How the services compare
Traditional online services and free ISPs have different strengths. It can pay to shop around.
ONLINE SERVICES
Free trial Set-up fee Monthly charge No. of e-mail accs. Free web space Phone Website AOL One month n/a £16.95 5 10Mb 0800 279 1234 www.uk.aol.com CompuServe One month n/a £17.95 1 5Mb 0990 000200 www.compuserve.com LineOne One month n/a £9.99 5 10Mb 0800 111210 www.lineone.net MSN One month n/a £14.95 1 n/a 0870 601 1000 www.msn.com Note: All charges are subject to change. CompuServe offers 5hrs/mth on line for £6.50 (extra time 3p/min). MSN offers 3hrs/mth on line for £4.95 (extras £1.95/hr) and £149.95 for a year’s unlimited access. AOL offers 3hrs/mth on line for £4.95 (extras £2.35/hr.
INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
Free trial Set-up fee Monthly charge No. of e-mail accs. Free web space Phone Website BT Internet No n/a £11.75 5 10Mb 0800 800 001 www.btinternet.com Cable & Wireless Internet No £10 £10 5 5Mb 0500 200969 www.cwcom.net ClaraNet One month n/a £11.63 No limit 25Mb 0800 358 2828 www.clara.net Demon Internet One month £14.49 £11.75 No limit 15Mb 0181 371 1234 www.demon.net Direct Connection No n/a £13.50 No limit 20Mb 0800 072 0000 www.dircon.net EasyNet One month n/a £11.99 No limit No limit 0541 594321 www.easynet.co.uk Global Internet One month n/a £10.39 No limit 50Mb 0870 9098041 www.global.net.uk Netcom One month n/a £14.95 10 10Mb 0990 668060 www.netcom.net.uk Pipex Dial One month £13.51 £14.98 5 15Mb 0500 474739 www.dial.pipex.com Virgin Net One month n/a £11.99 5 10Mb 0500 558800 www.virgin.net Note: All charges subject to change. BT Internet offers 3hrs/mth light-user option at £4.70, then £2.35/hr. ClaraNET has a 3hrs/mth option at £4.69 (extra hrs £1.76 each) and a £116.33 yearly option. EasyNet year’s internet access is £129.99. Global Internet charges £89.99/yr.