Free Dial Up Internet
Free Internet access providers have declined sharply since the emergence of this convenient service in 1998. In most cases, users saw a floating ad banner at the top of the screen will surfing the Web. Some even forced you to click on an ad or be disconnected. These providers offset the cost of providing access phone number with advertising revenue.
Only a Few Providers Remain
Unfortunately, most of these services died out as people enjoyed the ease and convenience of high-speed internet services, or paid services without the advertising banners. By the year 2000, almost all free Internet service providers were filing for bankruptcy. Today, you can only get it from two providers who are both owned by the same company. They are NetZero and Juno.
All of the other providers have either died out or phased out free services. Rumors abound that Juno and Netzero are phasing out access numbers as well, so if you want free access, now is the time to get it. Services like FreeWWWeb, Free Internet, and WorldSpy and K-Mart’s Blue Light are all dead and gone.
The Survivors
NetZero and Juno survived because they continued to provide advertising and used the free service to promote their paid services. Currently, free service is limited to ten hours per month as well. You get an email account with 1 GB of storage coupled with spam and virus protection to boot. Installation is fast and easy with a two-minute download. Some users find the service difficult to use, but complaints are few and far between. It’s hard to complain when you are getting internet access, email, spam protection and virus protection all for free!
NetZero
Net Zero provides free and paid Internet access plans for 10 hours per month. NetZero Dial-Up Internet Service is a quick and convenient Internet access provider.
Juno
Juno offers a free Internet access plan with 10 hours per month for Mac and PC users. You can also purchase the paid Juno Platinum and Juno Turbo value-priced services.
Try Free Internet Access
If you are looking to save money but are not sure you can survive on ten hours a month internet access, then sign up for a free service while keeping the paid service you already use. Try it out for a month or two before cancelling your paid service.
Cancelling Your Paid Service
Cancelling a paid service can be troublesome. While some providers will try to up-sell their services to you, others will be friendly and polite about the cancellation. There are a few things you should do to protect yourself from excessive charges:
- Get a Cancellation Number – You should not consider your account cancelled unless you have one
- Say No – The provider will ask you repeatedly to stay or buy other services
- Monitor Your Credit Card – In some cases, the billing does not get properly cancelled, even though your internet access is no longer active. What your credit card for continued charges and be vigilant about having charges taken off.