***UPDATE DEC 10th****

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Apparently, Mypoints and other free isps offered by Altavista, Freelane, Excite, etc. who are supplied by 1stup, have terminated their free isp service due to financial difficulties. I guess, we'll need to look for other alternatives in terms of free isps, but I can't help but wonder if the free isps are falling by the minute, like most dot com companies. Quite unfortunate, but that's life.

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As my exposure to 1stup is limited to their service via Mypoints.com, this review will only be based on 1stup's service via Mypoint's free internet. Mypoints is an affinity program that offers points for reading email, shopping via their shopping portal and trying out the products and services of their sponsors. Recently, they've added free internet to their list of services. As I am a happy member of Mypoints (I've received many gift certificates for Roots Canada without spending a dime), I was tempted to use Mypoints's free internet for internet access while I'm on vacation or away from home as I currently have broadband access. They promise 50 points for surfing 10 hours each month.

The download of their software took hardly any time at all as it was only 616K, much smaller than a lot of other similar programs such as freeinternet which was over 1 MB and much smaller than dotnow which was an alarming 3.2 MB! According to Mypoints, the download should only take about 3 mins on a 56K modem, 5.5 mins on 28K, 11 mins on 14K. The installation was quite easy as it provides a step by step procedure of setting up the connection, access numbers, etc. You could always check their help page first before doing the installation (either print the page out or save it on your browser to consult it if you have problems with setting up the connection). It may take a while but once you get it up, it's easy to use.

I have an old Compaq laptop (486 DX2-50, 20MB RAM and 2 GB HD running Win 95) that I use for traveling. I did find that because my cpu was quite slow and I probably didn't have enough RAM, that connecting to Mypoints' internet service took a few minutes. But, compared to paying $10 or more for a few days of internet access via AOL or other means, I really can't complain. I'm getting free internet and getting 50 points for surfing 10 hours a month via their surfbar. Of course, compared to broadband, it took a bit getting used to dealing with the wait of loading pages, and getting web-based email.

The Mypoints' surfbar is dockable on the top or bottom or it can be moved anywhere on the desktop by dragging the bar to whichever location you choose. If you drag it to the top, the bar will dock on the top and same for the bottom. You can disable the "docking" feature of the adbar by right clicking on the left side of the bar and selecting "disable" under "docking". When the bar is docked, it will take up about an inch or so of space (depending on your computer) and your browser window area will decrease in size. If you drag it anywhere else, it will "float" on top of the browser so that it will cover that portion of your browser. If the bar is "floating", there are buttons on the bottom that will provide links to sites such as Mypoints' home, shopping, Mypoints internet web-based email (an envelope icon), Mypoints earning, Devtop, Amazon.com, Local info, Search, Coupons, Epinions, Free stuff, Best deals. On the right hand side of the bar, there is an "x" button to allow you to log off or close the internet session, a folder with an arrow pointing up (a link to freedrive.com), a link to evoice.com (for voice email) and a link to Mypoints internet help. The bar will show up in the same position you last placed it so it's nice that you don't need to move it. One other thing I like about it is that I can use the software even with a resolution of 640 x 480. Some software (Bluelight) will not be able to run on computers with low resolutions because they want to display as much of their bar as possible. So, check with the program's specifications on their web pages before downloading and setting up the software.

Besides internet access, they also provide you with a web-based email which is username@mypointsinternet.com (username is your own user id). They also support the usual POP email retrieval that is available most web-based emails (allowing you to access your ISP's email when you're away from home).

The software is available for Window 9x, 2000, NT and Mac with support for Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers.

I have used the Mypoints internet so far in Vancouver, Edmonton, Cincinnati and Chicago and it seems to work okay. In Vancouver, I get around 45k, Edmonton, I get close to 40k or so and about 50k for Chicago, but in Cincinnati, all my connections tend to be around 28k or less. Occasionally, I would get prompts to click on an ad banner to keep my internet connection alive (but it doesn't come up all that often, about every 20 mins or so). Sometimes, I wouldn't even get any ads on the bar and my bar would sort of crash, but I still have my internet access so I don't worry. I could always disconnect via Microsoft's Dial Up Networking icon (on the system tray) if the bar "crashed".

Mypoints' internet tends to download video ads that run before you connect to their internet program. I have discovered that by deleting those ads, that you won't get to waste your time watching the ads and you still get online. Go to:

c:\program files\mypoints connect\system

Delete all folders and files that are there in the system folder as these are the video ads. There, no more ads. But, you must check back and do it religiously or you will get them since Mypoints will download them onto your hard drive each time you're online. Or, if you're tech savvy, you can create a batch file to delete it each time you boot up your computer.

I have encountered busy signals when dialing, but since 1stup has many access numbers, I was able to dial up and get connected pretty quickly. As Mypoints only pay for the ten hours of internet per month, it doesn't make sense to use them exclusively. I would use Mypoints a little over ten hours to get the points and then use another provider to see if you get faster access.

Overall, I would recommend Mypoints' free internet service for free internet access on the road without paying costly services like AOL. Since I have broadband, I wouldn't really recommend getting free internet services as your sole internet service, unless you can't afford to get either regular dialup or broadband. It all depends on how much you need the internet and what you do on the internet. If you're just accessing it for mostly emails and some occasional surfing, it's okay to get free internet access because you won't spend too much time on it. If you're a net junkie, then broadband is the way to go. Anyone who has tried downloading large files like mp3s or software will appreciate the "lightning" speed of downloads via broadband access. But, while I'm away, I truly appreciate these free internet services. Check the net for free internet access from providers of places you are visiting. You may be surprized to be able to access your important emails, etc for the cost of a local call (charged by your hotel). That's a small price to pay compared to using special pay phones with data ports or other services like AOL.

For more info on Mypoints, please check out my review:

http://www.epinions.com/webs-review-5E57-A53E7A9-392DA2B8-prod1

Thanks for taking the time to read my review.



Recommended: Yes