| Waltzing around on the Internet can be a pretty time
consuming affair these days. There is so much out there,
it’s easy to get lost. Most dialup online services
offer “unlimited access” for between $15 and
$20 a month. America Online seems to be the most expensive
at $22 a month. It is also one of the most ad-intensive
online services. From the moment you sign on until you
finally sign off, someone is going to be trying to sell
you something. There are even banner solicitations when
you read your e-mail!
Hmmm...what is wrong with this picture? What is wrong
is that you could be doing the same thing for FREE!
There are plenty of Internet Service Providers available
who are actually offering their services in exchange
for looking at a small banner ad area that stays on
your screen while you are online. They all offer free
e-mail addresses with each account and a host of other
services you are used to seeing on your Pay service.
The major online services would love for you to believe
that the reasons you are paying them is their reliability
and stability, not to mention their unique content.
Let’s get real here. How many times have you been
knocked offline for no apparent reason in the last week?
How many busy signals do you get? Isn’t it interesting
how some days seem to be more sluggish than others?
And some days you can’t get on at all! And how
about that customer service and technical support? Why
pay for rude treatment and ignorant, condescending,
arrogant technical support and customer service when
you can get the same thing for FREE?
If you don’t want to give up your AOL, you can
still save over half of what you are paying now for
unlimited access by installing one of the free services
and letting them be your main connection. Then, you
can change your AOL billing to BYOA (bring your own
access) for only $9.95 a month. The trick is to change
your connection to ISP in your settings. When you have
AOL set up like this, it will expect you to be connected
to some other service and (assuming you are connected)
will automatically open the service to you when you
sign on.
It doesn’t hurt to have at least one backup Internet
Service Provider. Since the ones listed in this article
are absolutely FREE, you simply have no excuse. Try
using one or two for a few days;
then try to justify your main Internet Service Provider
charging your credit card each month. Get down and dirty
when you evaluate a new online service. Make a note
of the connection speed each time by moving your mouse
pointer to the two little computers at the bottom far
right of your taskbar and double clicking on them. How
does it compare to the service you are paying for?
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t
have more than one internet Service Provider installed
on your computer at one time. Granted, you can only
use one at a time, but most of them get along fairly
well with each other, and just sit there until you need
them. Mrs. Wizard has no problems with the 5 free Internet
Service Providers she has installed (not to mention
the various other major online service providers she
supports). When it comes to “acid testing”
and comparing reliability, she is the queen!
The key to choosing an Internet Service Provider is
to always remember you are the boss. If you have to
do ten Hail Marys under a full moon or spend an inordinate
amount of time with
tech support to get the thing installed and working
properly, don’t bother with it. Be brutally honest
with yourself when checking out a new service. There
are too many good ones out there to choose from for
you to waste even a moment of your time with software
that doesn’t work.
The bad and overpriced providers will eventually get
the hint when they realize no one is subscribingany
more. You can continue paying for poor service and no
content, or you can strike out on your own and beg into
discover what is really out there! The “catch”
is usually going to be some sort of viewbar, with links
to sponsor advertisements. Actually, these can be pretty
convenient. Most are links to very well established
Internet stores and services, and the viewbars usually
have many other conveniences that can make your surfing
much more enjoyable. There is a lot to be said for this
approach to Internet access.It’s a Gold Mine out
there!
Choosing an ISP (internet service provider) is not
always easy. There are many companies to choose from
-- which can make your choice difficult. With the recent
demise of over 100 FREE ISP's, there is a mad scramble
to secure a reliable internet service.
However, if you are going to sign up for such a service,
you might as well do it right the first time. When I
first signed up for service, I actually tried 3 or 4
different providers before I finally got it to work
the way I wanted it to.
I wanted my ISP service to connect reliably, download
fast, and most of all, I wanted no busy signals! After
much trial and error, I finally found a combination
of services that worked the best for me.
Modem Optimizer - This special service optimizes
your modem and browser so you can view pages at nearly
Double the speed.
Use
This Now
|
