Is Netzero a good ISP?

[johnnyocean5]

I was thinking about changing ISPs from MSN to Netzero. Is netzero any good? i was wondering if the basic $9.95/month service was really slow or not. right now it takes me about 30 mins to download a 3 min song with a 56k modem. what are your experiences with netzero? thanks very much.

 

[BeauJangles]

OMG! You r downloading teh muzac? Criminalzorz!!

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Screw netzero. First their little toolbar is fvcking annoying. I almost signed up with them but then I read their tos (always should). They reserver the right to download whatever software they feel like to your machine without your consent. Fvck that.

 

[TuffGirl]

I like it. I signed up for it after I graduating college and was no longer able to access my school dialup lines. You get what you pay for. I don't mind the slowness as I'm used to it. Then again I don't dl a lot of stuff. However if you're used to broadband I wouldn't recommend it. For dialup service, it's decent; I haven't experienced frequent connection drops or busy signals.

 

[Freejack2]

My sister uses it. It's $10 a month. Though one of the local isp's bought up another isp and turned it into a $9.95 isp.

 

[Chompman]

I love the ad they got on tv showing it as 10 times faster then others or whatever it was. Little thing they don't tell you is that they had already visited the sits shown as they load so fast while the other computer actually has to load them from new. If you do get a dial up make sure they don't have any lame banner ads you have to use and make sure its unlimited hours. Takes so long to download anything on it

 

[slackerinabox]

OK.. OK.. Why do they still call it netzero if they charge 9.95 for it now? Shouldn't it be called NetNineNinetyNine? of course, that's not as catchy

 

[Chompman]

No no its called netzero cause you have a zero % of connecting during peak times
That and 0 % of staying connected longer then 10 minutes

 

[ed21x]

not true. I've used netzero's paid service and it is by far the most reliable and stable dial up service available (over earthlink and msn). In addition, it's extremeley easy to cancel

 

[slackerinabox]

Originally posted by: ed21x
not true. I've used netzero's paid service and it is by far the most reliable and stable dial up service available (over earthlink and msn). In addition, it's extremeley easy to cancel

Then tell me, mr. smarty pants, why is is called NetZero?

 

[LS20]

check out Fry's Electronic's websit eto see if they offer dial-up in your area... netzero sux0r

 

[Dragnov]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: ed21x
not true. I've used netzero's paid service and it is by far the most reliable and stable dial up service available (over earthlink and msn). In addition, it's extremeley easy to cancel

Then tell me, mr. smarty pants, why is is called NetZero?

Because they still have free internet service albiet with a banner and severely limited.

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212

Originally posted by: ed21x
not true. I've used netzero's paid service and it is by far the most reliable and stable dial up service available (over earthlink and msn). In addition, it's extremeley easy to cancel

Then tell me, mr. smarty pants, why is is called NetZero?

Cause it used to be free.

 

[Thegonagle]

No!

Try a local first if you're looking for something with a semblence of quality.

If you're in the Twin Cities, MN, USFamily.net is the best if you use less than 100 hours per month. It's only 8.95 per month, billed every 6, plus $15 set-up fee.

You can use all the hours you want and they'll never charge you an overage, but they will kick you offline if all their lines are busy and you're the user with the most time logged in the past 30 days. That only happens around 9-10 PM though, and usually only if you've used more than 90-110 hours. Great system, IMO.

I used them for dial-up and they were as fast as anyone, always running at the full speed of the modem connection. Now I use them for my DSL service, and they never skip a beat.

This site should help you out, wherever you are: www.freedomlist.com

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle
No!

Try a local first if you're looking for something with a semblence of quality.

If you're in the Twin Cities, MN, USFamily.net is the best if you use less than 100 hours per month. It's only 8.95 per month, billed every 6, plus $15 set-up fee.

You can use all the hours you want and they'll never charge you an overage, but they will kick you offline if all their lines are busy and you're the user with the most time logged in the past 30 days. That only happens around 9-10 PM though, and usually only if you've used more than 90-110 hours. Great system, IMO.

I used them for dial-up and they were as fast as anyone, always running at the full speed of the modem connection. Now I use them for my DSL service, and they never skip a beat.

This site should help you out, wherever you are: www.freedomlist.com

He's right, check out this list of cheap ISP's ... which are cheaper and better than NetZero.

 

[ThePresence]

NetZero is the devil. First off, they put alot of crap on your system that you don't want. Secondly, when it says unlimited service, it's a lie. I actually got a letter in the mail from some lawyers that were filing a class action lawsuit against NetZero, on behalf of all the people who had their service terminated because they used it too much. I was one of them. As someone before so elequently put it, screw NetZero.

 

[Vette73]

Dial up is going to be different depending on where you live. So netzero in Town A might be great but only OK in Town B.

But for $9.95 (or $14.95 highspeed) I say its a pretty good price... for dial up.

 

[ineedacomputer]

i to was thinking of maybe getting netzero but with the answer this thread is getting..
my area dsl is filled up or something i didnt know that only a # of people could use it.

 

[Zee]

There's free dial-up in nY !!! :Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q:Q

thanks for the heads up Rossman

 

[ed21x]

Originally posted by: ThePresence
NetZero is the devil. First off, they put alot of crap on your system that you don't want. Secondly, when it says unlimited service, it's a lie. I actually got a letter in the mail from some lawyers that were filing a class action lawsuit against NetZero, on behalf of all the people who had their service terminated because they used it too much. I was one of them. As someone before so elequently put it, screw NetZero.

Its a free service, but limited only to a certain amount of bandwidth usage per month, with ad banner. After that, they start limiting your ability to connect for the rest of the month until the next. I don't see how you can actually file a class action lawsuite on the basis of that. You're basically getting a free sample, and having the monthly trial period end is hardly anything to scream and be bitter about, unless you're extremely cheap and expect all free things to keep on giving.

As for the 'crap,' the only thing you actually download is the banner that shows up on top that frequently refreshes while you are browsing- not bad for an install package of less than 500k, eh? But once you sign up for their premium service, the banner ad goes away.

 

[TuxDave]

Actually, Netzero is pretty zippy. Bandwidth tests show results that are impossible over modem. I'm guessing they have some compression thing going on where their servers go download the site insanely fast, compress it, send it to your computer where you decompress it, thus increasing your effective bandwidth.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Dial up is going to be different depending on where you live. So netzero in Town A might be great but only OK in Town B.

Yup, that applies to every fairly large ISP.

We've used Netzero Platinum for three years. Some misinformation here (always is on these forums). First, the class action lawsuit only involved Netzero's free users who complained the 'unlimited free internet access for life' they were 'promised' had been cut first to 30 hours per month, then to 10 hours per month. Netzero's paid service (Platinum) is unlimited use.

Netzero does not install a bunch of 'crap' you don't want, unless you consider 'Netzero Quick Help' URL shortcut icons on your desktop 'crap I don't want'. In that case, you'll need to perform the highly complicated and time-consuming process of dragging the icon to the Recycle Bin and drop it. One might consider taking a day off work or leave it for a free weekend due to the sheer difficulty of this operation.

The Netzero Platinum Toolbar thingy isn't annoying at all. Its the damned NZTV and proprietary DUN hook that is annoying. Its Java based and buggy. When I disconnect, sometimes it closes relatively quickly (6 full seconds) but usually it sits there for 20 ~ 30 seconds with a message 'terminating your Netzero session...' or something like that, before finally closing. Occassionally it just seems to be stuck so I have to use the three finger salute and force the process to end. About two times a month, it throws a BSOD.

This happens whether I'm using 98SE or ME with IE5.5SP2 and all the updates including the latest MSJVM (3810). This happens with Netzero 4.x or the latest 7.x.

Probably the most annoying thing about Netzero is that advertisements are still displayed using Netzero Platinum. These are in the form of videos played inside the little "NZTV" interface that pops-up when starting or closing Netzero. Though the ads are not displayed while you're online, new video data is 'trickled' to your computer while you're connected.

Its not a substantial detractor from your bandwidth, its more the idea that Netzero still 'sneaks' some ads in on you even when you're a paying subscriber. Their Platinum marketing pitch of 'no banner ads' is very misleading. Sure, ok, they're not 'banner' ads, but they are freaking ads.

In spite of my complaining, we've stayed with them because its inexpensive and we always connect reliably (its disconnecting that gets dicey). Three of the five local access numbers seem highly utilized, one number varies, but the remaining number always seems open so we just use that one all the time.

I've been looking at some local/regional ISPs with unlimited monthly 56K dial-up service for the same price; NO ADVERTS, POP3 and webmail, 3~5 email addresses, 15MB webspace, etc. Netzero just may get canceled in the near future.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: ed21x

Originally posted by: ThePresence
NetZero is the devil. First off, they put alot of crap on your system that you don't want. Secondly, when it says unlimited service, it's a lie. I actually got a letter in the mail from some lawyers that were filing a class action lawsuit against NetZero, on behalf of all the people who had their service terminated because they used it too much. I was one of them. As someone before so elequently put it, screw NetZero.

Its a free service, but limited only to a certain amount of bandwidth usage per month, with ad banner. After that, they start limiting your ability to connect for the rest of the month until the next. I don't see how you can actually file a class action lawsuite on the basis of that. You're basically getting a free sample, and having the monthly trial period end is hardly anything to scream and be bitter about, unless you're extremely cheap and expect all free things to keep on giving.

As for the 'crap,' the only thing you actually download is the banner that shows up on top that frequently refreshes while you are browsing- not bad for an install package of less than 500k, eh? But once you sign up for their premium service, the banner ad goes away.

Actually, I'm talking about their premium service. This goes back a while, I paid $9.99/month and I was promised unlimited service. Then I got a letter from NetZero that they can't keep me on the service because I use it too much. And I prepaid six months at a time too! They did offer to refund the money, but the unlimited for $9.99 is bogus. And the banner does not go away after you pay, Just the ads do - you still have to keep the silly NetZero bar there.

 

[geno]

Is Netzero a good ISP?

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH


I thought this was a joke at first, but, Pfahahahhah!



Just remember, you get what you pay for!

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Dial up is going to be different depending on where you live. So netzero in Town A might be great but only OK in Town B.

Yup, that applies to every fairly large ISP.

We've used Netzero Platinum for three years. Some misinformation here (always is on these forums). First, the class action lawsuit only involved Netzero's free users who complained the 'unlimited free internet access for life' they were 'promised' had been cut first to 30 hours per month, then to 10 hours per month. Netzero's paid service (Platinum) is unlimited use.

I was talking about Platinum. I got cut from them for using too much time, and I was a paying customer.