See Error Messages You've Never Experienced Before
Written: Jan 03 '01 (Updated Jan 03 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Free, OK connection speeds
Cons: Disruptive ad bar, heavy system hog
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| psychotropic's Full Review: NetZero |
Countless free ISP's used to dot(-com) the landscape. But that was before the Internet bloodbath we've seen in the last four months.
The Internet, one region of American business where competition really is good, has experienced massive changes as we move into 2001, and not all of the changes are healthy for competition or the industry.
I've accessed the Internet in the days when a modem came with a cradle for your telephone handset. Many users today probably don't remember those days, or even know they existed. But that's okay. Because we have a new phrase for the speed of our daily lives in the Millennium: "moving at Internet time."
By now, some of you are probably wondering what any of this has to do with NetZero. I was just getting to that...
Crushes the Competition
NetZero crushes the competition, and I'm not saying that's a good thing, necessarily.
Of the free Internet providers, I've used iFreedom (see review) and the 1stUp services (see review). It's worth noting that both are now defunct. Accessing the 1stUp site now rewards you with a single-page apology, voicing the company's woes. It's spooky, I have to say, navigating some of these "grave sites" of former functional Web companies.
Surfing to iFreedom, on the other hand, lands you at NetZero's doorstep.
Trying NetZero
I downloaded and tried NetZero for one reason: a free ISP is a good fallback for those nights when you really need to check your eBay auction, but your primary ISP doesn't want to oblige. Free ISP's are also a good choice for families with multiple Internet users, especially when somebody's on the road and needs reliable access, and the user left at home needs an easily accessible account that won't kick off dear ol' dad (or mom).
I downloaded NetZero and tried it on subsequent days at various times throughout the day for an entire week. Please note this test was done during the Christmas holidays. Internet traffic may have increased or decreased with the holiday schedule.
Download & Installation
NetZero's issue is the basic issue plaguing most free ISP's (also known as the "credit card problem")--in order to get free Internet service (or credit), you need Internet service (or a credit history).
It's times like these when I feel nostalgic for 1stUp.com--with the latter, the download was quick, reliable, and transferred easily to a diskette. See the advantage? Students, low-income people, or people who simply don't want to pay for Internet access can access the Internet at the public library, at school, at a friend's--wherever. They download the .exe file, transfer it to a diskette they bring from home, and install the program on their computers.
Voila! Simple.
Not so with NetZero. The download, when completed, weighs in at a whopping 4 MB. (That's nearly three floppy diskettes, for those of you not fluent in geek-speak.)
The installation is mostly standard Windows stuff (sorry, didn't check for a Macintosh version), with the exception of a laughably long "Service Agreement"--you know, those long, legally confusing, scary, annoying text files that precede just about any program you install today. Think you've seen long service agreements before? Think again. Try checking "I Agree" and hitting "OK" four times before you're ushered to proceed. I'm glad NetZero is creating so much meaningful employment for America's fine attorneys.
A few more "OK's" installs NetZero into your Program Files folder, and you're done. The one thing I liked at this point was that I wasn't required to restart my computer before trying NetZero (although I did and recommend you do the same, just for laughs and giggles).
Create Your NetZero Account
After restarting your computer--or returning to your Desktop--you find that a new NetZero shortcut has been placed on your Desktop. (Woe to those who answered "Yes" to "Do you want NetZero to place a shortcut in your Start menu?" If you did, NetZero increases your start-up time that much more and also places a large, obtrusive log-on menu on your Desktop every time you start up.)
The sign-up process is deceptively simple. Through a reasonably attractive interface, NetZero prompts you to enter your desired user name and password. You then enter the first five digits of the phone number from the location where you're logging on. NetZero does the rest by offering you a list of phone numbers close to your location.
Choose All, and you're done. Cross your fingers and hit the "Connect" button.
Are You Well Connected?
If you're lucky, and if the load on your local server isn't too heavy, you'll be met with a lengthy log-on procedure rather than a busy signal from your modem's speaker.
This is where I began to fear what NetZero was doing to my computer, not to mention my sanity.
The log-on procedure is unusually long. You're required to watch an advertisement accompanied by both sound and video during the process.
Once you're logged on, you're not out of the woods yet. NetZero's advertising bar appears. I don't know what NetZero's engineers did to this thing, but whatever it is, it's hogging system resources in a major way.
I found that touching, launching, minimizing just about anything causes NetZero (and subsequently, my entire system) to lock up and spit out error messages that I've never seen Windows issue before.
Also, if you have any programs that automatically start up with an Internet connection (ICQ and Yahoo! Messenger come to mind), be sure to disable them from your Task Bar at the bottom of your Windows Desktop. Otherwise, your system might freeze up. Mine did.
On top of all this, NetZero then launches your Web browser and takes you to a heavy page, "Z Start." Z Start tries hard to be a portal, like Yahoo!, but falls miserably short. One drawback is the heavy load time. Say what you will about Yahoo!, but it's my home page of choice because it's fast-loading. Another problem I experienced with Z Start is the sloppy layout. Most of the "good" information, links, and choices are buried too deeply to be of any real use or interest to somebody just logging onto the 'Net. If you've ever been to ICQ's home page, you have an idea what Z Start looks like.
How It Works
Surprisingly, NetZero stays connected rather well, and doesn't intrude by forcing you to click its ads to stay connected, something I dread most in my experiences with other free ISP's.
What it does do to offend is popping up a window in your face about every twenty minutes: "Did you know you can click on ads in [NetZero's bar]?" Yes, I did, thank you, and if I were interested in any of those, I would go there myself.
This is followed up by an even more offensive and intrusive window: "You are about to be logged off! Click 'Resume' to stay connected." As an avid user, I see the wisdom of this: with a large user base, NetZero is trying to insure that no one log onto its service and stay connected for hours at a time while they do other things; meanwhile other users trying to log on are denied access. As a user, though, I find it annoying, especially when I'm only walking away for a coffee or snack and return to find myself logged off and having to endure the log-on all over again. Images from The Lottery by Shirley Jackson spring to mind.
On the positive side, after seven days, I have found myself shut out by busy signals only once, but then it was for an entire hour.
NetZero boasts that it provides e-mail and even voicemail services to any users signed up with their service, but finding links to activate or sign up for these services proved elusive. I think it would be downright frustrating and impossible for casual users, who may depend on a service such as NetZero for their POP3 needs.
In Conclusion
NetZero is an adequate service and does what it needs to do--getting users who have no other choice online and surfing the Web. However, for those who have the means to go with another service, I highly recommend they do so.
NetZero's most glaring error is the heavy load it puts on any system. Basically they're forgetting that anyone depending entirely on a free ISP probably possesses a low-end system they're unable (or unwilling) to upgrade and can't afford the major system drain.
As one of the only games left in town, I'm curious to see where NetZero heads. Will their service improve? They're quickly becoming the AOL of the free ISP universe as their competition falls by the wayside, users flock to their service, and they dominate what's left of their competition. But, as is the case with AOL, bigger doesn't always necessarily mean better.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
psychotropic
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Location: Southeastern U.S.
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 2 members
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