Contact your regional network first to see what services might be available to you. A list of regional nets can be obtained from the NSF Network Service Center (address below), or check with a local college or university's academic computing center. A university may be able to give you a guest account on its system for educational purposes.
Access to electronic mail alone is roughly $20 a month at this writing. Additional capabilities, including telnet and ftp, cost more, and it will cost $2,000 or more per year if you want to operate your own host system. The good news is that the costs are spiraling downwards. Here are a few other methods of connecting to the net. Many more are listed in the "must-have" books at the end of this article.
CERFnet
The California Education and Research Federation (CERFnet) has announced
DIAL N' CERF USA. It allows educators, scientists, corporations, and
individuals access to the Internet from anywhere in the continental US.
A toll-free number, 1-800-7CERFNET (1-800-723-7363), provides subscribers with the capability to log in to remote machines, transfer files, and send and receive electronic mail, as if they had a standard, dedicated connection. The cost of this toll-free connection is $20 a month with a $10 per hour usage fee and free installation. There is an installation charge of $50.
CERFnet California Education and Research Federation c/o San Diego Supercomputer Center P.O. Box 85608 San Diego, CA 92186-9784 800/876-CERF or 619/534-5087 help@cerf.net
Performance Systems International
PSI offers several permutations of network connectivity, including low-end email-only accounts, dial-up host connectivity on demand, and dedicated connections. Costs are competitive and performance is reliable. PSI has POPs (points of presence) in over forty U.S. cities.
PSILink, email and delayed ftp, is $19 a month for 2400 baud service or below, $29 per month for 9600 baud service.
GDS (Global Dialup Service) includes telnet, rlogins at $39 a month, 2400 baud, 24 hour access.
Host DCS (Dialup Connection Service), at about $2000 per year, includes a full suite of internet activities (mail, news, ftp, telnet).