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This document is for individuals that are connected through a national Internet service provider and don't realize they can save on their costs by selecting a local service. Many find it easier to get started by joining one of the national service providers such as America Online (AOL), Prodigy or Compuserve. These services are a great way to get started, but may not be your best buy over the long-term. You should shop around for an Internet service provider (ISP) that services your local area. Most local ISPs are less expensive than the national providers because they don't need to cover any long distance telephone costs. When you connect to a national ISP, you are usually paying for the long distance phone costs as part of your hourly rate. The local ISPs don't have this cost and their savings is passed on to you.
Locating and selecting a local ISP can be a challenge. First you have to find them and then you must know how to evaluate the quality of their service. Here are a few tips:
 Locating an ISP
Austin Guide to Internet Access Providers
Texas Internet Service Providers Association
Browse The ISP List -- Austin
You can also try the phone book. Look for them under the following Yellow Pages categories:
- Internet Service Providers
- Computer Services
- Telecommunications Services
- Network Services
Evaluating an Internet Service Provider
There are a number of questions you can ask each ISP that will help in evaluating their quality of service. Here are some suggested questions:
What is their peek traffic hours of each day and what is their busiest day of the week? If you plan to use the Internet at the same time they are peeking, you may get a busy signal when trying to connect.
What is their policy is on avoiding busy signals? You will have to judge their answer, but they should at least have a policy and be able to share that with you.
What type of modems do they use, both speed and brand name? Speed is important if you are using a 28.8 speed modem and all they have is 14.4. What will happen is your 28.8 will automatically step down to their 14.4 speed resulting in slower performance. The brand is important is some cases. First, cheaper brands rarely perform as well as higher quality modems. Look for them to be using US Robotics, Practical Peripheral or Hayes modems. These are recognized as some of the best performers in the market. In addition, you may gain even better performance if you are using the same brand as they are. This is true with US Robotics modems and may be true for other brands.
What days and hours they are available for technical support?
What is their true band width to the Internet? They need to be using a full T1 line or better (T3). If they tell you different, keep shopping. Bandwidth to the Internet is the quality of the ISP's connection with a major Internet backbone provider like Sprint, AT&T, or MCI. Although less common today, many ISPs choose to connect to the backbone with smaller bandwidth to save on costs. They pass this savings on to you, but it is no real bargain from a performance point of view.
Make sure you get a free test period of at least two weeks. Any quality operation will offer a free trial period.
What should an account with a local ISP cost?
This will vary from one region to the next, but most major metropolitan areas should have ISPs that offer sixty hours a month to unlimited usage for about $20 a month. At the high end, you should not be paying any more than $1 an hour in any metropolitan area. Rural may climb a bit higher, so you just have to compare the price with what you pay a national service.
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