anyone use those free isp's?

[jak]

hey im thinking about switching to altavista's free internet service and i was just wondering if anyone else used one like this and if i should get it. i heard someof those take a while to access there numbers. im just curious

[CujoRbd]

some of the free ones are really bad (i.e. NetZero), but some are actually pretty good... i am currently using freewwweb and it is great... i am not saying that it is good for it being free, but it is good PERIOD...

my old ISP (before i moved) would very frequently give me busy signals and connect at slow rates, but i have never even once got a busy signal with freewwweb and always connect at atleast 26,400bps, which is just slightly slower than the max at my previous ISP...

i have never heard much anything about altavista, but it seems that it is kinda hard to set up, but maybe i am thinking of a different service... i am not really sure... if you do have freewwweb available in your area, then i would greatly reccomend that you go for that...

and BTW, there are NO ads or anything like that with freewwweb... i have only ever received ONE e-mail from them (and that was to verify that i wanted an account) cuz i opted-out from them... it is no hassle or anything and the download speeds (after a few minor modifications) are great as well...

well, though i know almost nothing of altavista's free service, i hope that this may have helped.... and i am sure that someone here can help you with determining if altavista is a good choice or not...


anywayz...


man... i re-read over this and i apparently must really like freewwweb or something... well, whatever.... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif



[This message has been edited by CujoRbd (edited 02-26-2000).]

[bell1]

Hey Jak
I use several of the free ISP's.My favorite is WorldSpy because it has no banners and so far I haven't been cut off for inactivity.The worst ISP of the bunch is Netzero. Before I signed up for any of them, I made sure there was a local dial-up number for my area.You will find WorldSpy at www.WorldSpy.net (http://www.WorldSpy.net) .

[NavyDood_ F/A18_Mech]

Try Freeinet. I like it enough that I am about ready to drop mindspring. And Mindspring has been great.

You can get rid of the banners on Freeinet by setting up new connection in Dial Up Networking. You have to use Freeinet software though to get the dialup numbers in your area.

NetZero sux.
AltaVista sux.

Jim

[Roy]

NetZero WITHOUT THE BANNER is not so bad.

[Gomer]

I use netzero rom time to time and it doesn' seem too bad. I connect first try at 44,000. What benefits have you found with the others? How 'bout some links for these other isp's folks. I think I will give them a try.

[WinXP]

You need to check them out good, if you use more than a certain amount of hours per mth, you have to pay. The ones I checked out were 80 hrs. You need to read the agreement and not just click I Agree.

[Ed_S]

Freewwweb

Been using them since Feb '97. Back then it wasn't free, you paid a one-time charge of about $100. They changed to free a few months ago.
I got my money's worth long before that!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/biggrin.gif http://www.sysopt.com/forum/biggrin.gif

CujoRbd has already described them well, so I'll just post the link!
http://home.freewwweb.com/info.html

WinXP - They do have an 80 hour limit, but if you go over 80, you're "suspended" for the rest of the month, NOT charged. And their terms of agreement even tell you how to beat this rule!
If you anticipate that your usage will regularly exceed 80 hours, please register additional accounts with us.

The hour limit was imposed after the change to totally free. Previously there ws no limit.
I now have 7 accounts!


[This message has been edited by Ed_S (edited 02-26-2000).]

[JW310]

The one I just signed up for, after freewwweb gave me nothing but busy signals, was WorldShare (http://www.worldshare.net). They have a requirement that you fill out a survey every month, but other than that, it's completely free. The only download required is the file that has the settings in it. It's actually an Internet connection wizard script, but if you open it in notepad, you can make the changes manually. Just be sure to delete the file, or at least the line in the file that has your password, when you're done with it - has your password stored in plaintext.

But anyways... both freewweb and worldshare work for me. Freewwweb, when I can actually connect, works the best, followed by worldshare. I have a friend that signed up for worldshare, and was able to stay connected overnight with no problems!

JW

[This message has been edited by JW310 (edited 02-26-2000).]

[CujoRbd]

you guys here reminded me of something that i had forgotten to mention previously... i have never gotten bumped off or anything... i have stayed on for long periods of time without it logging me off or anything...

the only thing to watch out for is that if you were not active on the internet, it has a tendency (unless you change the setting) to disconnect you after a certain period of time...

at first (cuz i had forgotten to edit the connect wiz script), it always asked if i wanted to disconnect, but i finally remembered that it was just a simple change in the internet options... also, the title bar on both IE and OE changed to add "... provided by freewwweb", which i quickly changed in the registry...

so, just definitely do what JW said (if you end up with freewwweb) and just change the script with notepad or whatever... it's not a hassle to do...

also, if you find (or get from someone) the server on their site (primary and secondary DNS IP's) and the phone # from them, then don't even bother with their scripts and just make you own dial-up connection...

well, i hope i could help in some way... and if you need further assistance, feel free to e-mail me or anyone else with whatever questions you may have...


anywayz...

CujoRbd


ohhh, man... i had so many typingerrors... i need to goto bed...




[This message has been edited by CujoRbd (edited 02-26-2000).]

[chipbgt]

I like alta vista, it was easy to set up and connected beter than netzero could ever imagine.

[StarWatcher]

I'll throw my 2 cents in for whats it worth...I used to use Netzero alot with no busy signals but I did get bumped off alot...but now I don't bother, can never get on..Altavista is the same way,I can never get on so I don't bother anymore.

I now use Freei and Juno, Freei is great I never have trouble getting on and as some else mentioned you can use it without a banner with the create a new account option. Juno gives busy signals but you can get on after a few trys with a pretty good connection but you do get bumped.

Ey CujoRbd could you explain in more detail on excatly how to edit the Wiz script to prevent being bumped off of Juno and Freei? Thanx http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif




[This message has been edited by StarWatcher (edited 02-28-2000).]

[This message has been edited by StarWatcher (edited 02-28-2000).]