Which ISP?
At last count there were over 500 free isps to choose from in the UK – and while most people reading this will already have chosen an ISP, they might have missed a great deal. In this special hexus.com ISP roundup, reported Diablo signs up and tests as many as possible, giving his verdict. Those isps, which we feel deserve special prise, have been awarded a hexus.com star of approval.Nildram*
Web: www.nildram.net
Access: 0845
Price: from £5 a month
Nildram are one of the big boys when it comes to fast Internet access, with good reliable and fast servers and also good techincal support. Unlimited email addresses, 25Mb free web space and fast access to their own games servers makes this a quality isp, which is also useful for those who use the jolt services.
Jolt*
Web: www.jolt.co.uk
Access: 0845
Price: Free
Jolt is run by Nildram, with fast games servers and a great network, with free dialups and 0845 access, this is definitely a venture worth using. They have Quake2/3/UT servers and some counter strike servers, the gaming speed was one of the lowest and it was good for all round gaming needs.
Callnet 0800*
Web: www.callnet0800.com
Access: 0800, 24/7
Fee: £19.99 phone dialler, refunded in call charge vouchers Callnet 0800 launched last year in a blaze of publicity – it had stopped taking subscriptions after 2 weeks due to a record 10 million account requests. Now, 8 months later, you can once again sign up online, although reports suggest that it still takes up to 4 months for account details to arrive. I have been using the callnet0800 service for 3 months now, and apart from 3 occasions where I haven’t been able to log in or collect email, the service has been excellent. Connection speeds of 48,888bps are constant, and the 5 minute ‘disconnect-if-idle’ can be cheated by leaving ICQ running. The 1 hour reconnects do take a big of getting used to, but tbh for free access 24/7 I can’t complain. Online gaming is fine during the day, although pings do rise during the evenings and especially at weekends, although most serious gamers use a dedicated dialup for gaming anyway. Download speeds have reached 4.2k/sec but usually they are an abysmal 1.0k/sec, and for major downloads I still find myself using other isps.
BT Internet
Web: www.btinternet.com
Access: 6pm-midnight weekdays, all weekend
Fee: £9.99 month
Just about everyone I know online has used or is using Bti – it was the first isp to offer any sort of 0800 access and still holds a favourite spot for a lot of users. The fee of £9.99 a month is easily regained by most people logging on at 6 and disconnecting at midnight, and connecting all weekend. There have been lots of complaints about lag and login failures, but the service has come on in leaps and bounds lately, and I’ve even managed to play Quake 2 and UT online with it, with a 170 ping during the evenings this week. Download speeds are incredible – I regularly have up to 6k/sec and use Bti for all my large downloads. The service suffers at certain times (notably Sunday afternoon/evenings), but overall it’s a great price to pay, and the price is set to fall before the end of the year. A 2-hour disconnect is easy to live with, and with the service allowing up to 6 PCs online using the same account name, you can use both phone lines (if you have two) to access the net at the same time.
Claranet/Claracall
Web: www.clara.net
Access: 0800 – hours vary depending with packages
Fee: Varies with packages
Hexus.com reported on the new pricing structures of Claranet a few days ago. It seems that the amounts of hours you get for your money are being increased, but they have. Wait for it. Restricted users from using IRC, ICQ or playing online games! Apart from this, the service is consistently fast, and download speeds are between 3 and 5 k/sec.
X Steam
Web: www.x-stream.com
Access: 0800 times vary
Price: Free
When X Stream first launched, it was offering 0845 access with 0800 access on selected weekends. This service continues, with a barrage of complaints from users. I signed up for the 0845 service and participated in a 0800 free weekend. The 0845 service is bog standard – connecting at 45,333kbps and downloading at an average of 3k/sec. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Now the 0800 weekend access was another story. I tried a total of 54 times to connect, and didn’t manage to log in at all. However, I have had reports from other X Stream users that they manage to log in easily, so maybe my experience was a one-off. Make your own mind up about that – I certainly have. The company tested a 0800 24/7 service earlier this year, and received mixed reviews. I will wait until this launches and then give it a go.
Telewest 0800
Web: www.telewest.com
Access: 0800 24/7
Price: £10 a month
A service available only to those on Cable phone lines, this service offers good value for money - £10 a month (providing you spend another £10 on normal phone calls) for 0800 access 24/7. The service does not have a reconnect time, although users frequently get disconnected (I was unable to try this service personally as a BT customer). The service is all but useless for gaming – pings rise as high as 400+, and download speeds are typically 2k/sec and below. However, for free access with only a 2-week signup wait for new users, this service has to be commended.
Freeserve
Web: www.freeserve.co.uk
Access 0845
Price: Free
Good old freeserve were the very first non-subscription ISP back in 1998, and I have had an account since that very first day. While access quality on 0845 isps doesn’t vary much, I must say that I have always been impressed with freeserve – I have never had a problem with accessing the service since 1998, bar one weekend when their mail servers went down. Unlimited email addresses, 20mb webspace and fast access makes this an ideal 0845 isp – I frequently use it for online gaming and get decent pings, and download speeds average at 4k/sec, which is perfectly acceptable for a non-subscription service.
Freenetname*
Web: www.freenetname.co.uk
Access: 0845
Price: Free
One of the few free 0845 isps to carry a bonus, Freenetname gives each user their own. Co.uk domain name, which has allowed countless users to set up clan sites and fan sites with short addresses. Once you have registered your domain, you get unlimited email address suing that domain (eg
Games Inferno
Web: www.gamesinferno.com
Access: 0845
Price: free
Games Inferno is slowly making their mark on online gaming, with fast, reliable servers for most popular games. Their 0845 dial-up is simple to set up – with no user name or password needed. Email and webspace is not offered, ensuring the service is perfect for gaming. Dial straight into a GI server, and your pings will be stupidly low; and the service is equally fast on other servers. Download speeds are fast, although I have yet to find anyone else who uses this ISP for anything other than gaming. If you use GI servers, set up a DUN for them now.
Barrysworld*
Web: www.barrysworld.com
Access: 0845
Price: Free
Barrysworld have just received multi-million pound funding, and this should be reflected in their dial-up service. The current dialup is a temporary thing managed by an external tech team and a new dialup controlled by BW will be rolled out within 1-2 months. The service includes unlimited email addresses, and fast 2-hop access to BWs 145 game servers. Using the service, download speeds average 3-5k/sec, which is great for downloading from BW’s ftp servers. Gaming is brilliant – I know loads of people who rely on BW for all online gaming and none of them have any complaints. In an interview with a BW exec, I was also told that the service would be improving over the next couple of months as an all-new dial-up service is announced. Watch this space!
UKCCL
Web: www.ukccl.net
Access: 0845
Price: Free
UKCCL – the daddy of online league bodies. There was no one available from the ukccl to talk to me for this report, so I asked other users what they thought (I’ve only been using the dial-up for 2 hours so far). I’ve been told all about long periods of downtime, but without talking to one of the ukccl’s representative like I did with BW, I don’t want to say too much. For me, the service has been average – I have connected at 45,333kbps and have an average download speed of 3k/sec. Gaming is fast, although my ping was slightly higher than on the Barrysworld connection. I will update this ISP when I have had chance to talk with an ukccl representative.
Screaming.net, now WorldOnline
Freedom24
Web: www.worldonline.co.uk
Access: 0845 ... charged at 0.00p/minute by WorldOnline Telecom or local
rates by any other TelCo.
Price: Line Rental, £14.99 / month
Screaming.net and Localtel caused an absolute storm, some 18 months ago now.
They gave away CDs in Tempo stores, allowing free internet access off-peak.
The catch? Oh, you had to let Localtel bill your phone line instead of BT. It
did however, remain a BT line connected to a BT exchange. The service was massively
oversubscribed because there were so few CDs (and I, like many, lived far away
from a Tempo store), so everyone went straight to the signup URL instead and
ignored all the 'controlled signup rate' measures. The speed was abysmal (0.5k/sec
on a typical download) and it could take up to 24 hours to dial in with autoredial
set. It gets better. BT had to transfer their customers over to Localtel on
demand. There was a lot of demand so BT dragged their feet. They longer they
took, the more money they got. It was taking up to eight weeks to transfer an
account. A lot of people gave up but I stayed with it.
By August last year, they has set a 2-hour timeout to make dial-ins much much
quicker, added massive numbers of new lines and upped bandwidth by what seemed
like 10% every other week! All this for no more than a standard BT phone line.
All that happened with the bill was, any calls off peak to 08453530121 (that
is 6pm to 8am, and weekends) were charged at 0.00p/minute. I owe most of my
MP3 collection to screaming.net :)
Recently, WorldOnline, in an attempt to become the biggest ISP in the UK, bought
up Localtel/screaming.net as well as a whole host of other ISPs. They upped
the line rental to £14-99/month but also upped the free access to 24 HOURS A
DAY! I now have effectively a 56k leased line for peanuts. It takes three attempts
to dial in, but I tend not to hang up. I mean, why should I? I get booted off
every three hours but then I tend to dial straight back in. Oh, those download
speeds? Well, with my Linux router's various compression algorithms installed,
I get 3k/sec from Taiwan, 6-7k/sec from the UK and 25k/sec on plain text (eg:
HTML). Rock on!
PS: April's Phone bill (and my last screaming.net off peak only bill) 62 hours
34 minutes offpeak internet ..... no charge. God I love these people.
Ezesurf
Web: www.ezesurf.co.uk
Ezesurf offer 0800 access 24/7 for anyone who becomes a shareholder in the company,
purchasing a minimum of 69 level C shares. To you and me, this basically means
paying £39 for 0800 access. The service provided is top notch once your account
is active: dial up first time every time, full isdn access and most importantly,
a fast connection. Pings range form 120 upwards, and download speeds average
at 5k/sec.
Signup takes an average of 48 hours, although it has been noticed that since
their website changed and they began advertising, their customer service has
taken a nose dive (although internet access for current users remains at a very
high standard). I signed up online to test this service (omg I have so many
different dial up accounts now, all for hexus.net).
Well: after 72 hours, my account had still not been activated. I decided to
phone up tech support (a national rate 0870 number unfortunately) to see what’s
going on.
The first time, I tried to get through for 25 minutes, before giving up: all
I got was engaged tones. Eventually I got through a day later and was told “well
we need you to give us the activation number from your sign up email and we
can activate it immediately”. First I’d heard of it. Anyway, there was then
“an error with our server: we can’t find your user name atm: call back in 5
minutes”.
Five minutes later and I’m through and registering: done in a few minutes, total
cost of phone call: £1.72. Five minutes again and I was online with ezesurf
at last. Down to business: pings are not bad: 130 - 180, which is commendable
for 0800 access. Download speeds average at 4k/sec, peaking at 5.4k/sec. So
far I’ve been connected first time, ever time: no engaged tones even at peak
times.
I haven’t been using the service long enough to know if the speed suffers at
certain times, but for the time being my conclusin is that once you are connected
to the service, it is very very good. However, getting connected in the first
place is difficult, and I would not recommend the process to anyone who is not
very keen to have 0808 access.
Unmetred Access: net users face up to facts
UPDATED FREE ISP F-UP, Thanks to the register for there help
As the latest 0800 ISP mysteriously stops its service, hexus.net assesses the rise and fall of unmetred access in the UK.
Just days after we reported on how good the service privided by Dundee based 'Ezesurf' is, the company has mysteriously stopped its service. It's recently re-modled web site now reads:
Sorry!
Ezesurf would like to apologise to it's shareholders for the service being unavailable at this time. We are aiming to have the current situation rectified in due course.
Ezesurf will be making an official statement within the next 48 hours, until then we will not be accepting any more registrations.
Sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause.
0870 4442144
Meanwhile, The Register has reported on the situation, saying:
Dundee-based ISP Ezesurf has stopped its service but denied it has gone bust leaving thousands of Net users out of pocket and unable to get online.
The service - which offers flat-fee unmetered Net access for £75 a year - crashed yesterday fuelling rumours that the service was in trouble.
One worried customer told The Register: "Ezesurfers wait with bated breath to see if they [Ezesurf] have gone the way of the other 'pulled the plug' 0800 ISPs - particularly idiots like me who paid them £100 for 128Kbps ISDN only a few days ago."
Jenny Morgan, Customer Services Manager at Ezesurf, tried to ease people's concerns and told The Register that the ISP had been hit by technical problems.
Asked whether the ISP had ceased trading, she said: "No comment."
A statement would be released in the next 48 hours which would :"allay people's fears", she said.
She also refused to comment on allegations made by an inside source which claimed that Energis - Ezesurf's Web hosting and connectivity supplier - had pulled the plug on the ISP for the non payment of a bill.
This is just the latest in a line of unmetred net access ISPs who have pulled the plug after a very short period of time, leaving customers dissatisfied, without 0800 access, and most importantly, out of pocket by as much as £100.
Just over 3 weeks ago, hexus.net reported on the latest press release concerning Callnet0800 - one of the first ISPs to offer truly free access. Callnet had been troubled from the start, with customers complaining of signup periods of up to 5 months, constant engaged tones and slow service.
At the end of July this year, Callnet finally decided to call it a day, announcing that the 0800 service would be dropped at the beginning of September, simply because it is 'not profitable'. The service (to be replaced with a 1p a minute flat rate ISP), left customers reeling after being forced to pay £19.99 for a special phone dialler in order to access the 0800 service.
Altavista announced in late 1999 that it would be launching an unmetred service in the UK sometime this year, costing £50 a year (charges were changed frequently preceeding the launch). The date of launch for the service was changed and changed, and changed, amid allegations that it was a sham, set up to encourage net users to use Altavista and to gain almost free publicity. The service apparently launched in June 2000, but once again it was surrounded in controversy. It appeared that, even months after the launch, no-one knew anyone who was using the service, despite reassurance from Altavista that 'the service is indeed up and running'. In the final twist to the long and fruitless tale, this announcement was made a few days ago:
Andy Mitchell, MD of AltaVista in the UK and Ireland, has finally confessed that AltaVista's much-hyped unmetered Net access service does not exist.
The revelation that AltaVista consistently and deliberately lied to Net users in Britain is nothing short of a scandal.
AltaVista's actions have done immense damage to the British Net industry and dented public confidence.
From The Register In an email sent to a million people who had registered their interest in the service, Mitchell said: "AltaVista Unlimited Internet Access launched on 30 June 2000, and is currently being rolled out to our list of preregistered customers. So as to ensure the quality of this service, AltaVista has elected to rollout this service in a controlled manner. We will provide the service to as many customers as possible, as quickly as possible, whilst ensuring that your online experience is a good one."
Speaking on BBC television this morning a shame-faced Mitchell finally admitted that there was no 24/7 unmetered service and that it had not signed up any onto the service.
In a statement, the ISP says it is has put its unmetered service "on hold".
No one at AltaVista was available to comment on how something that doesn't exist could be put on hold.
Today's admission comes after an intensive two-week search led by The Register to try and find anyone who was actually using the service.
The service supposedly went live on 30 June. It was supposed to be rolled out to customers at a rate of 90,000 a month. It's clear this was not strictly true. (r)
It seems, then, that truly unmetred access - free calls, a good service, and longevity - is still a far cry from a reality. As new unmetred ISPs arrive on the scene, hexus.net's ISP reviewer will endevour to test the service and bring you the low down. In the mean time, we do have news on a new 0800 ISP:
AOL UK could be just weeks away from offering flat-fee unmetered Net access.
On Tuesday MCI Worldcom - which one of AOL UK's network vendors - became the first telco to sign up to BT's wholesale unmetered Net access product, FRIACO Hybrid.
Erol Ziya, of the lobby group, Campaign for Unmetered Telecommunications (CUT), predicts that AOL UK will be offering a flat-fee unmetered service in as little as four weeks.
Matt Peacock, a spokesman for AOL UK was more circumspect.
Asked whether AOL UK was on the verge of offering an unmetered package, Peacock said: "We will have to see." "We've asked for a price from MCI Worldcom but we have not got it yet," he said. "We can't make any decisions until we get a price"
( Thanks to ISPreview, The Register, Ezesurf, Altavista and Oftel for help in making this report. ( Hexus.net would like to apologise to any readers who have signed up for either Callnet or Ezesurf on the strength of our reviews. Users of those ISPs are suggested to wait until full press released and statements are made before contacting the respective companies.
