It occurred to me after I hung up the phone that information about the different ISPs in town might be of benefit to other Alamo PC members who were considering making a switch. With this month’s theme of “Computing on the Road”, I felt there might be some factors the ordinary user might overlook that they might regret later after making a change. As a disclaimer, let me say that I do not work directly for any of these ISPs and have no financial interest in them.

Some of the services offer free dial-up access while traveling to most US cities, others are strictly local in nature. Your choices for dial-up ISPs have remained pretty constant over the past year. Here are just a few of the ones I’ve had recent experience with:

• STIC.Net
  stic.net
  is offering $9.95/month Dial-up service (and $44.95 Cable Service). They offer tech support 5 days a week 9am-8:30pm. They are a local based ISP. This includes one e-mail address and no Web space. Access available in multiple cities within Texas, so see their Website for a full list.
• World-Net
  world-net.net
  is offering $6.95/month Dial-up service if you pay a year in advance or $14.95/month They offer tech support 7 days a week usually 8am-10pm, shorter hours on weekends. They are a local based ISP. This rate includes one e-mail address and no Web space. They offer free access in over a thousand cities within the USA, so check their Website for details.
• Everyone’s Internet
  ev1.net
  is offering $10/month Dial-up service with tech support 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. They are not a locally based ISP. They do offer unlimited e-mail addresses and lots of personal Web space. They offer access in multiple cities around the USA, visit their Website for a list.
• Great Barrier Reef On-line
  gbronline.com
  offers $9.95/month Dial-up service with tech support 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. They are not a locally based ISP. They offer seven (7) e-mail accounts and 10mb of personal Web space. . They offer access in multiple cities around the USA, visit their Website for a list.
• Texas Net
  texas.net
  is offering $16.95/month Dial-up service and I’m not sure what their hours are for their tech support services, but they do offer them. They offer one e-mail account and 200mb of personal Web space (and don’t try putting anything commercial there!)
• American Online
  AOL.com
  is $23.95/month for unlimited time, multiple e-mail addresses and some personal Web space. Tech support is 24x7. Other billing plans are available for reduced rates and time. They offer access in multiple cities around the USA, visit their Website for a list.
• CompuServe
  cs.com
  is owned by AOL and has the same look and feel as AOL, with the same pricing. They offer access in multiple cities around the USA, visit their Website for a list.
• SBC Yahoo Dial-up
  offers $15.95/month but if you hunt for their special rates, you might find it as low as $9.95/month combined with some special offerings from SBC telephone services. Does require a contract to get the lower rate. Prodigy is owned by SBC now.
• EarthLink dial-up
  earthlink.net
  is about the same pricing as AOL and offers similar conditions such as multiple e-mail accounts, personal Web space and tech support .

If you are paying for a second dedicated phone line, just for the Internet, plus one of the above ISPs, especially the last three, you ought to consider moving up to one of the packages being offered for broadband Internet access (high speed, usually DSL or Cable).

• SBC Yahoo DSL
  is only the latest in the price wars to hit the San Antonio market. They are offering as low as $29.95/month if you sign up for certain phone packages, or $32.95/month without. Service includes 1 main e-mail account (can’t be changed after initial setup) and 10 sub accounts. When you register a new installation, be sure to use what will be your permanent billing e-mail account, because SBC’s computer won’t let you change it afterward. SBC Yahoo ships you a free self-install kit consisting of a modem, lots of filter adapters for your other phones, an internal Ethernet Card and software on two CDs, one for Windows and one for Macintosh computers. While the computer savvy person won’t have any problems with setup by following the directions, those users who are still wondering about the “Any Key” will likely be stumped.
  
  If you want multiple computers sharing the same connection, you have a couple of choices with SBC Yahoo. The first choice used to be get a four port router and connect them to the DSL modem via the router. This provides you with some additional safety as well, since most of them have built in firewall protection. But just recently, I had a customer who received the “2Wire” modem, which allowed him to connect multiple computers via the same system without a router. He received an adapter that plugged into the USB port of the remote computer and into the same phone line (different jack in different room of house). Once the software was installed on the remote computer, it found the “2Wire” DSL modem and made the connection. Supposedly the “2Wire” DSL modem also has a wireless function built into it, but I did not test that for this customer. You did have to run their included software to make the “2Wire” modem function properly, but it was fairly painless.

There are alternate choices for DSL providers if you have residential service, but pricing is not cost competitive with the current SBC Yahoo DSL package, so I’ll leave those for another day. The other providers tend to cost in the $65/month range.

DSL Configuration problems
One of the problems with DSL versus Cable has always been the configuration. When you first get DSL, wait until you know the activation date has passed, and then try to install it. Do not simply assume that when you got your box in the mail with the DSL modem and all the filters, that your DSL is now ready for use. I’ve had several instances where the activation date was missed, or the customer didn’t know when their activation date was supposed to be, and when I arrived to configure their system, SBC hadn’t completed their end of the deal yet. SBC DSL requires you to go first to a special login screen, logging in with a provided temp user name and password, and then choosing your main e-mail account name. Once you set this account, you are stuck with it forever until you cancel your service. If you are using a router, you must first hook up one computer direct to the DSL modem, run the configuration, get the new main user account info (userID and password), then log into the router with your browser and set the properties of the router to automatically log you in using that info. Once done, you can deactivate the software you installed on the first computer since the router will now log you onto SBC Yahoo DSL. With Cable, the router automatically logs you on because the Cable Modem serial number is automatically registered on the system as an authorized user.

Cable specials abound
Prices are ranging from introductory offers of $29.95/month to $49.95/month, so check for the specials and read the terms or conditions. Some allow you legally to connect multiple computers to your residential connection, others try to limit you to a single computer. Of course the use of a router will bypass that, but you might be in violation of your terms of service if you install one under those conditions.

• Time Warner’s Roadrunner
  Roadrunner
  has been offering $29.95/month for the first six (6) months, and then back up to their normal rate of $44.95 thereafter. This includes one (1) main e-mail account and four (4) sub mail accounts. Tech support is 24x7, but not always local technicians during the night. You can have up to ten (10) hours of dial-up time if you need it for traveling, etc., and any time over that is only $0.99/hour. Time Warner provides almost all of the underlying cable service in San Antonio (other than that provided by Grande.Com).
• EarthLink
  earthlink.net
  is reselling Cable Service for the same $29.95/month for the first six months, and $41.95/month thereafter. They offer unlimited dial-up time for travelers or alternate access. You don’t have to use EarthLink’s software to log onto the Internet.
• American On-Line
  AOL.com
  is offering $49.95/month cable service, same content and features as their dial-up service, but much faster. You must use their browser to log onto the Internet and it isn’t Macintosh compatible.
• STIC.Net
  stic.net
  is reselling Cable service for $44.95.month. Initial tech support provided by Time Warner, with backup support (during Stic.Net’s hours) from STIC.Net for e-mail, Web or browser issues. Five e-mail accounts are included.
• Grande Communictions
  GRANDE
  is offering package deals as low as $70/month to include TV Cable Service, Internet Cable Service (low speed 256kb) and Telephone service. Coverage areas are limited and they are building out into other areas of San Antonio each month. They do offer Internet Only packages, but their combo packages are more cost efficient in my opinion.

As with any service, all of the above packages are subject to change at anytime, but these were the specials as of the first week of July when I wrote this column. Follow the caveat of “Buyer Beware” and read all the fine print. I’ve learned over the years, that if it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t matter what the salesman told me, so get any special arrangements or pricing provided in writing and keep your paperwork in a safe place..

At the risk of repeating myself, remember that if you haven’t updated your anti-virus program since last month’s article, you are at risk of catching some of the newer viruses that have been released this month. If you get a message that sounds strange, even from a trusted address, or one that contains an unexpected attachment, you had better check it with your updated virus program before opening it, or you might need to call me to come fix your computer afterward.