Considering new ISP

[Dan Mitchell]

I have had the same Internet account for about 7 years. I say *account* and not *ISP* because although this used to be a local company (one of the reasons I went there to begin with) they have since been bought at least twice. Current company is CoreComm. Anyway, for most of that time their service has been reasonable, which I define as limited connection difficulties. Lately however I find they are getting harder to stay connected to, particularly at certain high-traffic times. For example, it is almost impossible to get OR maintain a connection between about 4:45Pm & 6:30PM. I guess this is when everyone is getting home from work and logging on to check their e-mail, get the latest from the azalia growing newsgroup &/or download porn. What's odd is that when you call you don't just get a busy signal, rather it will take forever to connect and then you'll get like 14.4 or 28.8, and usually the connection will drop after about 2 minutes. Makes it damned hard for me to download my porn (uhhh... I mean, read my "books online" copy of Beowulf... yeah, that's it...) http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif So I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a particularly good national ISP. Or one that serves central Ohio, which is where I'm located, if anyone has that info. Definately not interested in AOL http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif

Thanks,

Dan

[JL275]

You could try Telocity (I think they just changed names), Earthlink, or maybe try your local cable company. The benefit of telocity is a static IP address. I've never tried any of these so I have no real opinion about them. Anyone else...?

[yawningdog]

I've been using netzero for about two months now and I've never been kicked off and log on is about 95% assured on the first try.

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He thrusts his fists against the posts but still insists he sees the ghosts.

[AwARe]

Its been a little while since Ive really had any "personal" experience with dial up internet, but...........

I hear good things about EarthLink (They are somehow now part of or bought mindspring I believe), also AT&T at least "used" to be a good one, probably still is (They do "Own" the phone lines ya know http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif ) as far as what you have avail in your area I have no idea, but thats about the limits of what Id recommend...............around here where I live EROL's was always a cheap reasonable alternative (not great but at least you could always get on, and it is pretty cheap), but I really dont know anymore, and Id have no idea if they have any service in your area....

If I had to choose one real quick, would have to be EarthLink.......

Good Luck!

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What I meant by what I said is hopefully less confusing then the contemplation of the question that led to the confusion in the 1st place.......

[Ghost_Hacker]

I'll throw in my 2 cents with Earthlink/Mindspring.

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Comment heard from a Klingon programmer.

"Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are!"

[Bailey]

I have been bouncing around the last few years from one free isp to another. Finally had to settle into a pay service when the free ride came to an end. I have gotten pretty good service from PeoplePC. They have a service that sells you a PC and internet service for $XX.XX per month, but they will sell you just the unlimited internet service for $9.95/month. They are going to $14.95/month on July 1 for new members.

It has been a very stable service.

BTW: The CD with their software is not really necessary. You can establish your own dial-up connection, and avoid their proprietary dial-up connection along with some irritating browser customizations. Only problem is I get the occasional e-mail from them asking why I have not installed the software and signed up for the service. Doh!

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"Ooooh, They have the
internet on computers now!" - Homer Simpson