help and advice please.....

[jenny]

.......... I have Juno as my internet provider and email ... I have had it with juno as I continue to lose my email addresses...... it has happend yet again...

I have looked at peoplepc.com and they seem to be in the cheaper range ...I have looked at so many that it has become difficult to choose... on peoplepc they offer a firewall and security package for a little bit more money and was thinking of going that way....
being computer stupid will that package really give me the protection I need for the extra money or are they just getting my money??? any advice and or suggestions needed.....thank you in advance for your help.....oh and another thing.... juno as is peoplepc there is no one for you to talk to if you have problems except by paying $1.95 per minute and I refuse.. are there any internet providers out there where you can speak to a person if a problem arrises.?????
and is there anything I should be looking for when shopping for a new internet provider???
Jenny

[Bat]

Jenny, I've had no trouble with AOL (gasp!...I must be the only one!), and they offer a lot. I have MS beta protection, although AOL offers firewall and virus protection,too...I don' t know if they charge extra for that. I have come in with my own Broadband which M gets from the local phone company through our own whateveritis that supplies us both with broadband.
AOL with BYO broadband costs me $14.95 a month, which I figure is quite reasonable, not free, but reasonable. AOL also offers its own broadband, probably for extra. It wouldn't hurt to look into what they offer.

If you want free, go look into Opera and Firefox. I've heard good and bad about both, mostly good...I don't know what protections they have to offer, pros and cons, etc.
Anyone else?

[janisian]

I'd stay away from both Opera and Firefox, personally... and Jenny, you need an ISP provider, so you're going to have to pay someone.
I hate AOL, because they kept throwing my account off line for spamming when I was merely answering a dozen emails at a time. My only recourse was to call them; if you've ever tried a 40 minute wait for tech support when you're calling from Japan...!
Also, AOL are notoriously difficult to leave; they paid a million plus fine in NY State for not cancelling accounts that were cancelled.
I'm on Earthlink; have had zero problems with them. I know people on Comcast who've also had really good results.

[Marcia Drummergal]

Janis I am glad you said what you had to say about AOL. I just held my thoughts because I know Bat likes it. ;)

I was also going to suggest Earthlink. I know that KarenSews2 is on Earthlink so you might ask her what her experiences have been like. I am on my local ISP through the phone company. I don't know what they have in your area but I like to pick up the phone and speak with someone local who can help me out. If they don't have anything decent to offer then I would definitely check out Earthlink. Either way you should check it out!

Marcia :)

[MadMusician]

I know people on Comcast who've also had really good results.
jenny - I'm on Comcast broadband (over 4 years) and have no problems. Occasionally, cable goes down but that might be a couple of times a year. I used to have MSN as the ISP. It was fine but dial-up is just too slow. For me, it is worth the almost $50/month. I have only called customer service to check for outages, but response time is immediate.
Security - free download of McAfee anti-virus and firewall.

[paularoid]

I'd stay away from both Opera and Firefox, personally... and Jenny, you need an ISP provider, so you're going to have to pay someone.
Speaking as one who uses and experiments with many different browsers (including both Opera and Firefox) I can say there's absolutely nothing wrong with any of them. They all have their weaknesses and strengths. The only thing(s) wrong with any of them is that they are different. The key to keeping a browser "good" is to not overload it with all kinds of fancy plugins, extensions, and enhancements,.... and that goes for Micro$oft Internet Explorer as well. This also goes for your email program of choice too.

I'm on Earthlink; have had zero problems with them. I know people on Comcast who've also had really good results.
Earthlink is good. I've had them as a provider before but unfortunately it was at a time of transition for them and I didn't want to wade through all the "growing pains" they were going through at the time. They -are- good though, now that they "growing pains" seem to have reached their completion.
.

[RedjackRyan]

Just my two cents.. With regards to browsers ..its a matter of personal preference. I use Opera primarily for web surfing.. i like the speed of the thing and its popup surpression.. I also use Firefox once in a while. I use Internet Explorer for those sites that don't render well in Opera or Firefox. Whichever browser you settle on, its important to keep it updated with patches.

Internet Explorer has a history of bugs, holes, and outright security problems.. most of which can be minimized by staying current on the patches. The other browsers have their share of holes as well, IE gets the bad press because 1) everyone hates microsoft 2) its got a larger install base.. 3) Everyone loves to hate Microsoft.


As to ISP's, I'm an Earthlink subscriber and have been for over a decade. As Paul said, they had some teething pains not too long ago, but those seem to be pretty much resolved now. I have not had anything but a positive experience with their DSL service. Comcast rates piss-poor in the Pittsburgh area.. Your Mileage May Vary.. I've heard good things about Speakeasy and decent things about Verizon's Dsl service.

[DaveM]

I have heard good things about Earthlink dial-up as well as their DSL (will be switching to the latter before much longer). Netzero I simply cannot recommend (it's a former "free" ISP which kept all the ads from the free days but now cost $10.95 a month) and I've heard your sorrows about Juno from others as well. I have heard good things about Netscape dial-up, but have no knowledge of what their tech support might be like.

[dragonlady]

We've had Earthlink for more than 10 years and haven't had trouble with it except when transferring service from dial-up to DSL. It was a bit of a deal keeping our old email addresses from the dialup days.

We went with SPRINT for DSL and didn't have ant problems with them. Cable costs too much for us.

We stick with Internet Explorer and keep up with the patches, update our virus and spyware definitions at least once a week if not more.

Good luck on your search,

-di and Kat

[Kathleen Brogan]

I'd imagine comcast is the same as the cable company. I have mine through roadrunner, owned by time warner and I love it. You can have up to 10 accounts, and they offer free virus protection, and a discount if you have their cable TV service too. The only downside is that I can't check my home e-mails from other computer locations, but that's probably good for me, because I'd be checking them too much anyway.

[Kathleen Brogan]

Oh, and the cable modem is very fast too!