News Archive

Earlier Archives

Statement from RedHotAnt
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Thursday April 27, 2000

Over the last 2 weeks a growing number of users have been experiencing problems in getting a connection to the RedHotAnt service. Some of this is due to interconnect problems between various telecom companies and some is to do with the loading on our current modem hardware.

At present RedHotAnt is officially running at a modem to user ratio of 7 to 1, which is better than most ISP's in the UK, the main problem is that there are a number of users who are "abusing rather than using" the system. We will track these people down and stop them from doing this.

We can not apologise enough for these problems and are working to our best endeavors to remedy the situation as soon as possible.

We upgraded to a T3 (45Mb) line as quickly as possible after experiencing the initial bandwidth problems and very slow access speeds when surfing the web.

Again, to keep all our customers happy, we are upgrading our modem connectivity hardware between 2nd - 5th May 2000; we would have liked to have done this earlier but the hardware suppliers just could not deliver and install any quicker. This should resolve 90% of the connectivity problems users are seeing and we thank you for your patience while we perform this upgrade.

If you are one of the users, and you know who you are, abusing the system, then watch out, we will catch up with you and terminate your account.

Thank you all again for choosing RedHotAnt as your ISP and we hope we can resolve these current issues and continue to provide a quality service to you.

BTopenworld in security blunder
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Thursday April 27, 2000

Excite launches its unmetered access
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Thursday April 27, 2000

Light at the end of the tunnel for LineOne?
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 26, 2000

Some people have experienced difficulties connecting to the service, particularly at peak times.
We have investigated this and it has been found that many people are staying on line for very long periods of time thus clogging up the system for other users.
We are encouraging people to log off when they have finished using the Internet service, which will help. We are also investing in more capacity, which is due to come on stream on the 15th May 2000.

Get ready for 0800freedom?
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 26, 2000

The much delayed, totally free 24/7 0800 access provider, has been busy sending out emails saying that they will be finally starting in May:

0800freedom.com's TRULY free internet access service will be available for select customers to use beginning in May 2000.
As someone who has pre-registered, you are invited to be among the first to take advantage of this brand new service. Remember, 0800freedom.com offers Internet access with no subscription or admin fee, no on-line usage costs and no charges for customer service or technical support. It is totally free.

Act now

In order for us to e-mail you the installation software (and for you to then start surfing for FREE), we need to know now what login name and node name you would like so that we can construct your e-mail address (e.g. firstname@surname.0800freedom.com). We also need to know what password you would like to use to access the service.

In order to supply us with your chosen login, node name and password, visit http://www.0800freedom.co.uk/login/intro.htm and follow the very simple instructions.

What next?

Visit http://www.0800freedom.co.uk/login/intro.htm now. Once you've completed your details, we'll send you an e-mail during May which will invite you to start using the service. You will then be able to start surfing - absolutely FREE of charge.

PS: We will be prioritising the order in which our customers are activated according to the date when we receive your details - so the sooner you respond, the sooner you can get on-line.

BT to launch ADSL service
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 26, 2000

From July, BT will be providing a high-speed Internet service called BTopenworld.

Using ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) technology, the service will cost £39.99 per month plus an installation fee of £150. But if ordered before the end of June, there will be no installation fee.

BTopenworld will be rolled out in 3 phases starting this Summer:

Phase 1: Starting this Summer consumers will be offered 512Kbps (256Kbps upstream) USB Internet access to a content rich consumer portal. Business users will be offered 512kbps single user (USB) and multi-user (Ethernet) access with a content and application-rich small business portal.

Phase 2: From Autumn customers will also be offered higher speed (1 or 2Mbps Ethernet connections) access. Business users will also be offered a local area network (LAN) product and a range of content rich e-commerce applications. A teleworker package will also be introduced.

Phase 3: From December onwards Btopenworld will offer all of the above services plus the Personal openworld Portal for all users. It will also include interactive e-commerce applications, even richer content, new communication services and TV-based services.

For further details check out the BTopenworld website.

A few more Tiny details
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 26, 2000

Tiny Online have released further details of its unmetered service due to launch on 9th May.

For unmetered off-peak access customers will be required to spend a monthly minimum of £10 on voice calls. A dialler will be provided free of charge, but will also have to pay a monthly fee of £6.99.

They will also be providing 24/7 unmetered access to their customers for £25.99 per month.

Visual Depth in credit card delay
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 25, 2000

The new unmetered service from Visual Depth was due to go live from today.

But due to problems with the payment system, they are delaying their launch until the situation has been resolved. They have been sending out emails to notify those who have already registered:

We have received many complaints regarding our 0800 Internet Access Service as we have not sent out account details as yet and the service is not officially gone live.

This is due to a problem with the sign up process where Credit Card paying customers caused a huge overload when allowing sign up's in our system.

Please accept our apologies for any delay, however we are working very hard to sort out the problem and to make sure that you are able to access our service as soon as possible.

We cannot launch the service until the Credit Card payment system is cleared, at current some of the Credit Card details seem to be either missing or incorrect. We may require you to send us your Credit Card details again, once we have resolved the problem.

We will keep you up to date on the progress of this problem, so please expect to hear from us shortly. Should we need you to re-send us your Credit Card details we will notify you by e-mail.

Latest information on LineOne/Quip problems
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 25, 2000

The Matrix have received an email from the Marketing Director for Quip, Simon Lubin explaining the possible reasons for the problems with the LineOne Internet access.

He says it may be down to individual DUN settings as well as a few users who are “clogging up available capacity at peak times”.

He also went on to say that the situation is temporary:

"We are investing in new capacity which will be on line in the next couple of weeks and will significantly enhance capacity at peak times. In the meantime we are being responsible about the number of new customers who currently have access to the service."

To read the full reply from Quip, visit The Matrix.

LineOne/Quip problems
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Monday April 24, 2000

Yet another unmetered service is having difficulties.

This time it is LineOne, who offers 24/7 unmetered access in exchange for its customers signing up to Quip. The dialler costs £20 and you have to spend £5 a month on national and international phone calls.

The main problems are not being able to connect. LineOne have said that their technicians are working on the problems but after a couple of weeks, there is still no sign of improvement.

Lack of communication of behalf of LineOne and Quip is also a common complaint. How on earth these new unmetered services get away with their level of support I don’t know. Here is an example of the emails we are getting:

I trusted Quip/LineOne to provide a reliable service and they have just let everybody down. Whilst it is clearly the fault of Quip, LineOne have completely ignored everybody posting in their feedback and support forums.

At no stage have they or Quip made any attempt to manage the situation and handle Customer feedback. This is worse than the connection problems and the reason why I decided to cancel. If they had communicated with me properly, maybe I would have given them some time to resolve things. It remains to be seen if I get my £19.99 back for the Quip Kit.

There are also many similar messages on LineOne’s Feedback Forum as well as in the newsgroups.

Sometimes it can take up to 30 attempts before customers can connect. From a big name like LineOne this is bad news. Many ISPs were forced into providing unmetered access earlier last month when AltaVista started the ISP price war. Since then we have received countless emails from dissatisfied customers. They have complained about the poor Internet service received as well as a lack of communication from the companies concerned. Come on ISPs, get you act together.

Yet more problems at RedHotAnt
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Monday April 24, 2000

After reporting yesterday that RedHotAnt have improved, we have been flooded once again with angry emails saying otherwise.

A customer recently received this reply from an email from them and posted it in the newsgroups:

We are aware that a number of users are still experiencing log-on and bandwidth problems. As promised, our T3 - 45MB link has now been installed, dramatically increasing the bandwidth available to RHA users.

However, with such an upgrade, extensive re-configuration was required and nagging teething problems need to be eliminated.

We appreciate that you need first-time connectivity and are doing our very best to achieve this. These teething problems WILL be resolved.

If you are thinking of joining RedHotAnt, then read this email from one of our visitors:

I joined RedHotAnt when I heard they had upgraded their lines to a T3. I had to connect on average 3 times and then sometimes disconnect because I had no speeds but I didn't mind too much. This happened for over a week so I telephoned the technical help. I'd selected the ''premium'' package because I thought I'd get great support.

After waiting on their lines for over 10 minutes an answer-phone cut in. I left my details and expected to be called back. In five days time I called again but had the same problem. Then yesterday (24/4) I had to wait while my PC dialled 8 times and I finally got through. Then I got disconnected after half-an-hour.

My advice is use another company. It isn't worth the hassle. Not only do you have to pay for it, you have to pay a £30 joining fee. I wish someone had warned me about these cowboys before I joined.

RedHotAnt problems solved?
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Sunday April 23, 2000

It looks like troubled RedHotAnt have introduced a 3-hour disconnect to try and alleviate the problems they have been having lately.

Although there has been no official announcement from RHA, there has been much talk about it in the newsgroups and discussion forums.

While this will anger a few of their customers, it does appear to be working. Many have reported that they can connect with fewer attempts and connection speeds have also improved.

Off-peak Screaming petition
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Saturday April 22, 2000

The Localtel/Screaming.net user group The Scream! are campaigning for an off-peak option to World Online’s 24/7 unmetered access.

The petition at their site is trying to get everyone who agrees, to visit World Online and voice their opinion using the online feedback form.

From the 30th June, the line rental will increase from £9.25 to £14.99, whether or not you intend to use the Internet at off-peak times. For people who usually work 9 to 5 during the week, they may be better off with another ISP.

Latest on CallNet0800 dialler delays
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Saturday April 22, 2000

We have received an email from one of our visitors, which you may find informative.

It is from somebody who has been waiting since January for his CallNet0800 dialler. He rang them last week without any luck. He tried earlier this week and this is what he had to say:

I phoned back again today and the operator took my details and looked on the system for me. He said it was still being processed and that they had had some problems with the credit card details.

He said everyone at their end had received an inter-office memo, stating that CallNet0800 had had problems with credit card details from people registering at the end of last year/ beginning of 2000, which they only realised this week. 'This could have been the problem in the delay' - stated the operator.

Anyway the helpful operator, told me that head office has sent out a letter to everyone of their prospective customers - describing the situation and the action to take (this is to arrive no later than this Friday 21st April) - he promised.

The operator said that one of two things might happen;
* They will send out the dialler ASAP to all the people affected and resolve the Credit Card problems later (unlikely)
* The letter states to send them/email them your credit card numbers (this sounds unsafe - but more probable)

What was also interesting about his email was the fact that he doesn’t dial the technical support number charged at 50p per minute. He uses the freefone number 0800 279 7292. So stop wasting your money ringing the tech support number and use 0800 279 7292. If they can assist this reader, then maybe they can help you as well. Why should we pay for their mistakes?

Unmetered service from Intensive Networks
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Thursday April 20, 2000

Another unmetered service has been unveiled at ISPreview.

This time it comes from Intensive Networks. There are a variety of packages involving off-peak and 24/7 unmetered access. Both include a monthly set-up fee and various monthly payments depending on how long you want to be online before you are automatically disconnected.

They support connections upto 64K ISDN and have carry over 50,000 newsgroups.

The service uses the Surftime offer from BT and is expected to start on June 1st.

New business ISP from Iomart
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Thursday April 20, 2000

A new ISP has been launched aimed specifically at busy upcoming businesses.

Winbiz will assist SME businesspeople get over the initial obstacle faced by many new businesses – getting their web site content right.

The new business ISP from Iomart, is committed to making the online transition as straightforward and pain-free as possible.

Advises Winbiz spokesperson, Ewan Simpson: “Your web site is your showroom on the Internet so it requires the same attention to detail as opening up new premises on the high street. It’s vital to bear in mind the kind of customer you hope to attract to your site and how you can meet their demands.”

The new service is the first time a telecoms company has ventured into the e-commerce market, giving users a seamless, one stop route onto the World Wide Web.

With 50 professionally designed web site templates to choose from even companies with no technical expertise can have a web presence up and running in less than ten minutes. After the straightforward sign up process, clients can personalise their chosen web site templates to meet their own special needs.

Oftel slams BT Surftime
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 19, 2000

As reported at ZDNet, the Telecommunications watchdog Oftel has told them that BT is guilty of anti-competitive behaviour.

This follows a complaint from MCI Worldcom saying that a wholesale equivalent is needed to allow healthy competition.

Oftel agrees that Surftime is anti-competitive. The ZDNet article went on to say:

In its draft direction, Oftel makes it clear that BT must roll out a wholesale version of Surftime with a "pricing methodology that is reasonable" by June 1st.

AOL has long campaigned for cheaper unmetered access and greater competition and believes Oftel has acted correctly. "Oftel has come good and reflected the concerns of the telecoms and Internet industries," says an AOL spokesman. "This is a very significant step forward for every ISP in this country and enables consumers to have true diversity and choice."

Click here to read the full article at ZDNet.

Telewest delays broadband service
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 19, 2000

The launch of the hi-speed broadband service Blueyonder has been delayed due to "technical teething problems".

According to a statement on The Register’s web site, Telewest announced:

"We are sorry for any delay. It will be as short as possible.

We want to ensure the stability of the system and we are working round the clock to do this.”

The Register went on to say that anyone who has been inconvenienced will have their installation fee waived.

Virgin unmetered trial to begin
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 19, 2000

The Register has revealed further details on the unmetered service from Virgin.

It will be called Stop-The-Clock and will be offered to 10,000 Virgin.net customers. They will pay a flat monthly fee of £15.

The package features no call connection charges, no Internet call charges, no bills, no set-up forms and no hidden costs, said Virgin Net.

In a statement Alex Heath, Virgin Net MD, said: " We will deliver free Internet access 24/7 with a single, flat rate monthly fee with no hidden costs.

"We are extremely confident that this package will deliver a commercially profitable, high quality and consumer friendly Internet package," he said.

Even more RedHotAnt complaints
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 18, 2000

I am starting to regret mentioning the problems RedHotAnt customers are having. Ever since the news article went up earlier tonight, my inbox has been slowly filling up with emails from other angry customers.

Here is just a selection:

I wish to join the multitudes who have complained about RedHotAnt for the umpteenth time. I too have had a lot of problems connecting. Engaged tones, 'Unable to establish connection' message directly after connecting. Strange noises from the modem and a subsequent 'No answer' message. Then after managing to connect the service often just sits there looking for the DNS. Which means having to disconnect and go through the process again. An average of 10 times to get a proper connection.

Another visitor has experienced connection problems:

I have just finished reading your article on RedHotAnt and I would like to comment. Since last Saturday, I have not been able to gain access to the Net via RedHotAnt. Do you know where I could complain? When I phone them, they are always engaged. They never reply to my e-mail either.

From the emails I have received it seems that one of the biggest problems is the lack of information from RedHotAnt. Maybe what has appeared here tonight might urge them to do something about the recent problems.

Chat room event
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 18, 2000

We will be holding another chat room event this coming Saturday.

After last week when we had Steve Redfern from Visual Depth, there were a few questions that were left unanswered. Now we will be getting him back to reveal further details about the company itself.

Their unmetered service will be going live on 25th April, but customers will be able to sign-up as early as this coming Thursday.

The chat room event is expected to start around 9pm this Saturday. If your browser doesn’t support Java, then you can use IRC software such as mIRC. The settings are: irc.webmaster.com (port 6667), channel #Net4Nowt.com.

MCI Worldcom competes against Surftime
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 18, 2000

In an article at ZDNet today it is reported that Worldcom will be providing their own alternative to the Surftime package that will be eventually rolled out by the telco giant BT.

The article went on to say:

In a complaint to Oftel WorldCom accuses BT of failing to offer a wholesale version of its unmetered product Surftime. It is not the first time Surftime has been criticised. The telco was forced to scrap the first version of the service following complaints from ISPs.

Click here to read the full article.

Not so hot RedHotAnt
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 18, 2000

We have been asked to point out that the unmetered service from RedHotAnt is having more than its fair share of problems lately.

Here is a quote from the many emails received this week:

”There are currently problems accessing the modem pool, dodgy handshakes and once you are connected ppp usually cuts off straight away. If you are lucky enough to get a connection, the DNS is often broken.

“I do not wish to discourage service long-term from RHA but they are simply not correcting the faults or giving any sort of explanation at present.”

The WWWBoard at Internet-Support.net is proving very popular with similar messages from disgruntled customers.

Earlier this afternoon RHA has posted a message that may explain the recent problems:

”Some users may experience intermittent problems accessing the Web / Internet, This is due to a routing problem on one of our dial-up racks. Engineers are currently looking into the fault and we hope to have the fault resolved shortly.

This problem is only affecting a small minority of our dial-up racks.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Lets hope they sort things out soon as they will be a lot of angry customers demanding their money back.

Mersinet to launch “Round The Clock” service
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 18, 2000

The free ISP Mersinet will soon be launching their own unmetered access.

Called UKRTC, it will offer “Round The Clock” access in exchange for a flat rate fee. There will have decided not to offer other unmetered options as they believe it will just be confusing.

You are able to register your email address with them now to receive further information.

In an email to us they said that the launch date is expected to be no later than June 1st.

“There will be no signup charge and the service will be priced economically but not rock bottom. We are looking to operate a service at no more than 70% bandwidth usage at peak, all the frills we currently offer and a modem ratio of 5:1 or better. That is we intend it to be very high quality as, we believe there is a market for this.”

We will let you know when we receive further details.

Supafree unmetered trial
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Monday April 17, 2000

The trial for Supafree’s unmetered service began today.

From several emails received today, we have discovered that a few have yet to access anything except the Supafree website. After following the instructions that arrived in the post users had to manually set-up their own dial-up connection.

One of our visitors reported that the speeds were just average, so somebody has been able to access other sites.

Supafree promised the 1000 successful trial applicants a payment of £10. To get this users will have to complete a questionnaire which will sent out during the trial expected to last until 1st June.

Visual Depth Update
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Sunday April 16, 2000

After a successful chat room event last night with Steve Redfern we now have further details for you which are exclusive to Net 4 Nowt. These details are expected to be in a press release due to be issued tomorrow.

There will be an annual payment of £74.99 plus an initial set-up fee of £24.99. Although the annual payment is a bit higher than first expected, they do provide 128K ISDN connections for no extra charge.

The launch date is 25th April and online sign-up will be available. They will be accepting credit cards, cheques and debit cards with a minimum contract period of 12 months. They will be providing a money back guarantee for which certain terms will apply.

The service from Visual Depth, which is also available to business users, will provide customers with newsgroup access, 20MB of web space and 5 email addresses. It will also allow up to 20 simultaneous connections, which will be beneficial for businesses.

Customers of any telephone company will be able to join. There will also be no cut-off period, as long as you remain active, as you will be disconnected after 20 minutes. They also say they will be a 99.9% first time connection.

There were certain questions that Steve was unable to answer. These were regarding the company behind Visual Depth and who will be providing the bandwidth. We will get the answers to these questions along with any others in another chat room event to be arranged soon. I will let you know shortly of the details.

Exclusive chat event tonight
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Saturday April 15, 2000

Just a reminder about the chat room event that is happening tonight.

A representative from Visual Depth will be in the chat room tonight from 9pm until 10pm. He will be able to answer your questions on the forthcoming launch of the unmetered ISP later this month.

Visual Depth will also be able to provide further details of their service ahead of the press release which is expected this coming Monday.

If you have difficulties accessing the chat room, don’t worry. You can also access the room by using IRC software such as mIRC. The settings are: irc.webmaster.com (port 6667), channel #Net4Nowt.com.

New ClaraNet packages update
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Saturday April 15, 2000

Earlier in the week ClaraNet announced their new unlimited packages to much disappointment to their existing customers.

With many companies now offering 24/7 unmetered access many expected more than what they had to offer, especially from ClaraNet who has had many satisfied customers.

ISPreview have been in touch with them to get some answers. The full report can be found here.

New ClaraNet deals
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 12, 2000

ClaraNet have released details of their new range of unmetered packages:

FreeTime Gamezone
The new name for the existing 'FreeTime Unlimited' package that they have been testing for the last three months. Starting 3rd May a new test will start, price unchanged, 2 hour cut-off scrapped and will continue to provide unmetered calls from midnight Friday to midnight Sunday and evenings (6pm to 2am).

FreeTime Unlimited
A new account on test for three months. Offers completely unmetered access to the web during evenings (till 2am) and weekends for £9.99. There will be an idle timeout of 10 minutes but no cut-off. The difference between this account and FreeTime Gamezone above is that use of this account is restricted to the web, email and newsgroups *only*.

FreeTime 12
This package will remain unchanged however the monthly subscription will be reduced to £4.99, and a new annual option will be made available for £39.99.

RedHotAnt to raise charges
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 11, 2000

The unmetered ISP RedHotAnt have announced that they intend to raise subscription charges:

To maintain a quality level of service and to continue accepting new sign-ups over and above the initial 50,000 available slots from the 2nd May 2000 RedHotAnt's standard tariff charges will be increasing.

The new tariffs have not yet been agreed and will only affect users signing up after this date and will not affect users who signed up prior to this date.

If you haven't signed up already then do so now to secure your place on the RedHotAnt service.

ntlworld launches ahead of schedule
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 11, 2000

NTL have launched their unmetered service today, 6 days ahead of its planned launch of 17th April. Called ntlworld, it features no ISP subscription charge, no call connection charge and no Internet call charges.

The Internet service is available to all NTL residential telephony customers, and has attracted hundreds of thousands of registrations since it was unveiled last month.

It offers:

Free Internet calls
Free ISP subscription
Free call connection
New TV-Internet service – available 17 April
Free PC and TV-Internet options for every UK hone via ntlworld

NTL’s ground breaking TV-Internet service will be provided via a small set-top box. Special features include the ability to surf the Internet or send emails while watching TV, 5 email addresses and an Electronic Programming Guide to make choosing TV viewing and deciding what to record quick and easy.

AOL join in unmetered stampede
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 11, 2000

Yet another ISP has announced that they intend to provide an unmetered service.

ISPreview have had it confirmed that AOL will be launching their 24/7 unmetered access on 18th April.

No details as yet but we should know more next week.

Tiny unmetered Internet access update
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 11, 2000

ZDNet have today published further details of the unmetered access from the PC manufacturer Tiny:

Although pricing details for the various packages have not been finalised, general manager of Tiny Online, Colin Greene, said "The 24/7 free access, any time, will be significantly under £30, and the off-peak package -- from 6pm to 8am -- will be significantly under £10."

Unlike several of the recently announced unmetered access packages, Tiny claims that there will be no online spending level required, no required amount of Internet calls and no compulsory advertising.

Users will also have to buy a dialler for £10 and have to spend a minimum amount on voice calls, although it hasn’t yet been decided how much.

Initially limited to their current subscribers, it will be available to others via distributed CDs a month later.

Chat with Visual Depth here at Net 4 Nowt
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Monday April 10, 2000

All visitors to Net 4 Nowt will be given the opportunity to chat with representatives from the soon-to-be-launched unmetered ISP Visual Depth.

This coming Saturday at 9pm the chat room will be the place to find out the latest developments from Visual Depth. They are expecting to launch later this month, but our visitors will have the chance to ask them questions on their new service.

Their 24/7 unmetered access is expected to cost less than £60 per year with a set-up fee of under £25.

Our chat room is proving very popular since its re-launch earlier this month. We also have a regular team of operators who monitor the room.

World Online/Screaming.net in unmetered access offer
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Monday April 10, 2000

As reported here last Friday, World Online have today launched their 24/7 unmetered access service.

Called Freedom 24 the new service requires users to sign-up with World Online Telecom, formerly known as Localtel. There is a one-off joining fee of £20 for new customers.

Subscribers to World Online, Screaming.net, Bun.com and Telinco can join for free.

The increased monthly line rental of £14.99 is all it costs for the unmetered access. For existing Screaming.net users it is less than £6 extra on what they are presently paying.

Net 4 Nowt in computer magazine deal
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Saturday April 8, 2000

We can now officially announce that we have signed a contract to supply the popular Practical Internet magazine with free ISP listings.

This will allow us to increase our brand awareness and enable the UK’s leading directory of free ISPs to expand and offer further services to our visitors.

The deal with the magazine will be beneficial to readers of Practical Internet who do not yet have Internet access and will be able to select from a wide range of Internet providers. The listings covering 7 pages also include editorial content covering ISP reviews and news.

Issue 40 is on sale now and also includes a full version of HoTMetaL Pro 4.0

Visual Depth update
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Saturday April 8, 2000

We have been in touch with the MD, Martin Case and he has told us that due to technical difficulties with the DNS updates, some people may be getting an Argentinean site instead. The problem should be sorted out within the next 24 hours. In the meantime, you can reach their site by clicking here.

He went on to give us a few more details of the 0800 unmetered service from Visual Depth.

Although he cannot yet say exactly how much the service will cost, he did say that the annual fee will be less than £60 and the set-up fee will be no higher than £25.

Martin Case commented, “We believe that this is very reasonable considering BT Internet charge over £100 a year just for Evening and Weekend access. Our service will be more stable than BT Internet and getting a connection will be a lot easier.”

“The service is being offered to the public by Visual Depth as an individual company. We have spent huge amounts of money making sure the service will be of a high standard for users.”

The service will be provided by several different telecommunications companies to make the service possible.

For non-BT customers without a credit card, you will be pleased to know that you will be catered for. It will be available to customers of any telecom network in the UK. It can be paid for by either cheque or credit card.

They also have plans to incorporate ADSL when it becomes available.

Another new unmetered ISP to launch soon
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Friday April 7, 2000

We have just been informed of another unmetered ISP that should be launched before the end of April.

Visual Depth will be providing 0800 access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without any disconnect. They also guarantee that users will get through first time, 99.9% of the time. But will they be able to live up to such a big promise?

We will have to wait and see what they intend to do about the surge of customers that will be fighting for the bandwidth. Will they be able to cope with the demand?

Quoted from the Visual Depth web site the Managing Director, Martin Case comments, “With so many unmetered Internet Service Providers recently launched, I think Visual Depth will compete highly amongst some of the larger names. The service will allow users to dial up at any time and they will immediately have a high speed connection, the service will be offered at a very low price and will be very reliable.”

It is expected to cost around £60 per year on top of a set-up fee.

The unmetered access is also available for business users as well as for home users at no extra charge.

Supafree to finally commence unmetered trial
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Friday April 7, 2000

Users who were accepted for the Supafree unmetered trial, and receive £10 for the privilege, have started to receive an email explaining for the delay:

Thank you for your patience with the Supafree trial, we apologise for the delay. The delay has occurred due to testing of the network. This is to ensure that the system poses no problems when the Supafree trial goes live.

You will receive instructions on how to access Supafree shortly.

World Online to go Unmetered from Monday
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Friday April 7, 2000

The free ISP World Online, who recently acquired Localtel, will from Monday 10th be providing a new unmetered service.

Word Online have been emailing their present customers detailing how they can transfer their account over to the new service to be called Freedom 24.

Further details available on Monday.

CallNet0800 combats Net abuse
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Thursday April 6, 2000

A CallNet0800 user has posted a copy of a letter here received from the unmetered ISP:

It has come to our attention that you have been constantly connected to CallNet0800 for between 20 and 24 hours a day. This is not an isolated incident and has been happening on consecutive days as a regular occurrence.

It is not the policy of the company to provide leased lines, but to provide genuine free Internet access for residential customers to use while they are actively using the Internet.

We must remind you that commercial usage in any form is not permitted under the Terms and Condition that apply.

We require a return e-mail from you within 48 hours with a clear undertaking that you will limit your connection to us just to the times you are actively using your computer.

This comes at a time when CallNet0800 report that a few customers have been having difficulties dialling into their service. It appears to only affect certain regions of the country.

They say that they are closely monitoring the situation with the network suppliers and will give an up-date when they have further details.

Madasafish owner Iomart to float on AIM
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 5, 2000

The telecommunicatons and Internet Company Iomart have announced that they will be floating on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on 19th April.

Iomart provides Internet access through its Madasafish Internet service provider who has recently announced that it will be launching an 0800 service in the near future. It will also be launching a second ISP called Jings! which will be focused on all types of Scottish news, sport, music and local entertainment.

The Group is seeking to raise £20 million within a price range of 110p to 145p through a Placing and Public Offer that will value the Group at £60 million.

Madasafish, is a free ISP that was established in May 1999 and is marketed as “an ISP with attitude”. Currently Madasafish content focuses on games, music, news, film and video. In February they had over 100,000 members using a total of 23.9 million minutes online.

RedHotAnt problems solved
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 5, 2000

We have received a few emails saying that download speeds seem to have improved last night.

The bandwidth upgrade appears to have been completed. RedHotAnt have also posted the following on their site:

T3 - Upgrade Completed
The Bandwidth upgrade to a T3 has been completed and we have upgraded our modem capacity, this should solve the connection and Internet access speed issues that users have been experiencing.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and we thank our users for bearing with us during the expansion period.

World Online to launch unmetered access
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 5, 2000

Dutch based Internet Service Provider World Online has named a new head of its UK operations and said it plans to offer an unmetered access service in the UK.

The ISP said in a statement that Simon Preston will be chief executive of its UK operations, heading a shake-up of that unit.
Preston - a co-founder of Telinco, which along with bun.com and Localtel was acquired by World Online - said he planned shortly to offer a 24/7 unmetered access service.

They have faced pressure from other unmetered services that have been recently announced, and have forced them to offer their own unmetered service.

At a guess it will be tied in with Localtel, but as yet no further details are available.

GoFree weekend 0800 service now in Halifax
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Wednesday April 5, 2000

The GoFree 0800 service currently operating in Milton Keynes is now available in the Halifax area.

The Halifax Evening Courier has been including the CDs in their newspaper. The 0800 access is from 6pm every Friday until midnight Sunday. There are no monthly or registration fees, or adapters to plug into your phone line.

The only requirement is you need the special software to gain access to the service. GoFree provide 5 email addresses and 10MB of web space. It is also available to customers of any telephone service.

Jena in partnership plans
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 4, 2000

Jena has announced that it is currently in talks with the teen-run company Indexia-Group, over a deal which is hoped to result in a partnership in the next few weeks.

Jeremy Allison, of 1jena.com, and Duncan MacInnes, of Indexia-Group, are both 17 and hope to combine services under one partnership in order to further augment their competitive force on the Net. The newly amalgamated firm will continue trading as ijena.com.

Future plans include 0800 Internet access and software for education.

AltaVista in unmetered beta test
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 4, 2000

The Register is reporting that AltaVista will be starting beta tests next week of its unmetered Internet service.

The article continues:

Marcus Bicknell, president of AltaVista majority shareholder CMGI's European operation, said a million people had registered for the service since it was announced last month.

Bicknell also denied press speculation that AltaVista's decision to pre-announce the flat-fee unmetered service was little more than a publicity stunt.

He added that AltaVista was looking to offer broadband services sometime in the future, although ADSL wasn't on the agenda. Yet.

Instead, AltaVista was toying with the idea of cable or satellite services, he said.

Free ISP chat room
Posted by: paul@net4nowt.com | Submit news/press release
Tuesday April 4, 2000

We have now re-opened the chat room after many requests for its return.

The chat room was originally set-up at the end of last year, but was closed after a few weeks due to abuse. It is now open for use but will be monitored by a team of operators.

At the moment it is only on trial for a month, but if it becomes successful then we will leave it open.

The chat room can be found at http://www.net4nowt.com/chat

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