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12 Choosing an ISP

To join a telephone dial-up ISP, just load the freebie registration disc that
comes with a computer (or free at the computer store) into your CD-ROM
drive and follow the registration steps that appear on your computer screen.
Have your credit card and lots of patience handy. With a little luck and no
computer glitches, you’ll have an active account and instant access to e-mail
and the Internet in less than an hour.


When you go to a computer store or buy a computer, you’re hit with all kinds
of free trial offers that beg you to Sign up now, get 30 hours free You can
find free introductory CDs everywhere! I have a friend who painted all her
free CD-ROMs and hung them on her Christmas tree. Another sawed them in
half and made a very unattractive cyberbelt. If you’re new to the Internet and
not sure which ISP to go with, your best bet may be to start with America
Online. AOL is the largest ISP around, and it’s easy to find and easy to use.
If you’re not happy with AOL down the road, you can easily cancel your
membership and sign up with a different company.

If you have a need for speed, and your time is worth a bit more than an
increase in ISP cost, you may want to look into getting a broadband connection. The quality of the different types of broadband (DSL and cable) can
vary greatly from area to area and even from street to street.


Before you decide what kind of broadband connection you want, go to the
following:



Type your zip code, and read the reports for other users in your area (see
Figure 1-1). You can e-mail, post questions, and get all the information you
need to decide what kind of high-speed connection will work best for you.


Broadband, or high-speed, connections can be a boon to your eBay business. Here’s the skinny on the :different types

 DSL: Short for Digital Subscriber Line. For as little as $39.95 a month,✦
you can get rid of your pokey, analog dial-up connection and always be
connected to the Internet. A DSL line can move data as fast as 6MB per
second — that’s six million bits per second, or 140 times as fast as a 56K
modem. At that speed, a DSL connection can greatly enhance your eBay
and Internet experiences. For more information about what DSL is and
how to get it, visit www.dsllife.com.


 Cable: An Internet cable connection is a reliable method for Internet access✦
if you have cable TV. Your Internet connection runs through your television cable and is regulated by your cable TV provider. With the advent of
digital cable, this reliable and speedy Internet connection is an excellent
alternative. (See my speed report in Figure 1-2.) Most cable accounts
.include several e-mail addresses and space to store your images

accessing E-mail


After you have access to the Internet, you need access to email. If you have
your own computer and an ISP
you probably have email access automatically.
 But if youre logging on to the Internet away from home, you might
want to look into setting up a free email provider.