I'm going to try to make it a little easier, especially for those folks who live in rural areas like me.

CABLE
I've heard horror stories about people getting Cable modem hook-ups and discovering every keystroke they make online can be seen by just about anyone else on the same cable modem service. Sure, it's faster than a 56k modem, but the cable companies (most, anyway) are not quite as knowledgeable when it comes to security and privacy. If your local cable company offers this service and can guarantee your privacy and security online, then go for it.

LOCAL ISPs
Moving from the Annapolis, Maryland are to rural New England was an online culture shock at first. I originally had Netcom as my ISP. As soon as we moved here, I found there wasn't a local number I could call, but there was one in the neighboring state, a toll call. But if I added "expanded service" to my Bell Atlantic phone service for an extra $5.95/month, I'd be able to make this call for free (well, almost). I did that. Even though my monthly plan with Netcom was $19.95/month, I'd added an extra mailbox for my husband (another $4.95/month), so I was actually paying $30.85/month for Internet access. I grumbled a bit, but I'd been with Netcom for over five years and decided to stick with them. Big mistake.
Netcom's access number was either constantly busy, knocked me off several times, wasn't working or when it worked, connected at only 48.8k instead of something closer to the 56k modem I had. Tech support was a long distance call to California, then I was kept on hold for what seemed like forever. They always promised to fix things right away, but the problems kept coming back. I decided to look into a local ISP.

Cybertours is as local as you can get around here. They cover almost all of Maine and most of New Hampshire, just up my alley. They didn't have an access number in my city, but had the same location as Netcom. I'd found I used the expanded service area quite a bit, so the extra $5.95/month for that wasn't a worry now. Cybertours only charged $19.95/month with two mailboxes and if I paid six months in advance, I'd get a $2/month discount. I paid the $107.70 up front, plus got up to 10MB of web page space, versus the 5MB with Netcom.

Everything was great at first. I moved our personal pages to Cybertours, resubmitted our new URL to all the search engines and loved the super fast 54.6k connect speed.
Soon after I found that they don't care much about newsgroups. I subscribe to quite a few writing ones and read and participate in them daily. I began having problems with the news server - not getting my updated newsgroup messages, getting only some, if I posted my messages wouldn't show up, etc. I had to e-mail Cybertours many, many times about this. It seems like they've finally gotten that squared away, now I just have to get them to add more newsgroups to the list currently on their server. That's the only complaint I have.
Their tech support is an 800 call away and they're prompt in calling you back if you leave a message. Or they'll reply fast if an e-mail is sent.

Things to consider before getting an ISP:

1) Pricing plans - are they competitive?

2) Connection speed - fast is always better

3) Tech support - is there an 800 or local number you can call or is it a long distance call?

4) Access numbers - Are there enough for your area so that it's a local call for you? Can you use it on the road (if you do a lot of traveling, you may want to stick with a national ISP)?

5) What comes with your membership? a) How many e-mailboxes? b) How much web page space? c) What programs do you get (ie, browsers, e-mail software, newsgroup software, "Instant Messengers," etc) d) Do you have to pay a setup fee or do they have any special introductory offers? e) Do they offer help in designing web pages on their site? f) Do they have general information on their site, such as if you want to learn more about e-mail, newsgroups, chat room, updating software, etc. g) What are the spam policies? Do they allow spam or filter it out? h) What are their harassment/abuse policies? If you have a problem with someone, will they act quickly and help you?

(NOTE: If they don't have spam or abuse policies, you may want to consider looking at a different ISP)

My thumbs go up for sticking with a local ISP. Except for one thing - when I travel, I need to be able to access my e-mail on the road. I don't want to have to pay long-distance charges calling the local Cybertours number.

GOOD ABOUT LOCAL ISPs
• Lower monthly rates
• More web page space (usually)
• Great tech support
• Extra goodies (I got an e-mail program, browser and other software on the CD Cybertours sent me when I signed up)
• Local access numbers, especially if you're rural and one of the "biggies" hasn't hit your town yet.

BAD ABOUT LOCAL ISPs
• Hard to use if on the road, unless they offer a toll-free number (most don't)
• Sometimes lag on other online services, such as Cybertours and the newsgroup problem
• Most don't seem to want you to know how much they charge a month or what access numbers are available in your area - you have to e-mail them or call them for this info.

There's a difference between national ISPs that most folks new to the net may not understand - some use proprietary browsers, such as AOL and Compuserve Classic, which means you have to go through their information and windows and access the web, newsgroups, and such from there. Then there are the ISPs that allow you to use whatever browsers, newsgroup software, e-mail programs, etc that you want. You basically just get a dial-up connection and go from there.

The best thing about national ISPs is that they generally have hundreds of access numbers to choose from in every state in the union, and sometimes internationally. On a recent trip to Nova Scotia, I used Compuserve to get my e-mail using a Halifax access number. It cost me a long distance call from the hotel room, but that's it. And it allowed me to keep up with my messages and work.

Having said that, here are my results (NOTE: I selected only a few ISPs, the ones most well-known) :

NETCOM (purchased by Mindspring, which recently merged with Earthlink)
• Recently had a "get three months for the price of one" offer - call to see if they have a new one
• Had numerous problems in the past with tech support, getting bumped off, dialing in was busy many times; this was supposed to have improved with mergers
• Access numbers available at web site
• No local number for my town
• Tech support is toll call to California
• Offers system status on web site, but you can't access if you can't get online and are having a problem (hello!) 800 number for reporting problems with access numbers (leave message on voicemail)
  Offers several plans:
  • Mindspring Unlimited, $19.95, three mailboxes plus 10MB web space
  • Works ($26.95, five mailboxes plus 5MB web space
• Offering DSL and cable modem access in 2000

AOL
• Their most recent offer is 250 hours free (must be used within one month)
• Also offers AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), which can be downloaded and used with your current browser, even if you don't have AOL.
• Five e-mail addresses
• Web page space, but doesn't specify how much (I've heard it's up to 10MB)
• Private chat rooms
• They hide their pricing plans at the very bottom of their main web page, in small text
  The two most popular plans are:
  • $21.95/month standard plan unlimited online usage
  • $19.95/month ($239.40 if you pay for a year up front) unlimited online usage (although you sometimes get a "reminder" if you stay on for three hours at a stretch - very annoying)
  • These don't include Premium Services, but you have to be an AOL member to find out what those are - you can't find out before you sign up.
• No access number locally for my town, must use the 800 number which charges 10 cents/minute or $6/hour in addition to monthly fee
• Can access it through neighboring state, but only with expanded calling plan, as previously mentioned.
• You really have to hunt and peck for member info on their web site.
• Once subscribed, is fairly easy to negotiate - great for beginning net users; explains basics of the net, such as e-mail, newsgroups, the WWW and even netiquette (how to act properly online)

COMPUSERVE
• Compuserve "100 hours free" is graphic button at top of page, easily missed if not looking for it.
• You get 100 free hours in the first month when you download or order Compuserve 2000; no offer for Compuserve "Classic" 4.01, although sales reps claim you can still get 4.01.
• Most popular plans are the $19.95/month for unlimited usage or pay a year in advance at $199.00 (comes out to just under $17/month). You get five member names (equivalent to five e-mailboxes); the master name you got the account with cannot be changed or deleted, but the others can.
• "Member Benefits" is tucked away towards the bottom of the page, should be up top and accessible to anyone interested in getting Compuserve (currently must be a current member to get "in" this section).
• Offers Compuserve Instant Messenger (similar to AIM)
• Tech support available online or via a long distance number
• Compuserve 2000 offers more 56K/V90 access numbers than 4.01 does, pricing plans are the same for both. I tried out both and found 2000 to be faster because of the connect speed; when using 4.01, if I input a URL, it brought up my default browser, Communicator, whereas with 2000 you go directly to the web site because MSIE *is* the 2000 browser.

J.A. Hitchcock is a regular contributor to Compute Me.