First, you need to figure
out what you want from your ISP (here is the short list):
Cost?Flat or hourly rates?56K support?Static IPs?ISDN? Maybe AODI?xDSL? ADSL, SDSL, etc?Multiple POP accounts?Locked up connections [ISDN, xDSL, Cablemodem?]Shell Account(s)?WWW space (in MB)?
Look at the example email below for the full list of questions.
Next, you need to find out
what ISPs are local to you:
Check out www.thelist.com for a very comprehensive
list of ISPs by area code, etc
Getting the details from the ISP(s):
Once you get a list of ISPs in your area, you need to narrow it down. For me, I had a list of
over 300 ISPs in my area alone! What I recommend is to take your list of requirements and
send ALL the ISPs an e-mail asking for detailed information.
Here is my ISP broadcast e-mail I sent out.
NOTE: This email has been enhanced to now ask technical questions about Analog, ISDN, xDSL, and cablemodems.
After you start getting
replies from the ISPs, create a text file and start ranking them on
price, speed of responce (gives an idea of their support), features, etc.
This can take a long time since many of the responces you will get will be
automated responces without any relivant info. Then you have to
re-transmit the e-mail to a different address. But after all this.. you
will have a good idea of who will serve you the best! Here is my ranked list of Walnut Creek ISPs that
I compiled up. This took me over 2 weeks and hundreds of e-mails!
Finally, try to get some reviews
of your top [5] ISPs. Check out my [DSL]
and [ Cablemodems ]
pages for some evalaution URLs to look at.