An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a company that maintains an internet server and a pool of modems and rents space on this server and apportions server use to individuals or companies that want access to the internet or wish to develop their own internet resources.
If you're reading this, chances are you already have some type of internet access. The truth is, though, that there are many different kinds of internet access, with varying degrees of quality. In some ways internet access is like a piece of sporting equipment. When we just start out, we play with whatever we can get our hands on, but as we get better, we realize what we really need, and we want to upgrade to something better.
As far as ISPs go, better means faster, more reliable, and less expensive. It's difficult to compare speed and reliability between two different services unless you've used enough of them that you can make the judgment on pure instinct. You can, however, get recommendations from a particular service's users. Asking friends and colleagues, and even emailing strangers, can provide useful information.
Price, on the other hand, is easy to compare. Internet service is usually paid monthly, with a fee of $10-30 per month. Some servies offer unlimited access. If you are going to be running a store full time, this would be an absolute necessity, because hourly charges would add up quickly. If you are going to be on the internet more casually, it may not be cost effective to pay for unlimited service. Some services give you twenty to fifty hours a month with your fee, which is plenty for most people. Shop around, though. Sometimes unlimited service is no more expensive than timed service. To compare different ISPs available in your area, check the list.
Hourly Rates
Some ISPs and on-line services, will give you only a piddling number of included hours, and then charge an hourly after that. If you are on-line for less than ten hours a month, this can still be an economical choice, but if you are on line for longer periods, find a new ISP immediately! Many people have reported that internet access through the on-line services (AOL, Prodigy, and Compuserve, for example) is neither fast nor reliable. This is because those services do not exist primarily for providing internet access. Access is part of a package which includes a host of in-house resources, chat rooms, and the like. If you regularly use these resources, you might want to consider opening a seperate account for accessing the internet.
Another problem that AOL users have discovered is that the web browser that is provided with the AOL software does not display web pages correctly and lacks many features such as security. However, the AOL software can be configured to run Netscape, the most popular web browser.
