As I said, most of the problem of getting on the net occurs when you live in an area that doesn't have a LOCAL provider. Basically there are three kinds of providers and three ways to get to them:
(1) Providers of direct connections. If you are setting up a business and need a high volume direct connection for your office Local Area Network and can afford several thousand a year at least, you will want to consider these high-end providers. They are not relevant to our discussion. (But see Appendix C for more information).
(2) There are several regional networks and one national one that specialize in low cost PC-to-host or SLIP connections. Costs range from $20-40 a month to $2000 a year, depending on the services you need. Performance Systems International (PSI) is a major provider of this kind of service. Other networks offer services similar to PSI, although PSI has the most extensive nationwide service at this time. This service can be very competitive with BBS type service (see below) if you are a frequent user of the net or need to send more than an occasional E-mail message. It is definitely worth a look.
(3) Many computer bulletin board services offer E-mail or even Internet connections for around $10-20 per month. Be very careful to check out the connection charges. If you are not careful you could be charged for using the bulletin board (per hour), using the Internet, the long-distance connection, a surcharge for daytime use, and a per message charge for E-mail! One of the purposes of this book is to explain the minefield of charges so you don't get burned. The service recommended bundles all the charges up front so there are no surprises.
Generally speaking, connecting to the Internet through a BBS is the best method for the explorer. Once you've determined that you need the Internet on a regular basis, one of the regional networks or PSI is probably the most economical route.
Unless you are fortunate enough to live in an area where an Internet provider is a local call away, you will have to contend with long distance charges. Actually, these can be as low as $2 an hour and are sometimes bundled in with the network connection charge.
<Section 3.3> Finding the Cheapest Long Distance Method
There are three basic methods of paying for long distance:
(1) You just pay for a call to another area code. This is very
expensive and not recommended.
(2) You use a provider with a toll free (800) number and pay for the
call in a higher connect charge. This is also very expensive.