When I first used Netzero, I was a free customer. My husband and I can’t afford our local ISP (at almost fifty bucks a month, who could?), and neither of us like AOL, we went with the next best thing- searching for a free ISP.
We tried Juno (don’t bother- they jerked us around with their free service), and Bluelight (a laugh and a half), and finally settled on Netzero. Of the three, Netzero offers the best service for a free ISP.
Forty Hours Limited Access
’Free for the Internet generation’ is Netzero’s slogan. Commercials used to run on television all the time. I didn’t pay much attention to them, and it wasn’t until we were searching for a new free ISP, that I thought of them again.
Download is easy- just go to Netzero’s site, sign up, and then download the program. Set up is fairly easy also, once installed, and the program is opened, you need to click on connect, which will bring up the settings screen. On this screen, you’ll fill in things like your home phone number, whether you need to dial a specific number to get an outside line, whether you need to shut call waiting off, and things like that. There’s also a screen where you choose your primary dial up number, as well as two secondary numbers. Basically, you type in your area code, and it brings up a list of numbers in that area code.
The only problem that I had with this is that Netzero sets the primary number for you. Even if you pick a different number first, and then add it, Netzero puts them in a specific order. Each line is also configured differently, as to how long you can be on that line. The primary number is usually a four hour line, and the secondary numbers are either two hour or four hour lines. You have to play around with them to see which one is which.
The free ISP does have one drawback. Each household, not account, only has forty hours of free service a month. If you sign in after your forty hours are up, Netzero opens up a page that says that you’ve used your hours for that month. It also gives you the open to purchase unlimited access for the rest of that month for $9.95 (American). To me, this was worthless. I’d rather be without service for a week, than have to pay almost ten dollars for a weeks worth of unlimited access. But now, this doesn’t mean much to me, which I’ll get to in a little bit.
We have a 56k bps modem, and not a nice nifty cable modem or DSL. You can tell that we live in the sticks- neither of these two options are available here yet. Until recently, my connections were always 48k and up- with the majority being around 52k. This was much better than what we got with either Juno or Bluelight. But about a month ago, I started getting slower connections in the 28k range. Not good, but I found that by disconnecting and trying again, that my connection was much better. I haven’t had a problem in the last week or two (knock on wood).
As with any free Internet service, Netzero comes complete with banner ads. These ads can run either across the top or across the bottom of the screen, but they take up room. Netzero also offers ads through their NZTV, which is what plays while you are connecting. You can’t hide these ads, and if you close them, you lose your connection. So you are stuck with them. It’s a tad annoying, but you get used to them. Netzero also mandates that you click an ad every hour. If you don’t, you get these little reminders that you’re not clicking on them. You get a warning, and then you get a countdown. If you don’t click on the countdown before it’s done, you’re disconnected. Netzero automatically disconnects after three hours, even if you click on those ads.
Platinum Service
In April 2001, Netzero came out with Netzero Platinum. At that time, I was home recovering from emergency surgery (gall bladder, doing just fine, thank you), and was on the Internet almost all day. I had nothing to do! Couldn’t clean- against doctor’s orders. Couldn’t watch televison (satellite was out). Played with my son as much as possible, but what about nap time? What was I going to do with those three hours a day that my son napped? And how about those hours after he went to bed? I was bored, and we needed something that was going to last longer than forty hours.
When I first heard about the Platinum service, I was intrigued. We had already been thinking about paying for Juno’s paying service, but weren’t happy with Juno as a rule. Netzero was offering unlimited service, with no banner ads, for $9.95 a month, $49.95 for six months (special- buy five months, get the sixth month free). After discussing this with my husband, we decided to try it. So we went ahead and purchased the six month package.
Unlimited service was available immediately for us, since we used a credit card. When I logged in for the first time after paying for it, I noticed that I no longer had any banner ads- great! Instead, there’s this little bar that runs across the top of the screen that has handy dandy little buttons for quick access to websites. There’s also a light on the bar that tells you when there’s new mail available at you Netzero email account.
There were some problems at first, but I haven’t experienced this since we first signed up. There were times that I’d log in, and Netzero would think that I was a regular free user, and up pops those banner ads. If I disconnected, and then reconnected, I’d more often than not get my Platinum service. One time, when I logged in, it disconnected immediately, telling me that I had used up my forty hours! But after emailing Netzero, and complaining, I have had no problems with this since then.
The NZTV is still there, but I think that I can live with it, since it’s only there when I connect.
Netzero now, instead of after three hours, logs off after four hours of active use. If you are not active on the internet, then Netzero automatically disconnects, no warnings.
Free Email
Netzero only allows a certain amount of space for email, but if you don’t generate tons of email a day, then you have no worries. Netzero offers a tutorial on setting it up through Outlook Express, as well as an automatice set up (I do not recommend this- I had more problems doing it this way than I did when I did it myself).
One major flaw in the email system is that you can’t send email unless you are using Netzero. So if you have another ISP that you pay for, but use Netzero as a free email service, you are going to be frustrated to no end. But combined, the email feature works great, and I rarely have any problems with it.
Overall
I’d have to recommend Netzero to anyone who is looking for an ISP- free or not. Netzero’s prices are better than some local ISP’s, as well as AOL. The service is better than Juno’s could ever be. Netzero is the one for me.