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Afterall, NetZero is already 5x faster that dial-up, and we've got this technology today!

Sure, they fail to mention that they're caching webpages like AOL does, that this doesn't increase downloads (ok, they probably put this in fine print somewhere) nor does it increase streaming.

But hey, ITS FIVE TIMES FASTER so it must be a Good Thing (tm).

Glad I pay for my DSL service!

Thought a few people should hear from someone actually supporting these things. My company was contracted out to do the internet technical support on this product. Although I don't know much about the internal electronics of the NIC, what I can tell you may be of some help if you plan on pursuing this project.

The Processor is a Cyrix 266 with a single pc100 64meg ram stick. It is running using a bootable Linux CD. Included on the CD is Netscape 4.73, vncviewer, Winframe client, a few games, etc.. It has support for an internet provider (also supported by us)called NetZero (free internet access), but it also has support for paid ISPs. It simply boots, when you turn it on, loads X and eventually Netscape (which, through a webpage, gives you connection options).
There is no way to change settings for the operating system in any way. Other than adding connection information and bookmarks, etc. It only has 4MB of Flash RAM to store the information into it.

Because it is using Linux all the hardware should run on any distribution of Linux, but the hardware is of the cheapest quality possible. Having said that, from the 3 demo models that were sent to us I can definately say that the case is nothing special, looks like something that came out of the late 80s. And after 3 hours they overheat and have to be turned off. Extra cooling may be needed if you plan to run it 24/7. It also does not have a floppy drive, for those of us, like myself, still needing one occasionally.

It has a premotional price of $199 ($329 with the monitor).

Personally, I am waiting until the Web Tablet, from Qubit, comes out.
Weights only 2.5 lbs.
Active matrix 781x600 touch screen
Roams up to 200 feet from base transmitter
802.11B RF connectivity
Includes an onscreen keyboard and wireless keyboard

besides why are you paying for dial-up access anyways?

Bluelight
NetZero
FreeInet
FreeWWWeb

Here's a press release of Netzero.com announcing a Linux client for thier free ISP. Hopefully, this isn't vaporware.

There is one Linux friendly ISP out there that I know of. FreeInet is similar to NetZero in which is uses ad interface for the service. However, it can be bypassed in windows with just a regualr dial-up connection which means that Linux users can also follow suit. Now with this method, this also means that you are bypassing how the company stays in business, so if you must have free internet access and you bypass the ad interface for FreeInet then please do the right thing and at least spend some time each day on their homesite clicking on some adds.

I know, it may be boring, it may seem stupid, but there really arn't too many Free ISP's that are Linux friendly. Let's try and help those that are, and maybe in return, more companies will follow suit. The Linux community is to large to be ignored completly.

Linux - 3 / 10 (promoted / actual)

Windows 98 - 10 / 8

For general networking, Linux is amazing.

Having said that, there is one area for ISP support that Linux isn't as good as Windows; free ISPs. Most free services either require Windows or are hostile to non-Windows systems, including Macintosh and BSD.

On top of that, some free ISPs are thwarting attempts to login using anything except for the Windows-only tools they provide. The reason is simple; a Linux system connecting to these services doesn't use the ad-laden login tools, so the free services can't justify allowing these freeloaders on thier systems!

I think getting a free ISP for the cost of some advertising is a fine exchange...but the ISPs are not doing anything to get thier ads on the 'un-supported' systems. Catch-22? You decide.

So, while many free ISPs can be made to work with Linux, fewer support it and a few are actively making it harder to use thier services.

Because of the minimal support by free ISPs for anything that isn't IE under MS Windows 98, I'd can't give Linux a 10 out of 10 in this category.

In a blatent attempt to get people to tell me something I don't know, here's what I do know so far.

First off, this month Juno -- a free ISP that hasn't supported Linux in the past -- has bought both FreeWWW and Worldspy -- two ISPs that have had support for Linux. Some people have complained that Juno's free service can't use Netscape or other browsers and requires IE...though I'd like to know if that's the case or not. Supposedly there's a way around this.

Free ISPs that can be used with Linux;

www.freewwweb.com

Freeweb Linux link; read the notes on Juno's buy out of Freewww

Worldspy - Bought out by Juno

www.freei.net

www.netzero.com- first have to set up in Windows to get encrypted password/ID, then put in login under Linux

www.freedsl.com - I know nothing; some Linux users. See this link to a Usenet post

Notes on how to use different free ISPs; I'd give attribution for the information below but I didn't keep it when I first grabbed it!

[Most of this is from Deja and Google from 2 months ago; I didn't write it, I'm just passing it along.]

1. freei.net - download the software, get your local access number and use something like kppp (or pppd for you people that like to make things hard...). your login name is @.freei.net. your password is the one you entered when you signed up.

   -----

   A very good success story. If you and your friend are looking for a backup to freewwweb, Worldspy does work (with a little effort) but you need to setup and run the process from Windows in order to obtain the DNS info along with the cryptic user name. That means that if your username you signed up with is Ron123 then your Linux name to key into kppp will be something like: nvnet.asdfasdf@microportal.com . Trust me it does work and several others on this NG have made it happen as well. Good luck. blariz

   --------

   Better go to http://autoreg.freewwweb.com/ for a fast registration without downloading those huge browsers.

   -----------

   Well, that sort of depends on the definition of 'is'! :-)

   I had noticed two mentioned, FREEWWWEB and DIAL4LIFE. I went to the web site for freewwweb to get an access number, but they all end with XXXX, which doesn't work. So I then went to dial4life and looked up their access numbers. It turned out to be the same list of towns and numbers except this one had the last 4 digits posted correctly. I followed the link to their instructions, and lo and behold, I was back at freewwweb!

   So, I ended up installing freewwweb using the dial number I found at dial4life. And it WORKED! That little bit of good luck was my payback for putting in two solid weeks of hell trying to get linux installed at all!

   BTW, I wasn't asked for a credit card at all.

   -----------

   I just called worldspy's tech support and asked about Linux and he said "you could try it, but they don't support it". I then asked if they used pap authentication and the support guy had no idea what I was talking about. I had tried it briefly this morning before going to work and got the connect, but immediately pppd died (I'm assuming because of the username/password authentication). I don't know whether that's because they don't use PAP or whether my account that I had just signed up for 30 minutes earlier hadn't been activated yet.

   ------

   Actually I had to do a little hacking but didn't have any problem. I use Win95's dialer when in Win95. After installing worldspy.net and getting frustrated with all the windows that are used just to log on, I decided to find a way around them. Checking the DUN file it created for dialing I found that my user name was relaced with a code that looks like a wierd email address. Then I created a new dialer and copied the code to it and used my normal password. It worked! I logged on without going through all the BS they give you. Next I switched to Linux and set up ppp the same way and it works too. Now I have a FREE ISP with none of the BS, not even their home page. Try it, you'll like it.

   -----

   The ticket is to get a bogus account set up under Win98, then run RASSpy or a logging program to get the user/password strings (which are usually encrypted or modified by their software) required for a straight logon, then just configure a standard call-up profile with this info in whatever program you're using, then throw away all the FISP's software. Works for any platform or O/S.

   Instant raw ISP!

   Naturally, you get rid of all their ads, timeouts, spyware and other crap in the bargain.

   Some FISPs have gotten wise to this hack and have blocked logging in their DUN profiles or made it impossible to run RASSpy, but at least 2/3 are still hackable using this workaround.

   NetZero, which is otherwise pretty high-quality access, has made this impossible in v.3, but if you can get an earlier version of the software you can run the hack and use the info for a clean login.

   Juno, Freei, Bluelight and a whole bunch more are currently easy to do this with. I get faster connects with NetZero and NZ is less congested than the other FISPs I've tried, but this may vary from user to user.

Whoa ... wait this isn't possible ... how in the world could netpliance do this? Ahhh yes the Internet service ... take a $5 a month internet service and charge $20 for it ... within a year the I-Openers would reap in millions of dollars ... until some geek decided he wanted to play inside his. If they were going to have such a cow why didn't they just lease the boxes? ...

As for canceling the Service or getting a free service like NetZero, FreeI, TheSimpsons, Lycos, Altavista, or BlueLight you are forced into this horrid agreement. Not to mention what if you own a cable modem and want to just network the box into the home lan. Can't do that.

I actually can see the article in maximum PC's "Watchdog" right now ... Netpliance will soon be the enemy that once stood in the place of WebTv ... BTW why has no one hacked one of those yet?

1. Woolaroc, OK.
2. The home of Frank Phillips (of Phillips Petrolium), and a very cool place to visit.
3. The Kansas Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, KS. If you are a /. reader you want to visit. One of the top space mueseums in the world, it has one of the largest collections of Russian space artifacts outside Russia.
4. Big Brutis, West Mineral, KS The second largest earthmover in the US.

As for hotel phone lines: Almost all hotels now have a modem jack on the side of the phone so that you won't blow your modem out. However, lots of hotels also try to screw you when you call an 800 number, so be careful.

Lastly, I suggest you look into some good mapping software. I use Delorme's AAA Map N Go, which runs (sort of ) under Wine (and flawlessly under Windows). Add to it their cheap GPS receiver, and you will make your travels a lot nicer.

What about NetZero, a completely free internet service?

If free trials are evil in your opinion, then permanent free accounts must be doubly so.

But what about the people who can't afford $20/month for an ISP?