http://www.best.com/~ophelia/internet.html (World Wide Web Directory, 06/1995)
Internet Service Providers
LINK UPDATE
This page is now http://www.best.com/~ophelia/isp.html
Please update your links.
Compiled by Chris Dow. Please
send any info you find missing/wrong or comments.
Last updated
Tue May 23 14:58:42 PDT 1995
This list now has 52 items for the San Francisco Bay Area!!!
Contents
- Introduction
- Acronyms
- What To Look For In A Provider
- Bay Area Providers
- Non Bay Area Providers
- Other Web Sites with ISP info
Introduction
This document lists companies who connect home PCs to the Internet.
The audience is intended to be Real Humans who aren't using this connection for
their primary occupation. In other words this is for someone who wants access
to Internet from home for entertainment, personal amusement, or to support a
secondary consulting enterprise, not for full-time connections to Internet,
as would be needed by a company, although some of these companies provide that,
too. For now, I'm ignoring TIA (if you don't know what this is, never mind),
NetCruiser, and PipeLine, simply because I haven't gotten around to putting
the info in yet, and becase the latter two seem more like AOL, CompuServe,
and Prodigy, to me. You'll have to find that info someplace else.
Acronyms
Here are some acronyms used in this document:
- ISP: Internet Service Provider. Who you pay to get on the 'net.
- POP Account: an email address based on the Post Office Protocol
- POP: Point of Presence. The distance between you and your ISP's POP is
what determines if the call is local or long distance (intralata long distance
is very expensive in the Bay Area).
What To Look For In An ISP
Here are some things to look for in an internet provider:
Does Speed Cost?
Some ISPs charge for 28.8 Kbaud modems. Some don't. Be sure to check for
this. Not charging for 28.8 Kbaud modems doesn't necessarily mean that the
base price is higher--most likely it means the ISP bought their modems more
recently.
Metered vs. Unlimited Access
Do you want to stay logged in for a long time? For example, are you using
the email account to stay connected to work while working from home or taking
care of sick children? Metered access can add up in that situation, and even
if your employer will reimburse you, it can still be a pain. On the other
hand, if you can restrain yourself, then metered access can be much cheaper.
Does the ISP charge extra for World Wide Web pages?
Some providers give you space for Web pages and don't charge you extra for
publishing on the Web, while others do. If you don't want to be a Web
publisher and you can be frugal with time (see above), the latter can be
cheaper. Keep in mind, however, that putting good info on the Web can be
beneficial to your career.
Does the ISP provide space for anonymous ftp?
Some providers give you space for putting documents out for anonymous ftp,
some don't, and some charge extra for it. As above, if you don't need it, this
may be cheaper, but if you do need it, check the charges.
Does the ISP provide a unix shell account with the service?
If this is something you want, find out if it's extra. If you have some type
of X Windows server software that will work with PPP/IP, there are some
interesting programs available under X and not other platforms (the X program
XV does everything that most people want to
do with images for web related viewing). This would be one
reason to want a unix shell account.
How much disk space is included in the monthly charge?
This can be a real money hole. If you want to keep some things in the disk
space that comes with the the unix account (assuming it's provided by the ISP),
you can spend a lot of money if they have a small amount of disk space included
in the monthly charge.
How much are extra POP accounts?
Does more than one person in your family want to get email through PPP? This
can add up if the monthly charge for an extra POP account is even as much as
%50 the the cost of the PPP account.
Things you might want to be wary of
If an ISP tells you they do not offer Web home pages to their users because of
security, then you should be suspect. Either that isn't the real reason, or
they don't have sufficient understanding of the way the web works to (IMO) be
running an ISP service. Most sites offer this, so it's at least possible
to have reasonable security while offering web pages, if not particularly easy.
The question is: Do you want to have top-notch sysadmins or not? Also, be
wary of any policies that seem arbitrary. If they can't explain their
policies to your satisfaction, either they don't know what they are doing or
they have poor interpersonal skills--making customer support difficult.
Remember--you are paying them, so they must satisfy you. If the answer to a
query is "security", make them explain the issues so you understand it. Again,
they work for YOU, and the market in the Bay Area is so competitive that you
can always find someone who'll do what you want at a reasonable price.
In the Bay Area
Able offers several types of internet connections, as well as ftp and Web
space. Here is the Personal
Network Connection Info.
Access InfoSystems runs Community Net, giving net access in Solano, Napa
and Contra Costa counties. Send mail to
info@community.net for pricing.
AENet offers internet access from Sunnyvale, CA. The above referrence
points to their prices & info.
Aimnet offers "a complete range of connectivity options, security and firewall
services, WWW storefronts, and WWW site development." (From their home page)
Here are their connectivity
options
AlterNet has provided uucp services to individuals and corporations for
years. They have now branched into providing internet access. Their
personal solution is called AlterDial. They offer metered or flat rate
unlimited usage service through high-speed modems. They do not appear to
offer an ISDN solution at this time.
Here is the info on AlterDial.
APlatform offers shell accounts and SLIP/PPP accounts from their POP in
Mountain View, CA. Here
are their rates.
Bay Area Internet Solutions provides many internet services from San Jose.
Here is their
dialup information.
Beckemeyer Development offers internet access via local telephone calls from
Alameda, Clayton, Concord, Berkeley, Bishop Ranch, Castro
Valley, Danville, Dublin, El Sobrante, Hayward, Lafayette,
Moraga, Oakland, Orinda, Piedmont, Pinole, Richmond, San
Leandro, San Ramon, Tiburon, Walnut Creek, and portions of San Francisco.
Here are their
connectivity options .
Best offers unix shells, PPP/SLIP
accounts, and fulltime connections of individual machines or subnets. They
have the added charm of a storefront in Mountain View, Ca.
Here is the pricing info .
California Online
California Online offerss services throughout the Bay Area and in the wine
country. Get info from info@calon.com.
CCnet offers internet connections via shell accounts, SLIP/PPP accounts, and
leased lines (56k to T1). I can't find their prices in their web page,
but here is the description
of their PPP/SLIP services.
CERFNet provides high- and low-speed connections to academic instititutions
and individual.
Here is the info on their services for individuals.
CRL offers internet access in many places across the US, including the San
Fransisco bay area. Here is their
service info.
Well, you gotta read their page, but imagine an ISP in Berkeley ("Internet
to the People!"). Here's
their access info.
Datamax is an internet presence and service provider based in Sunnyvale.
Here is the info on their
personal internet access services.
DNAI provides internet access in San Francisco and the East Bay.
Here is their service/pricing info.
emf.net offers internet access to "Berkeley, San Francisco,
the surrounding United States, and the World".
Here is the info on their
personal SLIP/PPP accounts.
Holonet provides internet access nationwide.
Here is the info on
their HoloSLIP SLIP/PPP service.
Hooked provides internet services and a home for web pages in San Francisco.
Here is the
pricing.
Well, it looks like Big Blue is offering internet access, too. This is even
world-wide, for you frequent travelers.
Here are the fee schedules.
Information Now provides Internet Access from Milpita, CA.
Here are their prices.
Internex provides internet access in the Bay Area via ISDN. They
support ISDN cards for PCs (ISA Bus) and external ISDN converters
for PCs, LANs, and Macs. I include them here because there are some (albeit
few) Real People who can afford it. Click
here
for more details.
IPAC Internet Public Access Corporation
IPAC provides all kinds of internet services in the San Jose area.
Here are the dialup prices.
"ISP Networks is an Internet service provider based in Santa Clara,
California" -- from their web page.
Here is the list of services and
pricing.
LineX Provides internet access in Marin County.
Here is where they talk
about their internet connection service.
Market.NET offers high-speed dedicated and leased-line SLIP and PPP
connections in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Here are their connection
options.
MediaCity offers internet access from its POPs in the 451, 510, and 408 area
codes. They have a storefront
on Bryant Street in Palo Alto.
Here is info on their products
and services .
meernet offers a variety of IP services. Their POP is in Mountain View.
Here is their service info.
The Little Garden offers internet access on the penninsula in the San
Francisco Bay Area. They support 28.8KBPS and 14.4KBPS modems. Check
out their
brochure .
MCI [you know, the company that took on the largest, most powerful company in
the universe and won, but now just irritates us with incessant calls about
"Friends Family"?] will soon be providing internet access to the whole
country via
internetMCI.
North Bay Network provides internet services to the
northern San Francisco Bay Area.
Here is the info on their IP services.
NetGate povides internet access in the south San Francisco Bay area.
Here is there dialup pricing.
Located in El Cerrito, Norcov provides shell accounts, SLIP/PPP space for Web
Pages. Here is a list of
their internet services.
Pacific Bell is now offering internet services. I think they might
make my list shorter in the long run. Here is the info on their
services.
Portal has been offering shell accounts for a while. Now they're offering
SLIP and PPP, too.
Here are the prices.
PSI is yet another access provider. They are in Herndon, VA.
QuakeNet is a low-cost internet provider in the Bay Area.
Here is
the dialup pricing.
Rahul.net is a small company that offers internet access in the San Francisco
Bay Area. Here
is the pricing info.
Roble Internet Services offers PPP, SLIP, and ISDN connections from Palo Alto,
CA. Here are their
prices for internet connections.
Scruz-Net is an internet service provider
in the San Francisco Bay area and the Monterey Bay area. They offer services
from part-time PPP via modem to full- and part-time 2B ISDN connections. They
have points-of-presence in Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and San Jose, with one in
Monterey opening in the first half of January, 1995, and Mountain View in late
February.
Click
here for their part-time modem connection prices
SenseMedia is providing internet access in the South Bay and Santa Cruz
areas. Here is the info.
Sirius Connections provides low-cost dial-up SLIP and PPP service for
Macintosh, Windows, OS/2, and UNIX users.
Here is their info page
.
Sonoma Internet provides internet connectivity to Santa Rosa.
Here is the info on their
connectivity services.
South Valley Internet is the only ISP with local dial up for the area including
Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, and Hollister. k
Here is more info on their
services.
Slip.Net provides internet access in the Bay Area.
Check out their prices.
The Diamond Lane
The Diamond Lane provides internet access in the Easxt Bay.
Here is their service info.
ViaNet provides internet access to the Bay Area and the LA area.
Here are their prices.
Web Professionals, Inc. provides internat access from Cupertino.
Here is info on their
services and
rates.
WombatNet is a service provided by the Wombat Internet Guild to put home
computers on the Internet.
Here are their prices.
Your Personal Network offers internet access and a
comprehensive net guide. Here is the
pricing info .
zNET is another ISP in the Bay Area offering toll-free access from South San
Francisco to Watsonville. Here
is the rate info.
Zoom is an internet access provider in Fremon, CA. Here are their
prices.
Outside the Bay Area
Access One provides internet access from Kirkland, WA.
Here is the info on their
dialup services.
ConnectNet offers internet access in the SanDiego Area. Here is the
info on their
dialup
accounts.
Internet Oklahoma offers internet access in Oklahoma (duh). My mom uses
this one, and they seem to be pretty good.
Here is their info
page.
If you live in Tulsa, Oklahoma , you can be on the Internet, too!
Blarg offers internet access in the Seattle area.
Here are their prices .
InfiNet provides internet access in the areas of North Carolina, Maryland,
Nevada, Tenesse, Virginia and Washington D.C.
Here are their services.
MagicNet provides internet access in the Orlando, Fla. area.
Here is the info on their
services.
Sierra-Net offers temporary and regular internet access in the Lake Tahoe
area. Here are their prices.
Other Web Sites with ISP Info
Check out SenseMedia's CRISP Page .
There is also the
Providers of Commercial Internet Access (POCIA) , and the
InterNIC Internet Service Provider List
. Netrep has a
list of tri-valley service
providers. They have a refference to the
Yahoo List, also.
agoodloe@best.com also keeps an excellent
list.
http://www.best.com/~ophelia/internet.html (World Wide Web Directory, 06/1995)