Erols ISP: It's not AOL - but that's a good thing...
Written: Mar 13 '01 (Updated Mar 13 '01)
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Pros: excellent service and connection, no binding agreements, multiple email accounts
Cons: bare bones web hosting, little on the expensive side
The Bottom Line: Erols is a good, efficient ISP for those who don't have cable or DSL available. Consistent connections, and not having to look at banners makes the price a worthy investment.
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| wahoodude23's Full Review: Erols |
Overview
Ok, it’s not AOL – and thank God for that (my last experience with a dial-up was AOL and they screwed up badly by allowing our account to get hacked into – long story – maybe another epinion). Regardless, choosing a dial-up ISP is often a crapshoot. There are so many dependencies and variables (like modem speed, line compatibility, tech support and customer service, and up-time) to consider. The way in which I chose mine was for nothing other than convenience. Being that I was a previous customer of RCN Cable and their high-speed modem, I decided to continue my account with them when I moved. I just transferred over to their ISP service because cable modem was not available and found that they had licensed their ISP services to Erols. Thus, I became an Erols ISP customer and have been pleasantly surprised. Erols offers reasonable, efficient tech support and customer service, great connection speeds, infrequent random disconnects, and a host of other benefits that come with the account – all for a reasonable price.
Account Benefits
In addition to the 56K unlimited web access, Erols has excellent regional coverage and therefore has access numbers up and down the East Coast and in California. In my area alone (DC Metro), there are 3 different numbers I can call to connect. Erols also provides free multiple email addresses (with remote access), newsgroups, and 24/7 tech support. For those who are more web savvy, 10MB of free web space, hosted by Erols, is available for personal use.
A summary of benefits can be found straight from the site at http://www.rcn.com/internet/56k.html.
Coverage
Like I mentioned above, Erols covers areas up and down the East Coast from Maine to North Carolina in addition to all of California. Users who are in other parts of the West, Midwest, or South will have to settle for a different ISP. I’m not sure if Erols has plans to expand nationwide – but for now AOL is the only ISP that is truly “everywhere” – ugh.
Service and Connection
Aside from price, this is probably the most important area in choosing an adequate ISP. After all, as users we just want working Internet access. We don’t want to worry about getting disconnected, or getting kicked off for being idle, or slow connection speeds.
Erols makes a valiant effort towards pleasing its customers. No ISP is perfect, as I’m sure we can all attest to, but Erols maintains a good reputation. I connect between 46-49K most of the time with never a busy signal and Erols is 100% v90 compliant, meaning that all of their lines support 56K access. More importantly, I can get up to 4.5 kps on my Napster downloads – a far cry from my cable modem days, but very respectable for a 56K connection. Also, I find that I can log on simultaneously with the same account on different computers – something other ISPs do not allow. Rarely, have I been disconnected randomly – unless someone calls me and that would be my own fault for not disabling call waiting.
Occasionally, I have to make multiple attempts at dialing in because the remote server disconnects or rejects me for some unknown reason. This is alleviated by a repeat attempt or trying another access number.
Tech Support
When I had to switch from RCN cable modem to an Erols dial-up account, I’ll admit that I was afraid that it was going to be a logistical nightmare. Upon calling however, I was pleasantly surprised and found the transition to be very efficient. I simply gave them my credit card number and new address and they switched everything over for me. Now, my credit card is charged monthly and I receive receipts in the mail every time I am charged.
Configuring my Outlook client, finding out my new password, and getting alternative access numbers were a cinch as well. I was placed on hold at tech support for about 2-4 minutes each time (very reasonable considering the reprehensible customer service these days) before a representative came on the phone and answered all of my questions.
Cost
The cost is 19.95/month. It’s not a cheap ISP as the costs probably run in the upper echelon of service providers. However, Erols doesn’t bind their customers to annual agreements or small print. Service is month to month and you may cancel without penalty at any time. That flexibility and freedom is priceless. Combine that with the other benefits and the excellent connection – 19.95 is worth the money to not see those annoying banner advertisements.
Some things I’m not happy with...
Erols web hosting is very bare bones. With support only for straight HTML pages, you won’t see any substantial site hosting happening. Being a developer, I have a need for an application server, possibly a database server as well… but I guess those are things I’ll have pay a real web hosting company for. Because of this, my 10MB on Erols remain wasted and unused.
I still can not access my email through telnet, which Erols advertises as a benefit. I haven’t tried calling them about it – but it would be great if they could get that to work so my email could be checked from anywhere.
Would I recommend Erols dial-up for you?
If you are absolutely unwilling to pay for dial-up access, then no fee-based ISP is for you. But for those of you who don’t have cable or DSL options and are willing to spend money for a quality service provider, Erols is an excellent alternative - and it's not AOL - thank God for that.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 19.95/month
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Epinions.com ID:
wahoodude23
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Location: Ashburn, VA
Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 24 members
About Me:
Mommy, where do babies come from?
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