With over 60 choices for going online, N. Texans better shop around

06/15/99

By Doug Bedell / The Dallas Morning News

In the sea of acronyms that floats the Internet, none is more important than ISP - Internet Service Provider. Without a good ISP, you're basically OL - off line.

Five years ago, North Texas consumers had few options for local-telephone access to the Internet. The choices, in fact, could be counted on two hands and a foot.

Today, despite predictions that mom and pop ISPs would be driven out of business or bought up by major national providers, more than 60 ISPs vie for Dallas-area consumers with a variety of offers on service, speed and support. Some are even giving away computers to entice users to sign long-term agreements.

"I think the trend is still expansion, not consolidation," says Hank Mishkoff, a Dallas-based Web consultant who has tracked regional ISPs since1995 at www.WebFeats.com, his independent site. "Just driving around, I see billboards all the time for ISPs I've never heard of."

And if it is tough for a Web professional such as Mr. Mishkoff to keep track, the average consumer should be shaking in his Winsocks.

The choices for dial-up service - as opposed to cable, ISDN, ADSL and other broad-band alternatives - can be fraught with peril. Nothing is worse than getting the fast busy signal when you have simply [ital]got[endital] to get online. Nothing is more frustrating than being bumped from a connection in the midst of a long, important download. And if you sign a long-term deal, you may be forced to live with those annoyances for years.

There are a variety of Web-based tools that can help ISP seekers cut the odds of being stuck in a bad relationship.

"In this day and age," says Mr. Mishkoff, "there's just no excuse for a lot of busy signals."

Comparison shopping

Mr. Mishkoff and Dr. Harry Tennant, a local Web consultant, are two Netheads who have tried to boil down the ISP stew.

Mr. Mishkoff's WebFeats site provides as much comparable data as he finds humanly possible to compile in his free time.

"I just can't keep up with them all like I'd like," he says. "But it got to the point where I'd put so much into it and so many people used it, I just couldn't give it up."

The WebFeats site catalogs local-access numbers, Web information pages, monthly and yearly rates, the amount of free Web space offered and other valuable data.

Before choosing any ISP, Dr. Tennant says, shoppers should pose as a user and attempt to call the support numbers.

"Windows has made it easier and easier to get online with new tools in the operating system," Dr. Tennant says. "But those tools have their own problems. If they don't work as they're supposed to, what are you going to do?"

For the rawest of consumer feedback, the newsgroup dfw.internet.providers presents rich, threaded discussions of local ISP problems, access to complaints and opinions on solutions. The Web newsgroup search engine Deja.com (www.deja.com) permits searches by ISP name for this hotbed of griping. Often the complaints receive direct, online responses from ISP honchos monitoring the newsgroup. Their attitudes and answers can be telltale.

Just the facts

In a more sophisticated realm, Dr. Tennant, a former Texas Instruments executive and natural language expert, has devised a database based on consumer surveys and his own tests. Despite constant newsgroup harping about his methods, consumers at least get a bellwether in Dr. Tennant's results.

"I don't say, 'This is the best ISP because of this data,' " Dr. Tennant says. "I provide the data, and visitors can sort and re-sort the columns the way they want."

In one section, responses to an ongoing poll are tallied. They include user estimates of the number of busy signals encountered per week, length of connection delays and assessments of support mechanisms.

One of the big problems with rating ISPs is that connections may be readily available, but the service's own connection to the Internet may be oversubscribed or heavily burdened. The result may be a great connection to a machine that takes you absolutely nowhere fast.

"Speed is a complicated issue," says Dr. Tennant, who has been compiling and revising his databases for about five years. "It can result from a slow router or just a slow Web server. There are huge amounts of variety out there. Some Web servers are just spunky."

Dr. Tennant charts download performance for most Dallas-area dial-ups simultaneously every 15 minutes for eight hours, then averages the results. He continually surveys each company and then posts all the information at one time, a compilation that comes out every few months.

Texas Metronet, Verio and Flashnet top the most recent survey conducted in February. (Another survey will be out in early summer.)

"It's not the final word," Dr. Tennant says. "Don't take the guy on the top list automatically. It's a piece of data we offer to help people make decisions."

For a more global look at national and local ISP services, CNET offers wibisplist.InteretList.com. PC World Online (www.pcworld.com) ranks 400 of the best, and Internet.com gives visitors a wide-ranging, searchable index at thelist.internet.com.

Word of mouth

Both Dr. Tennant and Mr. Mishkoff say consumers can help themselves by simply asking friends about their experiences.

"I think that's as good a way as any," Mr. Mishkoff says. "If you know someone who uses the service the way you are going to, find out who they're using and how it's going."

Newcomers to the Internet may be better off with the easy, quick-start software packages offered by America Online, says Texas Metronet president Steve Linebarger, whose company was one of the first regional mom-and-pop services when it was founded in 1992.

"All too many Internet denizens don't recognize the benefits AOL has for the newbies," he says.

"If you have to get your mother-in-law up and going, I think AOL may be the way to go over us."

However, cautions Mr. Mishkoff, "your needs may change after you get on for a while. To commit to a one-year contract simply based on a neighbor's recommendation is not always a good idea."

Experts say that large national ISPs such as AOL, IBM, Earthlink, Mindspring and telephone company service providers will be harder to reach for individualized technical assistance.

Shoppers seem reticent to study the terms of service agreements presented by ISPs during sign-ups, Mr. Linebarger says. Often those documents are wordy, full of legalese and hard to understand.

If that's the case, expect a cold shoulder on support, he says.

And consumers should study any claims that an ISP offers "unlimited access" at no additional charge. Service agreements often contain hidden definitions for access. Many times, Mr. Linebarger says, ISPs will not allow users to hook up to a line and stay there. To keep lines open, ISPs may have internal policies on disconnecting inactive users after a specified time.

Others use caps of 200 hours or less to describe their "unlimited" offers. Those sorts of gotchas should be delineated clearly in the terms of service agreements.

Lastly, Mr. Linebarger suggests using credit cards for ISP payments. That way, if you get stuck in a bad deal, you've at least got the option to protest payments directly to the card company when ISPs are unresponsive.

Given the range of expanding ISP choices in North Texas, a wise consumer may even be able to negotiate a limited trial period before making a long-term commitment, says Mr. Linebarger.

"With a little research," he says, "it should be possible to keep costs low for a reasonable or tolerable level of service."

Doug Bedell can be reached by e-mail at dbedell@dallasnews.com

SIX FREE SITES FOR FINDING

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS

thelist.internet.com

The ultimate searchable ISP list

internet-wizard.com/ispfinder.html

A jumping-off spot for ISP resources that features special offers

webisplist.InternetList.com

CNet's multifaceted searcher

ispfinder.com

Search for ISPs by area code.

www.pcworld.com/top400/isp

PC World Online's ISP finder

toptenlinks.org/internet/isp-resources.vote

A comprehensive list of ISPs and resources