ISP Advice

(Last page update: November 4, 1999 -- sections with recent updates are marked "(rev)")

Background

Hunter College's dial-up service to the Internet has been phased out over the course of 1999, and actually ended in October 1999.  As a service to the Hunter community and expressing strictly a private opinion assuming no responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided (a disclaimer just so nobody will sue me), I offer a number of hints on how to pick an ISP. Most of this is drawn from my previous postings to hunter-l and cunytech. For those who have a Windows capable computer in their (Hunter) office, I will also outline an alternative strategy eliminating the need to find your own ISP and -- following up on hints by members of the Hunter community -- offer a discussion of free ISP . To limit the length of this page, some material from previous versions (but no longer relevant as companies have gone out of business or better options have become available) has been removed in September 1999.

Overview

Check out a companion piece: What determines the speed of your Internet connection?  (started in Sep 99)

What's an ISP and exactly what will change?

(If the following does not make sufficient sense to you, consult the question-and-answer page to guide you through the changes step-by-step.)
ISP stands for "Internet Service Provider". In the past, Hunter/Interport has been the ISP for several hundred faculty and students at Hunter. Using the modem in your (home) computer you dial a phone number provided by your ISP; when connected, you provide a user name and corresponding password, and you get connected to the Internet. This whole process is also referred to as "dialup networking" or "DUN". Before you can do that, however, you need to install or configure some "communication software". Most ISPs provide you with their own software package (on a CD, on diskettes, or per download if you have another connection already and are in the process of switching) that are easy to install and where you just have to answer a few simple questions, e.g., the phone number you are dialling from. Win9x users have appropriate software already installed, but you would need to specify certain parameters that your ISP must provide. So, switching from Hunter/Interport to another ISP means that you will have to install a different communication software package or, at least, reconfigure what you already have. This is a one time affair and not a big deal especially if you pick one of the major providers (AOL, ATT, MSN, ... -- see below).
What you see after the connection is established depends on your ISP. Some ISPs (AOL is the prime example) provide you with their own (proprietary) web browsing software, prepackaged web contents, etc., others just establish the Internet connection for you and let you choose the software to make use of various Internet services (e-mail, web, newsgroups, etc.). Your Internet connection in your Hunter office (if you have one) is of the second type. I am not quite sure where the Hunter/Interport ISP leaves you (because I never used this service), but switching to another ISP does not change the basics. Any ISP will let you use after the connection is established. So, even after switching to another ISP, you will still be able to access your e-mail via Telnet/Pine -- if this is what you do now. I think that this is a suboptimal choice, but this is another topic altogether. I have posted several messages about better e-mail handling options on hunter-l and cunytech in the past and I have combined these into an accompanying web page.

The latest comparative ISP review on the Web

A fairly detailed review of mostly the big four (national) ISPs and a number of others (dating back to 1988) can be found at CNET; more recenly (August 1999), they added a comparative review of ISPs that offer low price plans for people with low Internet use (about 10 hours a month) -- including two free ISPs (Altavista and Netzero, see below). CNET also features a comprehensive data base, the Ultimate ISP Guide started in August 1998. Keep in mind, however, that review and guide assume a user not connected to an institution that already provides a number of Internet services. It also assumes a user widely unfamiliar with the Internet/Web. So, what may be the best choice for a complete novice without any other Internet access may not be the best choice for Hunter faculty, staff, or students. I thoroughly disagree with CNET's choice of AOL as the top service, but I like their runner-up choice ATT. Based on my experience with using the web in the classroom, most problem reports come from students using AOL. Also, the emphasis in the CNET review is on national providers, though the "Ultimate Guide" includes local providers as well and has expanded its coverage continously. Unless you travel regularly and want to be connected to the Internet while traveling, national coverage may not be important at all and a regional provider may give you a much better deal. The ratings of ISPs at this site are based on site visitors' opinions -- like Zabar ratings for ISPs, but without any cross-checking. And people's taste in ISPs may be more idiosyncratic than their taste in food and restaurants.
When considering the low cost options (limited access deals starting under $10 a month), keep in mind that 10 hours a month may seem a lot of time for a Web newbie. However, once you get started on using the Web, connection time adds up quickly -- and you may end up paying more than the currently customary some $20/month for unlimited connection time. However, a new company RedConnect now offers a flat rate of $8.00 for 56K access. Almost too good to be true, but with the arrival of much speedier connections (see below), 56K connection prices will come down. Be warned, though, that as of June 1999 RedConnect only got a low D in the CNET user survey (based on just 6 raters).
Another company, Inverse, offers much more objective ratings of some 25 major ISPs (based on a large number of sustematically placed test calls/connections) and provides grades (A+, A, B) for each ISP on a number of different aspects, but no summary rating. But checking the major categories, one of my personal favorites (ATT Worldnet) does very well.
 

Other comprehensive listings/reviews of ISPs

Points to consider

1. Make sure that the ISP provides local (phone call) access from wherever you need it. From home for sure, but if you travel a lot, consider these destinations as well. Not all ISPs offer local service from anywhere and access via an 800 number typically comes with a heavy surcharge. If you live outside NYC, make sure that the ISP also offers service in Manhattan. This way you can use your ISP account as a backup in your office in case Hunter's Internet connection goes down -- provided you have a modem in your office station.

2. Check for annual payment options. These usually come with a substantive discount (as low as $15/month for unlimited access) and protect you against rates hikes in the near future. ISPs offering such deals include Erols (by now, a subsidiary of RCN) -- a favorite of quite a few CUNY faculty.

3. Get the most out of your modem. Most recently bought modems (28/33) include some "doubling technology". Unfortunately, it started out with two incompatible systems: x2 (3Com/US Robotics) and K56flex (Rockwell/Lucent). Most ISPs (including Erols) have supported K56flex. So, if you have an x2 modem, a simple promise of 56K does not do you any good -- unless the ISP supports x2 technology (ATT does).  Unfortunately, a large practice test by Boardwatch magazine has shown K56flex to be vastly inferior to x2.
The good news is that a new unified standard called V.90 has been agreed upon and upgrades for existing modems have become available. Most major ISPs now offer the V.90 standard. However, you may have to update your own modem as well. If you have a genuine US Robotics modem, the upgrade should be already available. If you have a Gateway computer (most of them use a special variety of US Robotics modems), you have to get a special upgrade available from Gateway.
Keep in mind, that whatever the nominal connection speed is, the actual bandwith you get is usually considerably lower. So, you may need 56K nominal just to get an actual transfer rate of say 30K. Maximizing the nominal speed is not a trivial matter and it has a big impact on your web surfing pleasures. Below there are additional hints on how to maximize your transfer rate no matter what the nominal speed is.

4. Do you want just straight Internet access (like in your office) or do you want to be spoon fed with the ISP preselecting web contents for you? If the latter, you are an "AOL type" and maybe the CNET recommendation is right for you. However, most of the larger ISPs are doing pretty much the same and bombard you with advertisements. They differ, however, in how easy it is to bypass all this and to use the browser of your choice (which may coincide with mine: Netscape). Yes, it is possible to use Netscape with an AOL connection, but it requires some tweaking. Other services (like ATT) make it much easier for you to go out to the Internet on your own and use the connection the same way you do in the office at Hunter.

5. Does the ISP provide an e-mail account and what kind of access to your e-mail is provided. The answer to the first question seems to be uniformly "yes"; let's rephrase it: how many e-mail accounts come at no extra charge? Given that you have an e-mail account at Hunter, this point may not be of interest to you. But think about a backup option and/or separate e-mail accounts for family members. The answer to the second question is more technical, so check the e-mail advice page for more on this. At any rate, it is an advantage if an ISP offers "POP" access to their mail system  -- and AOL does not.

6. Does the ISP give you a free trial period? Most of them do, but you may have to ask for it. This is not so much about the $20 you may save (30 day trial periods are fairly common), but it is hard to evaluate an ISP without actually using the service. Using trial periods you can have overlapping memberships/subscription at no extra cost and make your final selection based on practical experience. -- I also remember a student of mine who rotated through the trial periods of different ISPs and had free Internet access for the whole semester. Too much trouble for my taste, but ...

Personal recommendations

These recommendations do not take technologically more advanced solutions (possibly now available at your home) into consideration. Check the next section for details before settling on old technology.
Also, the competition among ISPs is heating up and there is a growing tendency to provide Internet service in a way that the user is forced to look at all the ads on an ISP's starting page ("portal"). Some users may see these portals (AOL style) as extra service, but this steering has some negative consequences -- like making it difficult to get to your ISP e-mail account when connected to the Internet in other ways. It is often difficult to obtain precise information before you sign up. So, use the free (30 day) trial period that most ISPs offer to check out these details -- and switch to another ISP, if necessary. But policies keep changing ....

ISPs for the future (which has begun in some parts of the NY Metro area): DSL and cable modems

An older article in BYTE magazine gives a nice non-technical description of both cable and ADSL modems and an April 1999 article on the CNET site gives another non-technical overview of future (high bandwidth) Internet connections.  With (A)DSL technology your existing phone line is put to dual use. In addition to regular voice phone use, the physical wire is also used to provide a permanent connection between your computer (needs a special DSL modem and depending on type possibly an Ethernet card as well) and the phone company's central office. This way you are continuously connected to the Internet, the same way your office station is. No more dial-ups, no more busy signals. And all this at a speed roughly 12 times faster than a 56K modem connection.

DSL

[In addition to the information below, check out the "DSLReports" site, started in the summer of 1999. Thanks to David Jaffe (History, CCNY) for bringing this site to my attention.]

This new ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) technology was introduced by Bell Atlantic and marketed under the name of Infospeed DSL in selected test markets in 1998. As of July 1999, it has come to home users in parts of NYC. You can do a preliminary check of availability for your existing telephone line via the web. If your phone number qualifies and the quality of the physical wiring in your building (maybe a problem with pre-war buildings) allows, you get it now. Officially NYC service started on August 1, 1999.

The sign up process is quite an experience. Be prepared to answer a number of technical questions about your computer (make, operating system, memory, availability of PCI/ISA expansion slots, etc.) and to talk to two different sales reps. Due to regulatory requirements, the DSL service on your phone line is kept separate from Internet access. And if you are using Bell Atlantic as ISP, you will find out that they are using a "subcontractor" (a long distance provider as Internet service is considered "long distance" and Bell cannot directly offer long distance service); so you are made to choose between GTE and Qwest. I tossed a coin and went with GTE.
The pricing is very attractive: $49.95/month for the Infospeed DSL/Bell Atlantic.net package ; it's actually $39.95 for DSL -- which will appear on the phone bill -- and $10 for Internet access -- for which you will be billed on a credit card) for 640K service (roughly 12 times as fast as a 56K modem). In addition, you need a DSL modem currently available for just $99 (special offers). The internal version of the DSL modem incorporates the functionality of an Ethernet card, the external version requires either an Ethernet card  (to be bought separately, but currently offered for free) or a USB port on your station running under Win98. Finally, a special onetime connection charge (currently $99) also applies.

But if you are a heavy Internet home user (like I am ), you save the cost for a second phone line and the charges for the local calls to connect to your current ISP; which add up to some $20-$25/month. And you save the current ISP charge of some $20. So, apart from the onetime investment of $200 (DSL modem, connection fee), you only pay $5-10 more per month and get much faster service. My DSL service was installed September 3 and, so far, it works very nicely. But, even the technician who installed the service admitted it, it is a new technology and a lot of installation do not go as smoothly as mine.

Experience with Infospeed after two months of service. (This is a preliminary summary based on both my own and Marten DenBoer's (Hunter Physics) Infospeed connections which started a few weeks later.)

Hopefully, most of this are just growing pains and being a "pioneer" has its cost. Neither Marten nor I are ready to give up, but I am hesitant to let go of my second phone line for now. So, unless you spend a lot of time on the Internet and don't mind to dive into some technical stuff, DSL Infospeed is not for you -- yet.

Other DSL providers. In addition to BellAtlantic, there are a number of ISPs offering DSL service in the NYC area, but they mostly cater to (small) businesses rather than residential customers (check this not necessarily complete listing of ISPs offering DSL Access). Increasingly, though, single user or "residential" options are also offered. However, my previous exploration were not very successful and the prices were considerabl;y higher than what Bell Atlantic offers now. Keep in mind, that the market is in flux and that the prices established in May/June may have changed. All these are resellers who buy DSL service from Bell and then resell it to you. Personally, I see little reason to have a reseller involved. But here are my findings from earlier this summer:

But RedConnect (a company just started on Feb 1, 1999) does offer a residential plan as well at $79.95 per month based on 1 year contract. In addition, there is an installation fee of $300 and the customer is responsible for having an Ethernet card installed in his/her computer (another 30-50$). RedConnect uses a separate telephone line for the connection (no dual use) and the monthly charge covers the cost for this line as well as the rental for a 1meg modem. So, apart from the one time cost, it's $80 compared to roughly $40 now ($20 for unlimited 56K service from an ISP and another $20 for a second phone line plus local call charges). Double the price and get 12 times the speed (if the connection works as promised).The RedConnect DSL service is also available via resellers like MetaNet, but the NYC area price is the same though there seems to be a $59.95 option for somewhat slower speed as well (their web site needs some maintenance). I am seriously thinking about it .....the service is available for my location.
[One possible problem with this connection is that it requires a "clean" copper wire connection between your house and Bell's Central office. With bad wiring, the connection will not work. This is the reason that RedConnect will not try to work with an existing phone line, but rather have a new line installed -- delaying the whole process by 3-4 weeks, the way Bell Atlantic works.]

Another company now offering residential (single user) DSL access in the New York area is InternetConnect (you may have seen ads in the NYT). They offer a greater variety of plans, including one ADSL ("asymmetric" = different speeds for upload and download) plan for single users at $59.95 (apparently without a one year commitment) at 384 kbps speed (RedConnect's plan offers 640 kbps). The installation charge is lower ($220). Otherwise, the service seems to be very similar; at this point, no dual use of a line for both voice and Internet connection. (My hunch is that the actual quality of existing telephone lines does not reliably support dual use though in principle the technology permits it. There may also be regulatory restrictions in terms of who may provide which service.)
 

Cable modem

TV cable providers are now moving rapidly into the Internet access market. The dominant TV cable provider in Manhattan, Time Warner, is now offering its Road Runner service -- as Marten DenBoer pointed out to me. Rollout will be gradual and focused on "Southern Manhattan" at first, starting in selected areas on November 1, 1999, with service in all of Manhattan expected to be offered by the end of 2000. Service in selected areas of Queens and Brooklyn is also expected to start in 2000, more details on their neighborhood map. It is genuine (meaning: two way) cable access with no need for an additional telephone connection and the price is attractive, $39.95/month -- if you have at least a 'standard' cable TV subscription with them. The current installation and equipment charges are comparable to BellAtlantic's Infospeed DSL service. So, this is an alternative worthwhile to consider, if Road Runner is available in your neighborhood. However, despite of the (partisan) claims on the TW web site, independent comparisons of cable and DSL have given the edge to DSL. But RoadRunner gives you dialup access to the Internet when traveling, while Infospeed does not (to be precise, BellAtlantic dialup access is included in New Jersey, but not in New York -- go figure).

RCN, the alternate cable TV provider (available in select, mostly large buildings only) in Manhattan, is providing Internet access via cable for some time now. However, it most cases (buildings) RCN still offers only hybrid cable service, i.e. downlink speed (via cable) at T1 rates (about 50 times faster than a 28.8 modem) and upload speed (via telephone) at what your modem will support. Only in buildings that RCN has connected via fiber-optic cable two-way cable Internet connection is offered, and supposedly as RCN switches from microwave antenna to fiber-optic (for TV delivery), one-way cable will be upgraded to two-way cable. But the process is slow, and for my building (The Vermeer in Chelsea) conversion will not be completed before mid-2000 -- according to information provided by a sales rep in the fall of 1999. It turned out that the fiber optic conversion was done in early October 1999, but the conversion to two-way cable lies still in the future. The price for this service is just under $40/month, but there are still phone charges and possibly the need for a second phone line. All in all, one-way cable modem is not an attractive option.

Special security concerns with DSL/cable modem connections -- or your Hunter office station

Finally, as a cautionary note, with higher speed (and higher prices) come additional security problems. The permanent connection to the Internet via DSL makes your home computer a potential target for hackers who may be interested in personal financial information you may store on your home computer. Though you may not store as sensitive information on your Hunter office station, the same concerns apply -- as this station does have a permanent connection to the Internet as well.
In both cases, you need to be a bit more concerned about intruders. For now, I have purchased a security package which was recently released in a home user's version: BlackIce Defender. Unfortunately, it does not work well with my internal DSL modem (SpeedStream 3060 from Efficient Networks) but it appears to work well with the USB-external DSL modem Marten DenBoer got. And Marten reports that, yes, there are people out probing whether your system may be vulnerable (like people going down the hallway at Hunter checking which doors are locked and which may be open). So, protecting your home computer from intruders is certainly not an issue to be taken lightly. If you go for a DSL connection, observe the following guidelines: A review in PC Magazine in October 1999, recommended the Shields Up! web site by Gibson Research Corporation as a good way of getting a free check on the security of your station (at home or at Hunter). My advice above matches their recommendations, but the Shields Up! site has much more to offer (and there is plenty left for me to explore in more detail). And while I don't like to feed paranoia, some people are just a little bit too naive about these problems. Actually installing IDS software (like BlackIce) may not be the right course for everyone, as false positives or legitimate "probes" may unduly spook you, but heeding the general advice is certainly a good idea. (Special thanks to Devra Golbe, Economics, for pointing out the review in PC Magazine.)

An alternative strategy: Connect home and office computer

If you have a reasonably powerful computer connected to the Hunter backbone in your office, there is an alternative strategy. It requires a modem in your office computer and the installation of some special software on both your office and your home computer -- both one-time investments. With this, you can simply dial-in to your office computer from home and use your home computer as a terminal for your office computer -- meaning you can do everything on your office computer from home that you can do being physically present in your office -- and more (like transferring file between home and office computer).
There are at least two software packages that allow you to do this: CarbonCopy and LapLink. I am using the former (in addition to having my ISP), others including Marten DenBoer (Physics) prefer the latter. And there is also pcAnywhere, but I don't have even indirect personal experience with this product. A recent review in the computer press, gave Laplink the thumbs up and noted CarbonCopy's slowness -- matching Marten's and my observations.
CarbonCopy is available for various Windows versions (95/NT, 3.x, CE), but not for Macintosh. You can download a trial version before you make a final decision. As always, you want to check out various mail order vendors to find the best price (version 5.0 for Win 95 should be below $150, you may find "upgrade" offers for under $100). Prices for the competing products are similar; watch out for bargains that seem to be too good to be true. Some vendor offer huge discounts on obsolete versions; the current version for LapLink is 7.5.
CarbonCopy works truly great for file transfers; using it for "remote control" is another matter, sometimes really good,  sometimes, well ... If you have an ISP in addition, you can access your office computer via the Internet (using your office computer's IP address, like my social54.hunter.cuny.edu  or 146.95.12.54 IP address -- you won't get in because you would need a user name and a corresponding password); if you don't, you need to connect via modem and your office telephone (and the Hunter phone system has its problems). Bottom Line:
  1. I do not recommend this strategy as a substitute for getting your own ISP if you are a fairly regular Web user (from home) and not a particularly patient type, but the price is right (zero cost beyond an initial investment).
  2. I do recommend to install CarbonCopy (or a similar product) -- in addition to having an ISP -- if you do a considerable amount of work from both home and office. The combination of CarbonCopy and ISP gives you backup access to the Internet from both home and office in case of a service outage at Hunter or your ISP.

Free and "free" ISPs

After free e-mail (see e-mail advice), there came free Internet access. The first free ISP I checked out and reported on in an earlier version of this advice page, was a company called Tritium. But like several other such free services it quickly faltered, but promised to be back with a new marketing concept in the near future. It took a little while, but to my surprise, Tritium just reappeared. Few people believed that the free ISP concept could work from a business perspective (see a related story in the NYT from November 1998), but some companies made it.

One of these is Netzero -- originally pointed out by Julie Falsetti in January 1999. This company has local access numbers in NYC and in a number of suburbs. The information on the web site is well organized and they even offer telephone support. How well all this works in practice, I do not know. But, at least, you don't risk any money (just your time) giving them a try.

The latest (August 1999) addition to the free ISP market is Altavista the premier search engine which has recently expanded its services by entering the "portal" market. The free ISP offer obviously aims to promote these portal services. There are plenty of local access numbers in the NY metro area, but -- currently -- service is limited to Windows user. Signup, download, and installation is easy, I experienced no problem whatsoever. You have to have MS Internet Explorer 4.0 or better running on your station (which is used to establish the connection and to display the advertising banner), but beyond this you are free to use Netscape. This may create a problem on stations that are short on memory because you have to have at least two major applications open. Also, if you don't pay enough attention to the advertisement (clicking on links), the "health" of your connection will deteriorate and eventually shut down; the banner includes a "health meter" telling you when it's time to pay attention -- or else. But one quick click restores and the help meter and you are not bothered for another 20 or 30 minutes. I have used Free Altavista as a backup to my regular ISP. (Given the way the Internet is set up, you may experience serious trouble at times to connect to specific sites -- say Hunter -- from one ISP but not from another. Having a backup ISP therefore is a smart idea.)

A variant of truly free ISPs are ISPs who promise "lifetime connection" based on a one time fee of currently between $100 and $120.  Supposedly the first company in this category,  Freewwweb has been around for about three years. Due to their marketing scheme, you can buy the same service under a number of different names and from different vendors at slightly differing prices. Despite a rather critical review in CNet in late 1997, they are still in business  and have expanded their coverage (local access numbers) in the Northeast and the greater NY metropolitan area lately. User sentiment as reflected in CNet's Ultimate Guide is not too bad. The overall grade is "C", but where it counts most (reliability) freewwweb gets a B+. But with reliable and genuinely free ISPs around now, no reason to consider them any longer.
 

Tweaking your DUN

The advertised modem speed (like 56K) is not what you get in real life. Bottlenecks on the Internet may bring a download to crawl at any time. But there are some things that you can do to optimize your connection by using some utility programs. A great piece of shareware ($15) that allows to speed up your Internet connection (via a modem, technically: SLIP or PPP) is called TWEAKDUN -- where DUN means "Dial-up networking".  You can download a (limited) demo version first, or pay (via credit card) and get the full registered version. I tried the demo first, was impressed with the results, and have been using the registered version for quite some time now. As a complement, I got another piece of shareware, the DU Meter, ($10) that measures download/uploads and gives you a way to choose the optimal settings for TWEAKDUN based on hard data rather than impressions. Again, you can download a demo version. This is actually fully functional, but will work for 30 days only and for only 1 hour per day during this trial period. After payment, you get a registration number that -- when entered -- lifts these restrictions. I find the DU Meter very useful and have it also installed on my office station to get some hard data when I feel that Hunter's connection to the Internet is really slow.

How does the tweaking work? You can find a very nice conceptual explanation  or a much more technical exposition on the Web. If you can deal with the latter, you don't need TWEAKDUN -- just edit the Win95 registry yourself! Good luck ...:-)

But, very briefly, it optimizes the data flow and this increases performance relative to your modem speed. With TWEAKDUN you actually come close to the speed you think your modem is giving you (but rarely does). So, it is worthwhile considering even if you have a fast (56K) modem. You will see a significant improvement with all sorts of downloads -- big files, large e-mail attachments, complex web pages especially those with large images and/or streaming video/audio (RealVideo, VDOLive, etc.)  which are increasingly used by news organizations both in the US and abroad. Highly recommended, though it takes a bit of fiddling and trial-and-error to optimize the settings. Well worth the effort!

Manfred Kuechler
Hunter College

Comments are welcome, especially reports about concrete experience with the service (or lack thereof) provided by specific ISPs. Consider posting to hunter-l or send me e-mail.

This page has been accessed  times since Nov 3, 1998