Are All ISPs Equal?

Internet service provision is a somewhat of a ``commodity'' product. Like potatoes, pork bellies, or petrol: you can get more or less the same product from a number of different and competing suppliers. This is very good! The competition drives prices down, and ensures that the different suppliers have to stay efficient to stay competitive.

Does that mean that all ISPs are equal? Well, not quite.

Although the basic service--Internet access--is the same for all ISPs, the details can vary significantly from one to another. The ISP business is very dynamic with new companies entering (and leaving!) the market all the time. Which one will suit you best will depend on your particular needs.

In this section I'll review some of the major factors to be considered in choosing an ISP. Note that the CD-ROM accompanying this book provides a free one-month trial subscription to eircom net, one of Ireland's premier ISP companies. eircom net are also exclusive sponsors of the book, and I'll be using eircom net services to illustrate the various issues raised here.

Firstly, of course, ISPs compete on price--but you should be careful to recognise that the precise service you get can vary significantly between suppliers. Pay particular attention to whether any price quoted to you is a flat rate--independent of how much time you spend online--or metered, in which case you'll be charged more (possibly on a sliding scale) as you use the service more. The eircom net service uses flat rate access charging: you pay a fixed rate per month, which then gives you unlimited access (though note that you must still pay your phone charges separately--which we'll discuss further below). Better still, there is no eircom net access charge at all for the first month.

Next, there is the ISPs' network of Points of Presence or POPs. This is another piece of fairly unnecessary Internet technospeak. A POP is simply a location, or phone number, where the ISP offers dial-up connections. To minimise the cost of your actual phone calls to the Internet, you want an ISP which you can connect to at local call rates--or better. Several Irish ISPs, including eircom net, offer access via the special 1891 service operated by eircom. This allows access to these ISPs, from anywhere in the country, at rates significantly lower even than normal local calls.

Many ISPs charge an initial, once-off, ``registration'' fee--which may, or may not, include a software ``starter kit'' to access the service. Alternatively, a number of Irish ISPs market Internet ``start up'' kits through retail outlets such as computer stores and bookshops, where the price may already include any initial registration fee. Of course, the eircom net package on the CD-ROM accompanying this book comes with free registration and is complete with a starter software kit.

What kind of technical support service does the ISP provide? For example, is there a telephone helpline? Is there a local call rate access number? Do any additional charges apply for making calls? What are its hours of operation? These are all especially important questions for new users. The eircom net support desk operates from 08.30 to 22.00, is accessible at local call rates (1850 service) throughout the country, and incurs no additional charges.

How many e-mail addresses do you get with your account? This may seem a bit silly: surely one e-mail address should be enough for anybody? That might be true if you are the only one in your household who will want to access the Internet. But if there are others in the family who want to use the service, you may find that it will be a lot more convenient if you can each have your own separate e-mail address for your own correspondence. The eircom net service, for example, includes the use of up to 3 e-mail addresses.

Does the ISP provide you with ``web space'', and if so, how much? Providing ``web space'' means that the ISP allows you to load information onto one of its computers which will then be available to anyone else in the world, at any time--regardless of whether your own computer is connected or not. In this way, you can publish your own information to a global audience, on any subject you like. (Of course, this doesn't in itself guarantee that anyone will actually want to read or download it...). If you think this is something you might be interested in doing, then you should certainly check that it is supported, and how much space you are allowed (the eircom net account provides for 10MByte of web space, which is ample for a small personal web site). This may seem a ridiculously remote possibility to you right now, before you have even connected to the Internet for the first time, but you may be surprised at just how quickly you'll want to publish on the Net yourself!