Flare Sci-Fi Forums: "Free" ISP's

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Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :

I have been using free internet service providers for about three years now. Their heyday was about that long ago, and the number of providers who offered this service at the time was many. I myself have had seven different free ISP’s at one time or another: Netzero, Juno, Allshak, Tritium, Startfree, FreeI.net & The Simpsons.com.

These days, however, it is unfortunate that the free ISP model is going the way of the dinosaur. Advertising banners just didn’t rack in the money to support the millions of users these providers had, and one by one they started to disappear, the latest being Bluelight.com. The only true ones left are Netzero & Juno. And just recently, several things have happened which tell me that these two companies will soon be on their way out as well.

1. Juno sued Netzero over ad banner technology.
2. Juno revised its service agreement with some ridiculous shit about its users having to keep their computers on 24-7 showing a Juno screensaver w/ ads, not to mention several other stupid amendments.
3. Both Netzero & Juno create paid services and place limits on their free services.
4. In spite of the above lawsuit, Netzero & Juno announce that they are merging! Juno will handle the paid services while Netzero handles the free services.
5. Netzero reduces its usage for free subscribers from unlimited time to 40 hours a month, then to only 10, effective October 1. So much for "handling the free services" for the Netzero/Juno merger...they also laid off several employees & dropped service in cost-prohibitive areas.

All of this is unfortunate, of course, because this means that I will soon have to start paying for using the internet, just like every other Joe Shmoe However, I have noticed an increasing downturn in reliability from both Netzero & Juno. In the good old days, there were no pop-up ads & annoying cut-offs, but those things are much more common now. I can’t even access Juno’s ISP anymore because I am apparently a "high-traffic user" although my usage on Juno rarely exceeded 10 hours a month. I also understand that AOL & Earthlink will be upping their monthly fees. My question is, is there a good ISP out there for an affordable price?

Posted by Mr. Christopher (Member # 71) on :

My ISP is local. Can't help you there.

Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :

mines sympatico canada. high speed edition. but it sucks. those free ISP's probably sell your info over the net. and i wouldn't want anything as intrusive as a screensaver, and having to keep my comp on 24/7. that's just too far.

Posted by MeGotBeer (Member # 411) on :

Dukhat,

Answer the call of Comcast ... get a cable modem, and get @Home service. It's not free, true, but you get a super-fast connection, and a really cool space-agey modem (mine literaly looks like something out of, eh, well, Trek...)

Posted by Obese Penguin (Member # 271) on :

As I come from the South I use our local monopoly group , Bellsouth.net Internet Access.

20 Bucks a Month , VERY reliable service and email , and if you have Bellsouth Phone Service with the "Complete Choice Plan" they bump 5 dollers off your monthly bill.

Prodigy is also a pretty good provider , I used them back when they would knock off 400 Bucks off your PC purchase if you signed your soul over to them.

I had heard bad things but they are really good , they dont bother you and they have pretty good tech support online and offline.

As for Fast Access providers I'd go @home or AT&T Broadband or something I think theres a website that rates DSL providers , its ...

www.dslreports.com I think.

Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :

I currently use my school's network for Internet access. When I go home on the weekends, I use my parent's AT&T Digital Broadband connection. It runs pretty quick, but I had some problems with it during the summer. About three times, the Internet connection (along with our phones since we were part of the digital wireless pilot program) completely died and stayed dead for a minimum of two days. Add to that, the Worldnet program itself is somewhat buggy and prone to disconnecting spontaneously. Overall, I'd rate AT&T above average, but I can't honestly say if it's worth the $34.00 a month. My parents think so, though.

When I don't have access to the school's network or Worldnet, I use America Online. However, I'm on the smallest plan available. 3 hours unlimited access for only $4 or $5 a month. That's well enough for me since I only really use it when the school's network dies or to upload my files to my home page.

Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :

Jeff: I thought about getting the Comcast cable modem service before moving into my condo. However, some extenuating circumstances made me decide to wait. Those extenuating circumstances being that I'm getting free cable for some reason.

Apparently, when the sellers moved out and I moved in at the end of June, the brain surgeons over at Comcast never disconnected the cable. So I've been getting it free for almost three months, & hope to continue getting it for a long time to come. It's only basic, but that's over $40.00 a month I'm saving, so I don't want Comcast snooping around. Plus, I watch a hell of a lot more TV than internet surfing, & cable costs more than even sky-high AOL's service per month.

Seigfried: Are you talking about the AT&T Worldnet service that's $4.95 a month? I was thinking about getting that, but not if it's filled with bugs.

Posted by MeGotBeer (Member # 411) on :

Dukhat,

You could always bribe the Comcast guy to give you cable when you get your modem hooked up. A friend of mine did that ... paid the dude $20, gets all the channels. The fucker.

Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :

Nope, I'm talking about Worldnet's Digital Broadband system. That runs a total of $34.95 or so a month. That's a good ten dollars more than AOL's unlimited access plan, but the connection is faster and usually more stable than AOL's.

Part of the problem with my experience is that AT&T is conducting a pilot program for digital communications in my area. Thus, we have a little square satellite dish that sits on the roof that transmits and receives our phone and data connections. There is still a backup physical connection, though (in case power fails).

I don't know much about Worldnet's other Internet connection services and plans. I've never heard any of my friends complain about it, so that's probably a good sign. Here's where you can download and sign up for a couple of their plans: AT&T Service Plans.

Posted by Michael_T (Member # 144) on :

The only time I remember my friend having downtime with AT&T Broadband was when someone took the cable router box from her neighborhood. The high speed internet connection and the cable TV service went dead for two days til the thing was replaced.

About free ISP's; they are basically gone. Next to going online at a library or a school campus, they don't exist in the US anymore. Either sign up with a brand-name ISP or just plug your laptop at a university.

Posted by Obese Penguin (Member # 271) on :

Yeah thats the one thing I hate about cable , especially living in Miami where I do cable router box theft is a huge problem , one of the reasons I use dial up and Dish TV.

DSL or Dialup are better than cable in my book.

Which reminds me I need to download some good music , I just took a trip to the mall and the Old Navy store was playing their normal assortment of 70's and 80's pop music , unfortunatly they play the music you wish they had LEFT in the 70's and 80's.

The Horror.

Posted by Dukhat (Member # 341) on :

quote:
About free ISP's; they are basically gone. Next to going online at a library or a school campus, they don't exist in the US anymore.

I'll keep using my Netzero account until "free" Netzero is no more (although 10 lousy hours a month gives me just enough time to check my email & nothing else). These days I seem to have a 70/30 chance of actually being able to log on to Juno's ISP, although once I do, there's no time limit. Also, since their email is a seperate entity from the ISP, continuing with Juno's mail service won't be a problem unless the company folds. But I can get free email anywhere.

As far as providers go, come October 1st, I'll try the AT&T 4.95 plan. If I don't like it, then I'll consider a genuine ISP. And if my free cable ends up going out for good, I'll inquire about digital cable/internet.

Posted by Wes1701E (Member # 212) on :

Free ISPs make most of thier money by selling your information to thier 'certified partners'. As a result, you get lots of free commertial calls, bulk mail, and plenty of junk email.

I recommend getting a very cheap limited use ISP, like a 40 hour a month thing, if you dont use the net much.

But if your relying on Free ISPs and you are a Internet addict like me, I would invest in Cable internet, its extremely fast and not all that expensive (less then the cost of unlimited dialup and a deticated line). My http://www.SpeedTest.net stats:

Test Type: Download 500 Kilobytes
Bytes Downloaded: 512000 bytes
Download time: 503 milliseconds.
Throughput: 7.764 Mbps

Yes, I am bragging. Yes, I am a little bitch.

AT&T @home runs about $41.95 a month here. (Costa Mesa CA)

Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :

I hate going to those "User Friendly" websites, can't think of any, and getting bombarded with 6 pop-ups, which have more pop-ups when i try to close them. i know one mp3 website search does that, but i can't remember any more. i've heard of programs that kill pop-ups before they popup. anyone know where i can get one?

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Yes. It's called "turning off Javascript."

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

However, if you must have a program, this one seems nice.