Compare Dial Up Internet
There is a lot of information available on different dial up Internet service providers, but choosing one is difficult without a side-by-side comparison. Below you will see comparisons of the major dial up Internet service providers based on cost, speed, tech support, ease of use, extras and ease of cancellation.
Cost
BasicISP has the cheapest plan by far, but offers no extras and starts at $6.95 per month. ISP.com starts you out at $8.95 per month. PeoplePC, NetZero, Juno, Copper.net and TurboUSA all begin at $9.95 per month. AOL starts at $9.99 per month and MSN at $14.95 per month. EarthLink will give you a super deal if you prepay for one year’s service at only $12.50 per month.
Speed
NetZero claims to be “the fastest dial-up surfing you can get” with its 3G accelerated plan. ISP.com offers higher surfing speeds through compression technology, letting you surf up to seven times faster. EarthLink is also one of the speedier providers. Connection and surfing speeds can be affected by local telephone problems outside of the ISP’s control, so you may need to try different providers before you find the one that is fastest for you.
Tech Support
PeoplePC, Copper.net, TurboUSA, ISP.com, MSN and EarthLink will all give you free telephone support. The cheapest AOL plan does not offer phone support, but other AOL plans do give you this. Both NetZero and Juno only offer free phone support for the first 30 days. After that, it will cost you $1.95 per minute. PeoplePC offers free phone support for installation issues only. Other problems cost $1.95 per minute. BasicISP gives support free for 30 days, but there is a $4.95 charge per incident thereafter.
Ease of Use
AOL is definitely the easiest and the most fun dial up Internet access provider to use. They are followed closely by MSN, EarthLink, People PC and Copper,net. NetZero and Juno can be a little tricky, along with BasicISP, TurboUSA and ISP.com.
Extras
AOL has more extras than any other provider, with social media integration, internet radio and other fun features. MSN offers excellent productivity tools like Encarta, Money and Photo Plus. EarthLink follows these two closely with its parental controls. NetZero’s 3G accelerated plan stands out for its speed, while Juno’s “Instaview” feature lets you read your mail as soon as you sign on. The other providers offer few extras and the BasicISP offers none.
Ease of Cancellation
Many may remember how difficult cancelling AOL used to be. Those days are gone. Now it is easy to cancel by simply entering keyword “cancel,” filling out a form and sending it in. Customers cancelling EarthLink, where the billing department was not informed of the cancellation, have reported some problems. PeoplePC, NetZero and Juno will all try to talk you into staying, but the process is not complicated. Whenever you cancel an Internet access service, be sure to get a cancellation number and keep it in a safe place. Then monitor your credit card statement for charges.