>> From HOPELESS.MESS.CS.CMU.EDU!Richard.P.Draves Sun Jan 2 13:42:45 1994 >> From: Richard.P.Draves@HOPELESS.MESS.CS.CMU.EDU >> Subject: Summary of 40+ Internet Access Cost Msgs Following are excerpts from over 40 messages posted in late December 1993 to "ROOTS-L" and "soc.roots" and others regarding various means and costs of Internet access. These are provided herewith in one summarized mail message solely for the interest and benefit of readers. The compiler assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or veracity of any statements herein. Full texts of itemized messages may be obtained by sending e-mail to with the command , where "nnnnn" is the item number, in the body of your mail. For further information on the item contact the respective poster directly. >>> Item number 36049 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: Cliff Manis Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access Reference part of Jay Hall's message: > On Friday, 17 Dec 1993, Margaret E. Della Roca posted a fairly > detailed message on why she was about to leave our fraternity. > Some of her points were good, some seemed to be a matter of > personal preference. All were well said. Yes, some very good points. We are doing several things right as a group, but we could be going a lot better. Margaret and I have discussed some of these things in private messages, and both agree on many points. > Of particular interest to me was how much she was paying for her > Internet access. She noted a connect time of ~30 minutes/day, > which she said cost her $1.75/day (using AOL), or ~$50/month. I would like to know some serious $$ amounts of how much some of you pay for access, and from who (company name), and how much you actually use those services per month. Please post it back to the ROOTS-L so we all can see it. Thanks.. cliff Cliff Manis ROOTS-L Mailing List Administrator >>> Item number 36039 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: JAY HALL Subject: Cost of Internet Access On Friday, 17 Dec 1993, Margaret E. Della Roca posted a fairly detailed message on why she was about to leave our fraternity. Some of her points were good, some seemed to be a matter of personal preference. All were well said. Of particular interest to me was how much she was paying for her Internet access. She noted a connect time of ~30 minutes/day, which she said cost her $1.75/day (using AOL), or ~$50/month. Wow! (And to think poor Cliff doesn't even get a kickback from these people!) I hate to see anyone paying this much for their Internet access, especially since I pay a heck of a lot less, and hope others can join with us without breaking the family piggybank. If you are paying too much (in your estimation) for Internet access, here are a couple of suggestions (and please note: I don't work for these places, I don't necessarily endorse any of these services, and they are not necessarily the overall best or cheapest access points. I'm just trying to help.) AT&T Mail and MCI Mail. These offer local access numbers in many large cities, and 800 access from anywhere in the U.S. Cost is ~$3/month for the account, no connect charges, and no charge on incoming mail (so receiving ROOTS-L would be $3/month, even though it runs ~4 megs/month). Note: This is only e-mail, and there's a pretty stiff charge on outgoing mail. Several ROOTS-L subscribers use these. Tyrell Online Service. Just received something from these people today. They operate out of Kansas City and offer full Internet access (ftp, telnet, e-mail, etc.) for ~$10/month, with 30 hours of monthly access included. Access outside of Kansas City is an additional $1/hour. Don't use this myself, or know of anyone who does. Just thought it might interest someone. >>> Item number 36062 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: Don Wallace Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access My cost from a commercial vendor (Digital Express Group) is $200/yr. This provides full Internet access for 6 hours daily. I have additional charges of $1 per hour for Internet access above 6 hours each day. In addition, my charges include something like $1.00 per month per megabyte for storage above 5 megabytes. >>> Item number 36067 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: Miki Davis Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I access Internet through MountainNet, a company here in Morgantown, WV, for a flat fee of $25 per month...no time charges, no line charges, no long-distance charges...and I can use it any time of day or night for as long as I like. I usually am on at least two hours a day, accessing ROOTS-L, other nets, and using EMail. >>> Item number 36069 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: John Coates Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access My Internet service provider is Connected, Inc out of Bellevue WA. I pay $40 for 6 months of service. The system is a no frills Sun Unix system with full internet capabilities. I use the system in my business as well as for pleasure and probably average 3-4 hours per day. >>> Item number 36077 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: Paula Kelley Ward Subject: Cost of Internet Access There is no charge for access to the Internet for faculty, staff or students of Trinity University. I'm wondering what might happen, though, if too many individuals here start getting lots of mail from various mailing lists. I noted the post the other day from the systems administrator at UTSA to Roots-L, requesting that all user ids from that node be removed from the mailing list...were there many, and were they removed? Were they notified first? >>> Item number 36078 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: Naaman Nickell Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access Another suggestion is to ftp a file called pdial. It contains a list of Internet access points with addresses and phone numbers. I found a new one here in Phoenix that I have been trying out. I got more than 100 hits on pdail on an archie search . It may also be available on usenet. >>> Item number 36080 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: Bill Allen Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access Cliff, we are very much spoiled here in Cleveland. I can use Freenet from Case Western Reserve Univ. an hour at a time, all day, so far!! No charges. I spend several hours a day looking just at my ROOTS-L mail. >>> Item number 36084 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Dave Schutt Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access Netcom $17.50/mo (when billed to visa) unlimited time/messages includes usenet,Internet access,ftp,telnet + other things I don't use. >>> Item number 36087 from ROOTS-L Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1993 From: Timothy Doyle Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I use Texas Metronet based here in the Dallas area. They offer several levels of Internet access. For just under $20.00/month I have access to ftp, telnet, gopher, irc, www, email, and a few others. I am allocated 2 megs of disk space and no time limits. Users who wish to limit themselves to email can shave a few dollars off that charge. Metronet was listed in the PDIAL file that I downloaded (from what location I can't remember). This file lists Internet providers across the country with charges, phone numbers, etc. Hope this info helps. >>> Item number 36088 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Keith Olsen Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access My access is via delphi and costs me $20/month plus $3 for internet. For this I get 20 hours between the hours of 6 pm and 6 am. Date: Tue, 21 Dec 93 From: "d. hasselback" Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access Newsgroups: soc.roots It costs me $0.06 per call during business hours, and $0.03 per call during off-hours. Figures are in Canadian dollars. There is no time limit on my calls. I have to pay for storage space on the main frame, but that's only if I accumulate more than 1 meg of files on the main frame hard drive. I put a $25 (CAN) deposit down on my account, and the system manager deducts my costs as I go. I've been working off the same $25 since Nov. 25, 1993. I think I'm down to about $12 now. My costs are very low because I'm a student at University of Western Ontario, London, through which I access the InterNet. From: rn.1886@rose.com X-Gated-By: Usenet <==> RoseMail Gateway (v1.70) Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Acce From: "R.S. (Bob) Heuman" Cliff, as you can see from the Using above, I get into Internet via the BBS I use here in Toronto. Cost is C$117.00 for one year, including GST and Provincial Sales Tax. This gives access to InterNet, Fido conferences, and other nets to a total of appoximately 5,500 conferences, plus files, Archie, FTP (extra - deposit and cost of C$0.25 per 100K obtained, which is placed on the board for ALL of its users), and News, etc. Download limit is 2.5Meg per day, and time on the board is 120 minutes for this price. A lower fee gives less time and a smaller download limit. A higher price is also available for corporate accounts, plus a 3 month fee, for those not interested in the whole year, or wanting to try it out. This is a lot less than US$50.00 per month! I also use their RoseReader to do my .QWK transfer of selected message areas to my computer via modem, and then work off-line. I typically do this at night. Please also note that in Toronto a monthly fee covers the telephone, and message units are NOT in use. In other words, once I connect, I connect, and I do NOT pay by the minute (yet). Hope this gives you an idea of what is available... via indirect InterNet access. >>> Item number 36113 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Tom Olin Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access Although I currently receive ROOTS-L at work, I'm in the process of setting up accounts at home so I can read it there. Unfortunately, I am on a small, rural telephone exchange that is not local to any significant urban area. Therefore, I have far fewer inexpensive options than most ROOTS-L/soc.roots readers. Here are the options I'm currently working on: 1. AT&T Mail: toll-free (800) access, only $3 per month to receive E-mail, no connection time limits, fairly hefty charges to send E-mail. I plan to use this for receiving and reading E-mail. MCI-Mail is similar in structure and cost. 2. FreeNets: Free except for long-distance charge, at most 10 cents per minute for me. I am applying for accounts on 1 in-state and 1 out-of-state FreeNet. Depending on which one turns out to be cheaper (based on the different long-distance calling plans I use), I will use one of these for sending E-mail and other Internet-related services. 3. Speedway: Free except for long-distance charge, at most 10 cents per minute for me. Speedway is a commercial firm that makes its money by taking a cut of the long-distance charge from AT&T. You must use AT&T to access it, but you may use any AT&T savings plan to do so. Provides full Internet access. I may use this instead of a FreeNet, depending on features, ease of use, levels of contention, etc. These appear to be the best bets for my situation, but I'm still in the process of getting accounts and figuring out the best way to use them together. If anybody can suggest anything less expensive, please send me E-mail! If anybody needs additional information about any of these options, do likewise. (New Hartford, NY) >>> Item number 36114 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: James Klaas Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I get access through the University of Michigan. So, for me the access is free. The UofM is a HUGE site and there is currently a move here to start up a "freenet" here. I haven't heard much about it lately though. There is a large freenet in Cleveland and area. Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Karen Zimmerman Organization: The University of South Dakota Computer Science Dept. Subject: PDIAL text file The pdial text file listing public access services to the internet is available at info-deli-server@netcom.com. Send a one line message "SEND PDIAL" to that address to get a current version. To receive new editions automatically, send the message " SUBSCRIBE PDIAL " to same address. >>> Item number 36128 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Gary Calvert Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access My cost of using Internet at this time is 0. It is provided by my employer and I have no idea what real costs are involved. BUT by virtue of having been in computers / electronics for many years, I try to follow these practices: I move most files to my floppy disks to keep my system resource usage low because I know there is costs involved even though I don't see them directly. Other than the e-mail I do all my high volume file activities at low usage times - after hours & late night batch jobs. I keep out of flame wars and encourage others to ignore them so they will go away. The flame warriors will not stay around where they can not get the recognition they seek. I keep my signature to a minimum and complete size because it costs others money (paid by the number of bytes they receive) to receive it and I can show my cleverness elsewhere. I try to read my messages as though I were receiving it as a stranger and write messages so they don't offend (not always successful tho) :) I try not to take opinions on the net as serious or personal. This is for fun, educational, entertainment, etc.... right? I try to keep in mind my opinions might be flung upon a world of various societies that might not be congruous with mine. Not good or bad...just different. ;) I can not go to work for everyone on the net, but if I can squirt off a quick answer for some questions I take the time to do it. I try to be tolerant of those who are less experienced or make obvious errors in placing something on the news group that really should not have been there, have patients, we will all learn in time. ie. don't throw fuel on a potential flame, administrators usually respond when things get to extreme. >>> Item number 36130 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: JIM AGNEW Subject: Cost of internet access For me, it's free, because I have access through our VAX computer at the office. >>> Item number 36147 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Robert J Meima Subject: Cost of Access to the Internet My access is through the WELL in San Francisco via a local phone number. The rates are $15.00 per month, with a use charge of $2.00 an hour, billed by the minute. >>> Item number 36150 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Bill Dunn Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I use Digital Express in the Washington DC area. $20 signup + about $20 a month for internet access (mail, telnet, gopher, ftp, etc.) and news. That gets you 6 hours a day and several megs of disk space. The phone call is local for me. Just news and mail is, I think, about $15 a month. >>> Item number 36159 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: "SI07::REEDL" Subject: Re: Internet Access Cost From: LtC Lawrence A. Reed reedL@gw1.hanscom.af.mil Well - you all pay for my use - US Govt - and I thank you. I have unlimited access to INTERNET services, and unlimited storage on the local multinode VAX (which is good when I'm gone for a couple weeks on the road and come back to 3000+ e-mails). And - since i will retire next year (most likely) I am very interested in access costs from home. I currently call a modem on the VAX so get full access from home as well - a local call - so no charge. And - please use the SUBJECT line to advertise the intent of your post. Many of us receive hundreds of e-mails a day and sort by SUBJECT line. >>> Item number 36168 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Russ Zaccari Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access There are quite a few new options from what I've heard. The most obvious in my mind are the BBS' popping up all over the place. Bob Mahoney's EXECPC has just received execpc.com and they're writing/testing mail access already. That is $60/yr. Commercial companies are offering service and from what I hear are having quite a problem keeping up with the users! Digex (mentioned several times already) is just one of them ($200/yr). Professional organizations like decus also offer service to their members (decuserve.decus.org) at around $65/yr (I'm pretty sure that was the price about a year ago when I decided not to resubscribe). Being creative is probably one of the most important parts of getting cheaper internet access. I've chosen to use digex simply due to their commercial nature (I don't have to deal w/ anyone at U of Md about what I send/join/read etc...). >>> Item number 36170 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1993 From: Bob Beaulieu Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I pay $17.50/mo with netcom and there's no time limit. It has all the access one would ever need. >>> Item number 36176 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: "C.Y. Thomas" Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I pay $20/mo. for 20 hrs./mo. on DELPHI plus $3/mo. for Internet. If Roots-L were sent to my mail box, I would pay extra for storage, in all probablility. Instead, I download soc.roots from USENET. >>> Item number 36186 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: Vince Callaway Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I offer news and mail to my users for a flat $60 a year. I have uqwk installed to help out the long distance callers cut their costs. Vince Callaway (Sysop) GemStar Information Services (206) 539-3533 >>> Item number 36211 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: "Kitchen, Richard N., CIV" Subject: Re: FREE INTERNET/DWALLACE There are a number of Freenets around, all over the country (and Canada), that cost you only the cost of the phone call, And if you already have access, you can telnet to them for free. >>> Item number 36214 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: John O'Okeefe Subject: Cost of Internet Access Infochi Systems of Chicago provides my internet access. They provide full internet access .They have a real easy to use interface with a great menu system. I pay $250 per year and I'm real happy with the system. >>> Item number 36255 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: Bill Cronk Subject: Re: cost of internet access I have been in discussions with a few ham radio operators who work in the D.C. area and all have stated the same facts. The service is free if you are within the Washington D.C. exchanges and can be accessed from outside the area thru an 800 phone number. The " CATCH " -- the 800 access is at a flat rate of $ .20 per minute and supposedly a credit card is a requirement for 800 access. >>> Item number 36264 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: Brenda Esslinger Subject: Internet cost I use Delphi which is $20 a month for 20 hours and $3.00 a month extra for full Internet access. All over 20 hours is $1.80 an hour. I have to keep my workspace cleaned out, or get charged a storage fee. >>> Item number 36268 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: "George L. Thurston" Subject: Re: cost of internet access What happened to the Cap-Access Freenet in Washington DC? Or is that the system you're talking about? I have seen the Cap-Access net mentioned in several lists and I believe I included it in the catalog of Freenets I published in Genealogical Computing recently. >>> Item number 36277 from ROOTS-L Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1993 From: John Subject: Internet costs There are several things that can be checked out by people who may not "have" Internet "access". First, in that sentence I meant to call attention to the fact that different people have different kinds and different amounts of access. A few suggestions you should try if you think you don't have it. Check out all local computer bulletin boards in your "local" telephone access area. A number of these "receive" Roots-L and post it for all to read, especially boards that emphasize genealogy as one of their interest area. Thus a bunch of "Fidonet" and "GTPower" boards which get the material from the NGS board, also get and post Roots-L so that you can at least read the material. Second, a number of these local BBS also have arrangements whereby you can send a message via the board to an internet address, so that you can post queries that way on Roots-L. Those who see them on Roots-L can then reply to your e-mail address (or your home address by snail mail -- always be sure to include these in your signature (rather than "cute" junk) for the sake of those who want to answer you, but are not "on" Internet with full e-mail privileges. Although these BBS will "port" e-mail from you, and that addressed to you, they will balk at letting you "subscribe" to the whole gamut of messages, especially if they are, in fact, posting these for all to read. Third, some institutions (universities for instance) will let everyone with a modem dial up their computer facilities, and do certain limited things. These may appear as a menu after you have dialed up that computer, which you can then select from. A number of these institutions will include their athletic schedules, job listings, course schedules, directories, AND some Lists they have subscribed to. If you're lucky, these may include Roots-L (under some name), as well as things like bird watching, environmental issues, etc. It is likely that you will have read only access to this material, and will have to respond to queries by snail-mail, have a friend make an occasional "urgent" post for you, or find a local BBS tht will let you send e-mail to the Internet. I should emphasize that the exact situation in your community will vary (including also Freenets like Cleveland's), and you'll need to contact the more savvy: such as members of local computer groups, friends at the local college, especially in computer centers, and try signing on to all the locally accessible bulletin boards to see what they offer. If your community has a university, a dozen or so computer bbs's, a good computer club, etc., you have a good chance of patching something together, even if it means reading Roots-L (or Soc.Roots) from one source, and posting on a different entity. Although I have as a faculty member an account on our University computer (well, two accounts -- I once had four on a total of three computers there), I have three different ways to access, no, come to think of it four ways, the postings of Roots-L: only one of which uses my account at the University; and two different ways of posting to Roots-L. And, man, we're talking, like, the middle of KENTUCKY! (I used to have three different ways to read soc.roots, but I let one go). As an aside, I wonder what Mr Gore's information superhighway will do for all this when we turn it over to the commercial boys. At the very least we'll all be paying by the call and by the minute for ALL use of the telephone they way they do in France (and in NYC, as I recall). That'll mean I can't dial up the University free from my study (sitting here in my pyjamas with a martini in one hand typing with the other two!), and will have to do this genealogy business from my office computer. At any rate, get chummy with some local computer types, and some college ones, and some clubs in your vicinity (if you have a vicinity). The "local" calling area here is all of our county, plus most of two contiguous ones. After that, its cheaper to call a bbs or university out of state. Not too bad if you have a fast modem, call a neighboring state at night, and download stuff zipped. >>> Item number 36285 from ROOTS-L Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1993 From: Alan Dewey Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I am on the Delphi 20/20 plan - 20 hours for $20 /mo plus $3.00 for Internet access. I connect via a local Sprintnet no., so no extra charge for connect. I log on twice daily (after 6PM).. download a couple of Delphi forums, and 2-4 Usenet group postings ... maybe 60-150 msgs per night in total, plus 2-10 email msgs. My monthly charges rarely exceed the $23 plan amount. >>> Item number 36288 from ROOTS-L From: David Morgan Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access I get on the Internet for free from Honolulu, thanks to the state taxpayers and state legislature, which furnish Hawaii FYI at the public librares (and terminals), the CARL system at the University of Hawaii, MELVYL at the University of California, and about twenty freenets, including this one in Finland. ... Sometimes I also use the CARL/VICTOR system at the University of Maryland. You can choose MELVYL from UMD, and the type cfn and hit return for the Cleveland Free-Net. >>> Item number 36295 from ROOTS-L Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1993 From: David W Morgan Organization: The National Capital FreeNet, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Subject: Re: cost of internet access CapAccess is alive and well in Washington, D.C. The telnet address is cap.gwu.edu and the login: guest password: visitor ... They have almost 4,000 members now. If you live in Maryland, you might be able to reach it through a local phone call to Seymour, the new computer system the state of Maryland is funding. ... If CapAccess has an 800 number, I haven't heard about it. The University of Maryland has an 800 for its CARL/VICTOR computer system. About 20 freenets can be accessed though there for free. Drop me a line if you need more info. >>> Item number 36410 from ROOTS-L Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1993 From: MStancliff Subject: Internet Cost I connect thru CRIS - a fairly new service provider I believe. Rates are $10 for the 1st 5 hours/month and $2/hour after that. I seem to average a little better than 1/2 hour every other day, so call it 20 hours/month or $40/month. That makes it about $480/year. I think I just convinced myself that it's time to examine how I really use this thing. I find myself figuring how much microfilm I can order thru the LDS for $480! >>> Item number 36414 from ROOTS-L Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1993 From: Mike Young Subject: Internet non-cost You'd asked for examples of Internet costs..... I access it through a local system "Freenet", which gives me local dial up access at 2400b, lots of lines, but no FTP. There are several of these "community projects" in North America, ours is "free" to anyone (but they do accept donations), hardware is donated (Sun system), local groups sponsor individual lines, volunteers run it, and Carleton University houses/maintains it. I suspect govt funding is involved to help explore the concept of a local electronic community. Access is free to anyone, the local library has several terminals that can be used by the public. Users are limitd to 1 hour connect time, but can reconnect as many times as they want in the same day. Msg me if you've any more questions, I could find out who the local contact would be for you, if this looks like a solution for your area. >>> Item number 36418 from ROOTS-L Date: Fri, 24 Dec 1993 From: "Carol J. Botteron" Subject: Re: Cost of Net Access As a general tip, ask at computer stores and technical book stores. Someone there is likely to know what resources are available locally. Some such stores even run their own low-cost BBSs to encourage demand for their wares. Also see if these stores have (physical) bulletin boards where announcements and advertisements may be posted. Computer clubs are also possibilities. The Boston Computer Society has several internal BBSs. Members can exchange email with the Internet and read Usenet newsgroups related to their type of computers; there are also local discussions, files, etc. Not bad for $39/year for 1 hour/day access. (Magazines etc. too!) As someone may have mentioned, checking posted articles for people in your geographical area, and sending them a polite query about net access, can also be rewarding. Good luck! >>> Item number 36520 from ROOTS-L Date: Sun, 26 Dec 1993 From: JDULING Subject: Internet Costs I am currently a subscriber (until Dec 31) to Colorado Supernet (csn.org). Their costs are as follows: 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Mon - Fri $3.00 / hr 8:00 pm to 12:00 pm Mon - Fri $2.00 / hr 12:00 pm to 8:00 am Any day $1.00 / hr 8:00 am to 12:00 pm Weekends $2.00 / hr There is a minimum monthly charge of $15.00 I am currently using National Videotex to access Internet E-mail. Can someone tell me how to access the Roots-l Index? I sent in a command SET ROOTS-L INDEX but got a response saying I was not signed up to list Roots-l. >>> Item number 36589 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1993 From: Cliff Manis Subject: Internet access in Utah Infonaut Communication Services is pleased to provide FREE DIALUP INTERNET ACCESS FOR UTAH! Infonaut Communication Services is a provider of public Internet access for the Utah area. During "Infonaut Phase One", both dialin and Telnet access to our services are totally FREE. Features include: * Full Unix "shell level" access to the Internet * FTP, Telnet, gopher, archie, FSP, webster, NTP, etc. * Usenet/NNTP * Email * ClariNet news service * SLIP/CSLIP/PPP and UUCP services * High speed ZyXEL and Telebit WorldBlazer modems * Support by staff with years of Internet/Unix experience * More services being added on a regular basis Again, during our introductory period, access is free with no obligation to subscribe. After this period, subscriptions will be: $15.00/month for personal dialin and/or Telnet in access $5.00/month for personal Telnet in access (no dialin) This latter service is especially useful for those that have Internet access via their school or employer but wish to participate on the Internet without the implied endorsement of their organization. We also provide Internet services that may not be available from your current Internet service provider! To access Infonaut or for more information: Modem: 801-223-9287, 223-9288, 223-9289, 223-9198 (Utah County) Telnet: infonaut.com Email: info@infonaut.com (or finger info@infonaut.com) FTP: ftp.infonaut.com:/README >>> Item number 36616 from ROOTS-L Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1993 From: Alf Christophersen Subject: Cost of Internet Access I use two Email addresses, one is at work, alf.christophersen@basalmed.uio.no, the other one is alf.christophersen@thcave.bbs.no thcave is a PC-Board BBS system with a gate to Internet. It doesn't have any fancy Internet abilities, since it is hooked up to Internet using a telephone line 3 times a day to the host computer. I have access to E-mail and several Usenet Netnews groups, plus all RIME newsgroups plus some local newsgroups (local for Norway or local at Thunderball Cave). We pay about 100$ (600 NOK or 1000 NOK) a year for the account. By using QWK-readers, the telephone connection is very short each time, and it covers my need for a connection at home btw. me and my work (I'm only 240 km away from work when I'm at home :-) ) I hope to get a direct line to my main computer (SLIP connection) next year when my telephone central is upgraded to digital type. Why I tell this is that it is a cheap way to communicate and often there is only a yearly fee for the account, not an hourly payment involved. By using the QWK-reader (Megaread, 1reader etc.) only uploading new letters and downloading new messages from the BBS is the connection time you pay your telephone company. It is very easy to do if you have a script doing the work for you. 1reader is very nice about this. You may find it on many BBS around the world. >>> Item number 36714 from ROOTS-L Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1993 From: "Fred W. Prior" Subject: Re: Cost of Internet Access Although internet access is not really free for anyone, those of us in academia currently enjoy "free" access because our institutions (in my case Penn State University) pay for unlimited access. Often, academic groups have support for dial-in access to the internet. For example, our lab supports both ppp access and a Macintosh Remote Access link (we translate MACTCP running over appletalk to IP). If you can contact someone at a University in your local area they may be willing to help you connect to the net. >>> Item number 36715 from ROOTS-L Date: Thu, 30 Dec 1993 From: JAY HALL Subject: Re: Internet Access Recently there was an article on bit.listserv.pacs-l (pacs = Publicly Accessible Computer Systems) indicating that the State of California would install 185 terminals in public libraries that would be hooked up to the Internet. Originally these would be used only by the librarians, but eventually they would be available for (free) use by patrons. The article was understandably vague about where these terminals would go (no specific libraries, cities, or counties were mentioned), when they would be installed (probably beginning sometime in 1994), and exactly what type of access they would provide, although access to Melvyl seemed to be assumed. I assume that these terminals would not function as freenets, and that there would be some kind of time limit on their use. Even so, many of the people on this list would benefit from Melvyl access, and if the system included either telnet or gopher use by individual patrons, it would be possible to set up an account on a freenet system through one of these terminals. A disclaimer: I'm not involved with this project, nor do I know anyone who is. I don't know any more about it at this time. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Richard P Draves (Sr) "What is past is prologue." tel/fax: 1-412-856-9324 Shakespeare Internet: rpdraves@hopeless.mess.cs.cmu.edu 135 Old Suffolk Dr, Monroeville PA 15146-4807 USA ============================================================ / end of file/