I've tried FreeServe, UkOnline, LineOne.net, Screaming.net, UK2.net.
I have used all of them, and in all cases I have used them enough to feel
qualified to express a view on their performance, though in some case, only
just enough for this.
Originally, I used only FreeServe. When I encountered persistent probs with
FreeServe taking sometimes a minute or more to complete the login process
after hearing the remote modem answer, I tried elsewhere. At that time (c.
6 months ago) UkOnline would always "snap through" the login within about a
second, compared with FreeServe's 50 to 100 seconds (!!). I don't know
whether the prob with FreeServe was caused by their settings or by mine.
All I know is that UkOnline was brilliant by comparison.
Since then, FreeServe connection has speeded up and UkOnline has slowed
down.
I now find that they are all (except Screaming.net (-- more on this below) )
very very similar in (a) incidence of "engaged" tones and (b) how it takes
between answering the modem and alctually going online.
Before going on, let me comment on Screaming.net. This service is
distinguished by the fact that a very special deal is available from
Screaming.net, if you have a BT line and you agree to close your BT account
and open a telephone service account instead with LocalTel (itself a BT
subscriber, that (I understand) buys ahead block amounts of BT call time and
then re-sells it to its own customers FOR 10% LESS THAN BT's CALL CHARGES).
The "deal" is that both the Internet connection and ( /every/ evening and
all weekend) ALL TELEPHONE CALLS AS WELL to Screaming.net are free!
The downside is twofold: (1) I have found LocalTel very, very much less
efficient than BT whnever I have needed to contact them and/or ask for any
changes to my telephone account, and (2) I don't find the Screaming.net ISP
quite as good as the others. However, there is nothing wrong with the
telephone. Everything works exactly as before, even with the same number as
before. All the same discounts as I had with BT stay with me /and/ I get an
extra 10% on all non-mobile UK calls. And the Screaming.net ISP, though
once it was truly truly /dreadful/, is now /nearly as good/ as all the
others. e.g. engaged tone on average about once (mostly connecting first
time, sometimes engaged 3 or 4 times in a row). Download speeds tend to be
around 2800 to 3500 compared with 3400 to 3800 that I might get elsewhere.
Thus Screaming.net is a little below-par, but not much, and very, very, VERY
good value.
All the others I have tried seem nowadays pretty well equally efficient. It
therefore comes down to some slightly silly factors, like where can you get
the prettiest e-mail account name! And even this is less of a problem than
before, as I shall also explain (see my last paragraph, at the end).
I HATE :--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
["jjmw" only accepted with minimum 4 chars]
I DISLIKE QUITE A BIT :--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I LIKE QUITE A LOT :--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
["jmw" accepted with 3 chars]
I LIKE MORE :--
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
["jmw" accepted with 3 chars]
AND I LIKE THE MOST:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
["jmw" accepted with 3 chars]
Another factor is of course that you might find your choice of e.g. initials
or streetname IS available with certain ISPs but IS NOT available with
others (because taken already).
For me, none of the above matters anymore, because I went to
http://www.uk2.net and registered my own domain name there for the
staggeringly exhorbitant ;) cost of �10 for Two YEARS!! I thus redirect all
my mail (addressed to my own domain-name e-mail address (see FROM field of
this message)) to whichever ACTUAL address happens to be my flavour of the
month at the moment out of all of the above. Nobody else needs to know any
of my alternative ISP e-mail addresses any
more. So it no longer matters if I use silly-sounding ones like
Screaming.net, because that's only where I go to collect my auto-forwarded
mail, not where I ask people to send it.
I hope you find this interesting and helpful.
--
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Earl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 2:24 PM
Subject: [md-2] Re: grouplist
> On 12 Feb 2000 18:36:54 +0000 Julian Richards wrote about [md-2] Re:
grouplist:
>
> > As an aside, which free ISPs can people recommend? I've tried FreeUK,
>
> UKOnline.co.uk
