Another FREE internet access site. - Posted by TOMinPA

Posted by John Behle on March 15, 2000 at 01:01:38:

They are local to my city only. I’m checking it out tomorrow, so I will ask them about any national or other local providers they might know of throughout the country.

Another FREE internet access site. - Posted by TOMinPA

Posted by TOMinPA on March 14, 2000 at 02:43:27:

I joined this access site about a month ago- no banners, but as soon as you log on- they take you to their homepage, just surf away. They have e-mail as well. Sometimes its hard to log on- they are updating their servers, should be done in two weeks I was told. most of the time I can log on no problem. The software download is about 8 megs- but in my opinion, its fast 56k, customer service is toll-free, 2 minute wait- not 20 or 30 minutes.

Its called worldspy.net try it-
http://www.worldspy.net

Tom.

Re: Another FREE internet access site. - Posted by chris

Posted by chris on March 14, 2000 at 06:01:08:

http://www.freexdsl.com/

Tom- You may want to check these guys out. They give free DSL connection at speeds 200 times 28K dial up modems. That is what their ad states.

The problem I have with any of these services is that they do not mention why they are giving you a free connection. I can understand the services that have the banner ads-but what is the deal with these other guys? You would think that in the FAQs the sites have they would provide an answer.

Re: Another FREE internet access site. - Posted by Dmitry

Posted by Dmitry on March 14, 2000 at 09:33:54:

Chris,

I checked the FreeXDSL web site looking for the fine print, and could not find any… How do they make it free? Do they trash your computer with ads? How bad are they? Do they sell your information to somebody? Do you use them? What is your experience? How much did you have to pay for the DSL modem? For installation, if any was required (splitter, phone jack, etc.)? I would like to sign up with them, but first it is interesting to hear from somebody who has used them…

Thanks.

Dmitry

Free ISP Ratings - Posted by Patrick-OH

Posted by Patrick-OH on March 14, 2000 at 21:01:17:

You may want to try
www.internet4free.net/ratings.htm
It’s a decent list of about a dozen free ISP’s available.

Re: FREE high-speed internet access - Posted by chris

Posted by chris on March 14, 2000 at 16:34:23:

I believe they do free installation. I am also interested in someone else testing the waters with this before I have it running on my system.

-Chris

What I saw - Posted by John Behle

Posted by John Behle on March 14, 2000 at 22:52:34:

I checked it out and there are a couple issues. It is the same company as www.freewwweb.com. They do have a small banner ad that is targeted to you based on your surfing habits.

They use Netscape only, so some will need to use a different browser. There is no long term commitment with freewwweb.com - but there is a five year commitment with the DSL.

Even though it is free - including modem and installation! - there is a $500 cancellation fee if you cancel before 5 years.

Why? They have a clause in there that is like a “First Right of Refusal” clause in real estate. It states that if they bring cable or telephone service to your area that you agree to use their service. It states - “to allow SMART to provide MEMBER with such service at the applicable tariff or published rate for such service if the rate is no more than the rate currently being paid by MEMBER”.

Not a bad tradeoff as far as I can see. Looks like the DSL is a “loss leader” to gather a base to roll out their phone and cable connnections to. Wouldn’t break my heart to leave US West or ATT cable.

One other thing. Found a microwave service today at almost ten times the speed of DSL for only $40 per month. That looks like the future to me. Two megabits per second sure beats 28-38k.

Re: What I saw - Posted by ScottE

Posted by ScottE on March 15, 2000 at 24:20:21:

John,
What’s this about microwave service for $40/month?
Do you mind saying who the vendor is?

Thanks

Scott

Correction - Posted by John Behle

Posted by John Behle on March 14, 2000 at 23:07:23:

I read something that said they didn’t have banner ads. Something else said targeted marketing. I assumed that was through banners, but may be through email or some other form.