Free ISPs - What's the price? (Updated 15-Aug-03)

All the Free ISPs that I had written about on this page and reviewed in additional pages have gone out of business. Before the dot.com crash of 2000, dial-up Internet access accounts were given for free - usually supported by advertising. This page, and additional pages that reviewed and compared some of the free ISPs have become obsolete: at present, a model of providing free Internet access supported only by advertising is not sustainable.

There are, however, a number of low-cost ISPs - some even offering unlimited usage, and a large selection of local access numbers. Low-cost ISPs offering nationwide access generally are resellers of services that include access numbers, and might also include outsourced news, e-mail, billing and/or support. This is not necessarily bad. 

Choosing an ISP involves many considerations that differ among users - the good news is that there are a multitude of providers operating in a highly competitive environment, so the consumer has many choices. A good resource for low-cost ISP access is Freedomlist.com.