Never really free !

Two years ago, there were a number of ISPs who claimed they could offer a totally free Internet access; all one had to 'suffer' were a few annoying banner ads or similar intrusions. The market has matured now and there are a significant number of Providers of cheapish 'free' access. Most people can now choose between paying a set amount per month (typically about £15) for 0800 access, or about £30 per month for ADSL access, or pay by the minute (costing from 1p to 4p).

However most people can't just change ISP, as one typically loses one's email address. Some Providers will allow you to keep using their mail server if you go elsewhere, but many will not. So if you do change, plan well ahead and let everyone you know have at least one address that is provider independent like Hotmail or Genie.

Monthly Access

BT Openworld Anytime charge £14.99 for which you get 10 email addresses and 50meg of of web space. Like nearly all ISPs they allow 56k modem or 64k ISDN for 24 hours 7days a week, but not 128k ISDN.

AOL charge £14.99 per month for their unlimited service. You dial in via an 0800 number and are not limited to having to use your home line. Their software does tend to take over your PC somewhat but does allow parental control of content etc.

Freeserve charge £13.99 for their service. But you do have to dial in from a specific nominated phone number and Technical help costs 50p per minute.

OneTel charge £12.99 per month. You only get three email addresses and 10meg of web space, which is limiting for some. They also have a 1p a minute option which is good value for casual users.

Net4nowt have a comprehensive listing of all the ISPs in the country, and have far more information than we can possibly list here.

Most of the companies are only allowing you to connect for a certain period before they cut you off and you have to ring in again. This is typically a couple of hours and can be very annoying if you are in the middle of a big download. Also some firms are so busy that connections are sometimes unobtainable, slow or intermittent. A few of them bombard you with advertising or junk email.

ADSL

The cost of ADSL is dropping and is now a very similar price to that of paying BT £10 for a month's line rental plus the typical £15 above. For most people the small extra premium for high speed access is money very well spent. It really is ten times quicker than modem access. Unfortunately 30% of the country is still not ADSL enabled, and you do have to be within 3.5 km of the exchange. Most customers also will have to install the new Master Socket and Hardware themselves.

On BT's Openworld package you now pay £85 (with free setup until June) for the equipment (a USB ADSL modem) plus £30 a month for the service. This includes your phone line rental; so you are really only paying £20 for high speed internet access, you do keep your normal phone number!

Freedom2Surf charge only £22.50 per month but have one of the largest setup fees of £316.25.

Demon charge £28.99 per month and £50 for setup, but you do have to buy your own adsl modem typically £100 plus.

Freeserve charge £29.99 but charge £229.98 for setup including equipment.

Pipex charge £23.44 for their service plus £152.63 for setup and equipment

OneTel charge £28 per month plus £99 for the equipment or you can use their dial up service for a penny per minute.

Homechoice charge £20 per month but you must pay at least £6 for a TV on demand package. Installation is only £40. If you are on a BT enabled exchange this is a best buy!

CABLE etc

The cable companies only serve a limited number of postcodes. Most people are aware if they are in a cable area; you can check on their websites below. There are technical issues about speed if too many people in one street or locale try to use the Internet at the same time (contention ratio). They can be a good buy if you are in the right place.

NTL charge £78 per month but this includes the full TV package, so you could drop Sky. Setup costs £40.

Telewest charge £30 per month (or £25 with TV services) plus £50 setup. They have a trial it price of £13.48 for the first three months.

Tele2 charge £47 per month for their wireless dsl; which means they are available in many places that BT do not work. Setup costs £99 to £199.

For a more comprehensive view of this topic please try Net4nowt which has complete lists of all available companies!

Send email to questions at callforless.co.uk
Last modified: May 08, 2002

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