ISP - Internet Service Provider. It's the company that you either call or connect to in order to surf the web.

While free Internet companies filled the web at the peak of the dot.com boom, the pickens have gotten slim nowadays. Like most things that sound to good to be true, there is small catch. You have to view a little ad banner while you surf (and for those of you with slow computers, it could slow you down snail pace) and you only get so many free hours a month. Like your mom always said, there is no such thing as a free lunch (or a totally free ISP).

The best remaining free Internet provider is NetZero. You have to view the banner ads but the program doesn't seem to take up much memory or crash very often. As far as connectivity goes, they seem to be ok. I've been using them for the past few weeks with no busy signals or problems. The main problem is that you have to click on a button every half hour or so or they will disconnect you. You can't go off and cook while you're in a chat room or you won't have a connection when you get back. One other catch, Netzero only allows 10 hours free per month and if you want to surf more they have a deluxe version of their service (which you have to pay for. Kind of takes the "Zero" out of NetZero doesn't it?). It's just $9.95 though, much cheaper than some other ISPs.

They do offer dial-up access in the Little Rock area and in some other areas of Arkansas as well. There's also dial-up in major cities of other states (I'll take this opportunity to point out that NetZero is great to travel with! If you have a local ISP but plan to visit some other state where they don't offer access, hook up with a free ISP for the month you'll be gone and save yourself the money, and trouble, of finding an ISP where you're visiting).