 Free
Internet Access
Something for Nothing
First Published: September 2000
Last Update: April 2002
Author: Computer Partners
The volume of people around the world connecting their computers to the
internet is increasing at an amazing rate. Despite the availability of High
Speed Connections like DSL and cable the vast majority of people still use
modems and regular phone lines for access. The ISPs (Internet Service Providers)
who connect these people to the internet are in a highly competitive market. It
isn't getting any friendlier. In the last year, companies around the world have
started offering unlimited internet connections free to subscribers. This new
wave of ISPs have started to change how the world accesses the net.
In return for providing free access, at least one ISP pops-up advertising at
a regular interval which users must respond to. Another doesn't display
advertising but subjects its users to monthly surveys. Almost all the other
ISP's, a clear majority, use a more passive approach. For the duration of a
users net connection a portion of their screen is dedicated to the display of
banner ads. Users don't have to click on ads but they can't hide them.
,
If you don't mind the advertising you may be wondering what else you lose out
on with a free ISP. The good news is that connection speeds, features like email
accounts, web space and online technical support are all offered. Where most
free ISPs fall short is the lack of live telephone technical support. Larger
paid ISPs will often offer this round the clock. With the free ISP's you are
most likely on your own to solve problems.
Another limitation of the free ISPs is that in addition to your web browser,
you must run a program to display advertising. If the program is not available
for your operating systems, you can't use the service. Windows 95/98 is almost
universally supported but Windows NT/2000, Mac OS and Linux support is less
common. If your computer is low in memory or processor speed, the extra burden
of running the program while online may slow it down to the point of being
unusable. See our test results below.
All of the free services are limited geographically. For example, some are
only available in the U.S. If there are services available in your country there
may not be a local access phone number for your area. This is something you will
have to investigate if you do not live in a major city. Some free ISPs have more
local access numbers than others.
There are too many to mention then all here. There is an excellent directory
on the web complete with user reviews. Click
here to view. Note that about half of the U.S. options also serve Canada and only
the ones that unique to Canada are listed for it on the international page.
At the time of preparing this article we tested half a dozen free internet
options and found them all to work similarly. Our experience confirmed that you
do need a Pentium computer with 32 megabytes of RAM for acceptable performance.
The interruption of loading new advertising banners can slow upload/download
time. With a 56k modem, connections speeds were comparable to those of paid ISP
we are familiar with. We rarely got busy signals and always connected within two
attempts. Connection availability and speed will vary by area.
The services that used banner ads only steel a small amount of screen space
on a 17" monitor, around 10% vertically at 1152x864 resolution. This didn't
interfere with our surfing. However, when we switched to 800x600 for a 15"
monitor we found the loss in screen space lead to a lot of scrolling in the
browser. Most people would find a minimum resolution of 1024x768 provides a
comfortable balance of advertising and browser space.
The most annoying "feature" we encountered was the tendency of free
ISPs to terminate connections when they are inactive for relatively short
periods of time like 10 minutes. Even if you are reading a page in your browser
you may lose your connection if you don't click refresh within 10 minutes. If
you aren't the type who stays on one page for a long while this wont affect you.
In summary, our research and testing shows free internet is a viable option
for dial up internet access. The advertising and other limitations are tolerable
considering the monthly savings of $10-$20.
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