a lower cost.

$15 vs $10 is a bargain for DSL on your own line.

Or you can "lease" a free dial up account from your friend's DSL from SBC, they came with a free dial up and if they are willing to rent it to you, maybe $3-5 a month will do.
 
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