Huge Improvement
Written: Apr 28 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great connections for a free/cheap ISP
Cons: Annoying Ad-bar and unorthodox startup page
The Bottom Line: Not the same ISP from a year ago
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| SParkfan77's Full Review: NetZero |
The end of an era has occurred; an epiphany in the Internet world. I am of course talking about the demise of most of the free Internet Service Providers or ISP’s. As of a year ago, it was a cool thing to use a free ISP. I even wrote an entire editorial breaking down each individual provider. Sadly, this free Internet craze went from a great idea to an old idea that did not make money in the long run. This forced most free ISP’s to stop being free and start charging like everyone else. What really convinced me that the whole free ISP thing was dieing off was because I found out that Net Zero was turning to a paid service as well. This is when I knew that another chapter was closed in the Internet world and I shall go back to the traditional yet shoddy AOL.
Net Zero
Now let me say this, it is technically not a 100% free service anymore. If you count the monthly fee after 40 hours a month, than you can say that it is not free. I’m sure that you all remember those cheesy commercials where they push Net Zero to be 100% free Internet for the people because the Internet should be free for everyone. This made a lot of people sign up to the service, but even after they announced a monthly charge after 40 hours, they continued with their same commercials. How dare they so ignorant to the people of the Internet. I for one was infuriated with Net Zero and how they tried to get the message out that they are free Internet when they clearly are not; well at least not the way that they were making it out to be.
After they made the switch to the not totally free service, I decided to give it a shot. To tell you the truth, I was never wild about this service a year ago. Sure they are some rough spots in the software and an annoying startup page that is hard to get rid of, but how did Net Zero change over a year and is it worth the download.
Double Click To Install
Installing this software is a synch. It practically does it for you. Even the most illiterate computer user can figure it out. Once installed, you will have to choose a user name for yourself, set up your modem configuration, and select access numbers that the service will dial to connect you to the Internet. For all of you new computer users that think they know it all, check which numbers are local and which are long distance. Trust me, a month later and a huge phone bill will change your habits and make you watch what you put in for the numbers. I don’t do this anymore but I did at one time.
Connect Me!
I had the same problem a year ago as I had a week ago with Net Zero. At times of updating, congestion or a simple program error, it will not let you sign online. I had this same problem a year ago. It’s not that I am doing anything wrong because I know that I am not. When I first sign up, I check off the box to remember my password; this way there is no confusion to what my password is. Anyway, I try to sign on every once and a while and an error message pops up saying “incorrect user name or password, please try again later”. I am not going crazy am I? I know for a fact that the right password is going in but it won’t connect me! Let me on Net Zero!
Once Connected
After the period of time that I cannot connect, I finally reach the state of dial-up user utopia. I reach the ever so sweet 52K connection. This is great for a dial-up; especially for a FREE dial-up. Correction, for the most part free dial-up. Sure it says that connection speed, but can it load pages at the same speed as it says? Absolutely. This is weird because there once was a time when I did not believe anything that Net Zero told me because they are liars. Anyway, while using Net Zero, I try to load some pages up. It did a great job in loading the pages up. If I were to compare the speeds with AOL, I bet that they would at least be the same if not better. When you first connect, there is a very annoying startup page that launches. The thing is, is that you cannot take it off of your screen. You can do Control: Alt: Delete ‘til the cows come home but you will not get anywhere. It is weird because if you have to click on a link to open an Internet Explorer window. That or re-launch the browser.
The ad-bar is back again. Oh yes, I know horrifying this thing can be but they need to find a way to make money. After all, they USED to be free. This bar is all sold ad space. This is where they make their money. It is also annoying to have on the top or bottom of your screen, especially if you are like me and like to have the biggest browser space possible. I use the F11 key to make the IE bigger. The address bar is will go straight to the top of the screen. Unfortunately, with the ad-bar and if you maximize your browser, the ad-bar will block your address bar leaving you unable to change pages by typing in a URL.
Save As…
Downloading off a [semi] free server can be somewhat disappointing. This is because you may not have as fast of a download speed as you may like. Now I will say that it most of the time has something to do with congestion of the website but the bigger factor is the speed and quality of your connection. I usually download at about 2-3 KBPS (Kilobytes per second) on AOL (I know that’s slow) but with Net Zero, they surprised me with an average of 4.5-5 KBPS. This made me happy and I realized that Net Zero may not be as bad as some people think. I used to feel that they were a mediocre free ISP, but this new version of it made me download faster and load pages up quicker than AOL. How many cheap ISP’s can you say that about?
Collecting Data
When thinking about all of the information of this service, I realize that overall; Net Zero is not a bad ISP by any means. Sure it has its share of problems, and believe me they are aplenty, but I would say that Net Zero is a competitor in the Internet world. I can’t believe that I just said that.
So how does this semi-free ISP compare with other free and paid ISP’s? Does it hold a candle to the competition? Lets see how Net Zero stacks up. Ratings are from one to five stars.
Here’s The Breakdown
Connection
*****
Like I said, a year ago, I would never guess that Net Zero would have turned around like this but they did and in a big way with secure, fast, quality and stable connections. This will draw a crowd and even though I think it’s wrong, people will end up paying them money. The reason being because not too many people know that it is not totally free anymore. They are out with some commercials like the one that I saw a few minutes ago on TV. To the common computer user, they will see a bill in their mail saying that they owe them $9.95.
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Ease Of Use
***
This is what brings the overall rating of Net Zero down. The fact that I could not sign on at random times is ridiculous. The reason that they gave me was invalid name and/or password. What kind of excuse is that if I have it set for save user name and password and I signed on a few minutes prior with not problems? That to me is inexcusable and should be brought to the attention of Net Zero. Another ease of use problem was with that weird start up page. This was not your average homepage. In fact, it was not even in an IE window, you have to click on a link to open up a browser. That is crazy stuff.
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Overall
****
My opinion about Net Zero certainly changed over the past year. Not only was I satisfied with the changes but also I was glad that finally a free ISP can make its make on the Internet world as not being mediocre as it once was. The only problem is its sneaky monthly fee if you spend over 40 hours a month online. This time limit is nowhere half of how much time I spend online a month. I know, I’m a nerd right? Well all I know is that what they were doing with that service charge is wrong because it is false advertisement. They have had commercials in the past that say “…the Internet should be free for the people and that is the way we’ll remain. No matter how much time goes by, that zero will still stand.” Come on, who are you kidding. They do offer a premium offer now that is $9.95 a month but there are no pop-up ads and finally no Ad-bars. They also brag about having faster connections. I’m not too sure about that one though. Overall, change is good in Net Zero’s case. It made them a stronger, faster and better ISP.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
SParkfan77
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Member: Dan Schiller
Location: Long Island NY
Reviews written: 376
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