Free
Written: Jul 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: FREE!
Cons: banner that cannot be moved
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| that's Full Review: Freeinternet.com |
Free. That's the key word you have to think about for all free isp's. Of course they're not going to be as good as the ones that you've paid for but it's free.
Keeping that in mind, to review a free isp you have to compare it to other free isp's. This should not be a comparison between paid isp's. Ok, now that we got that straight here's my two cents.
I have used two free isp's freei.net and alta vista. Now I have no idea of which one tracks and which one doesn't, but you have to realize that these people are not giving free internet access as a favor to you. They are making money. I find it disturbing to read articles in which people are complaining about their freedom with av or freei. I'm sure in their agreement there is some fine print about tracking that they didn't bother to read. These companies need to make money and most likely this is how they are gonna do it. It's not like they're stealing credit card numbers, they are simply tracking to see what interests you. Sort of like a survey that you are constantly taking without knowing.
Ok, now freei is a good isp. I always connected and with a 56k modem i got around 43/44. So I was pretty satisfied. The problems that occurred with freei was that you had to wait for it to load all of its junk on first. Of course you could do other things while it was loading, like use your telnet, but it was still a bother. If you didn't want to register, I would just minimize the freei's taken netscape or ie, and just open a new netscape and it would be fine. I'm not sure if they changed it or anything, they could very well have.
In anycase I use a laptop and as a result I have very little screen space. With this it is hard to have a banner that will take an inch off my screen. freei was good because it is programmed to not just cover what was beneath the banner, but minimized your desktop screen in order to accommodate for it. But still it was a bother. Free AV (alta vista) lets you move the banner around. I liked this method better because it doesn't interrupt your computer.
Besides that they were generally the same, as i assume all free isp's are. What I have used in the past include aol, a t1 from college, and now cable modem. I liked free isp's as long as I have to dial in, and I keep my AV for back up because I'm sure I'll need it elsewhere.
So here's the final thought: free isp's are good if you can't get anything better (either dsl or cable is not available or you don't have the resources). My suggestion if you have to use a free isp: use AV rather than freei. I know this isn't that great of a review, but I can't really think of anything else that the average reader would want to know. I got good connection from both and it results in how i want the banner to work. In my case I'd rather be able to move the banner with the AV. There really isn't more to say. I don't use anything else of the free isp's but the access that they allow...I don't care for external email addresses, nor do I really need good help advice. So it comes down to two things...who can give me a good connection and how bad the banner is. As I'm sure is what most people care for.
Sorry if this wasn't too helpful, I tried. That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for reading!
Recommended:
Yes
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that
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Reviews written: 22
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