Is Netscape any better than NetZero?

[Guest]

Hello....

I've been having quite a few troubles with my current ISP, NetZero and I've been considering giving them the axe and moving on. Another ISP that came to mind was Netscape. I was wondering if its any better than NetZero..

These listed are the current gripes/problems I'm having with my current ISP

I pay for service and I still have to see ad's
Thats one gripe. I've had to see ad's when I got it for free and when I've been paying for it. I think the advertisements are unnessesary to have to see if the service is paid for, but I have to see them anyway. I don't have to see ad's with Netscape, do I?

They force a default browser, Internet Explorer
I happen to be a fan of Mozilla Firefox. Problem is with NetZero, they want me to use IE and no matter what I do to try and make Firefox default, upon the next reboot, IE is my default again. I was told their dialer software is to blame. When I confronted them about this, they said to just close IE and open Firefox. Problem is, my links still open in IE anyway. On top of that, they always have to open IE to their page, even though IE is not my desiered default browser (although its the forced default) and their page is not my homepage. I don't like being forced to use stuff, even if 95% of the Internet uses IE, I don't. Netscape doesn't do this do they?

NetZero will not function at all without IE
I'm a big enough fan of Mozilla that I used IEradicator to rid IE off my laptop, that runs Windows 98. Turns out their software will refuse to stay connected just because it can't find IE to auto open it and bother me with their stupid page.

Their software actually doesn't work right on my laptop, no matter what I've done
Their software doesn't work right on my laptop and I've tried everything. The problem was that the software would forget numbers and eventually stop dialing. They told me to replace the phone list. Didn't work. I told them it didn't work. Thet told me to reinstall it. Barely worked, then screwed up again. I told them that and they just told me to do the same things again. When I reccomended if an older version might work, they kept on telling me about the fancy floating toolbars I never use and all those other stupid crap that is more plentiful with each new version. I eventually, after a week, learned that their older versions upgrade to the newest version anyway and there is no way to stop it. So basically, I'm unable to use it on my laptop.

Their tech support is terribly sub-par
Oh, their tech support has sent me over the edge a few times. Worst tech support I've had to deal with. I've spent over 10 days on one issue and never came to a working soloution. They just kept on telling me the same things over and over again, even after I told them 10+ times that the things they were telling me to do were not working.

This being said, do you think Netscape will do me any better than NetZero is doing me right now?

Any input would be great, thanks.

[Guest]

I might be able to answer some of your questions. I subscribed to Netscape Internet Service recently. Cancelled it after a week (I assume they still charged me for the whole month, but I decided to go ahead and cancel since I've still got my old ISP account for the time being).

Ads:
I assume you mean an ad banner. I didn't notice any. They do have an uncloseable toolbar at the top of the screen (which is one of the reasons I cancelled). That toolbar is opened by their dialing software and if you close it, you're disconnected. But I didn't notice it displaying ads. I think it just has their logo and buttons for their email, etc.

Default browser and requiring IE:
I don't think they change the default browser. I use NS 7 and it seemed to stay as my default browser. However, whenever I established a connection with their software, it would open a Netscape Internet Service home page (isp.netscape.com) and that would sometimes open in IE 5. I don't know why. Sometimes, most of the time I think, it opened in NS 7. But there were at least a couple times when it opened in IE 5 instead.
So while their software didn't seem to change my default browser from NS 7 to IE, it did seem to use IE occasionally. What would it do if IE wasn't installed? I don't know.
BTW, that home page is something in their software. It had nothing to do with the home page set in my browsers (NS 7 or IE 5). There doesn't seem to be any way to remove or change it.

Obviously I can't tell you whether or not it will work on your laptop. I have no idea if their software auto-updates itself, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.

You didn't specifically mention this, but another problem I had with the Netscape Internet Service connection was that it used propietary software. It didn't work as a regular Windows DUN (Dial-Up Networking) connection. I didn't see a way to have Windows default to using their software when a program requested an Internet connection, although, to be fair, I didn't really look that hard.

Tech support:
My experience with their tech support was limited, but not encouraging. I sent them an email about the toolbar. The response I got basically just said that it couldn't be closed. They also said something about relying on suggestions to improve the service, implying that they might get rid of the toolbar in the future, but they didn't say anything specific.
Later I sent a longer email, about the toolbar, having to use their propietary software vs a DUN connection, the fact that their software (possibly specifically the "acceleration" component) insisted that I close the browser before disconnecting, and some other things. The response I got again just basically said "sorry, but you can't do that". And again there was the part about relying on suggestions to improve the service. The interesting part about that was that while this reply was from a different person, the "we rely heavily on feedback" part was almost word for word exactly the same as what was in the previous response, so I'm guessing they copy that in from a boilerplate. So who knows how much it really means.
Also, in the second email I mentioned that I had found a way to disable their toolbar and to connect to their service using a DUN connection instead of their software. I wanted to know if either of those violated their terms of service or anything. If those changes were "legal", I might have kept the service. But their reply made no mention of either of those things. So rather than worry about whether or not I was violating their rules, I just cancelled the service.

Hope some of this helps.

James

[theispreport]

If you are looking for a primary ISP i'm not sure if netscape is the right ISP the features are pretty limited and you do have to use their toolbar.

You might be better off going with one of the other cheap ISP's that dont require these things and offer you a internet connection with some features..

[xaviersmork@yahoo.com]

I emailed Netzero about the fact I have to use their search engine:

[netizen]

I see a recurring theme in this forum: People hate dialers, forced use of IE, toolbars and all the other controls in place by Netscape, NetZero, Juno, etc.

US Netizen uses standard PPP connections so that you can use Windows DUN. You choose your browser. You choose your startup page. You choose your search engine. You choose your e-mail client.

You are paying for Internet access - you should use it as you see fit.

Also, isn't it nice to pay $10 to Netscape to speak with someone in Bangladore, India? All support is free at US Netizen via e-mail or toll-free phone. Either way, you get help from an American.

US Netizen Internet Services

[Guest]