# Anyone here use NetZero? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 23, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358 "2004-12-23T18:41:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/1 "2004-12-23T18:41:51Z")
If so, what do you think? What’s the catch? Is their dial up really faster? Do they fill your hard drive with crud? What is the Straight Dope? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/2 "2004-12-23T18:48:02Z")
I have it and the only complaint I have other than it being dial-up is that the damned thing kicks you every four hours. Not a big deal to the casual user but as someone who’s reliant on the internet as my sole source of entertainment while I heal, it can get just a tad bit annoying. I’ve not noticed any malware problems and the speed’s comparable to any other dial-up I’ve ever used. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/3 "2004-12-23T18:58:09Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > If so, what do you think? What’s the catch? Is their dial up really faster? Do they fill your hard drive with crud? What is the Straight Dope? Whoa, buddy, you’re from Seattle. Forget that POS NetZero and use No Charge [http://www.nocharge.com/](http://www.nocharge.com/) The service is absolutely free; you don’t even need to download their software, you can just dial-up using the Winndows Dial-up wizard. Either way, there’s no ad banners or tracking software and you never get disconnected. And for free! Yeah, I may sound like an ad, but I seriously can’t praise them enough. I used the service for years (though I just recently got cable), and my friends and family are still using it. Again, there is not a single reason that I can think of why NetZero would be better, unless you enjoy paying 10 bucks a month for a hugeass ad banner and crappy service. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/4 "2004-12-23T19:07:17Z")
I use a free Netzero account when my cable modem connection is down, I have no complaints. I’d use that no-ad one if I could though, but I’m in S Florida. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/5 "2004-12-24T00:23:18Z")
So what’s the story behind that nocharge service? How do they make money? ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/6 "2004-12-24T03:18:01Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > So what’s the story behind that nocharge service? How do they make money? Well, they also offer a premium type service that provides online data storage, several e-mail accounts, free customer service (cost 10 bucks per call without, though I’ve never needed it) and more. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/7 "2004-12-24T03:25:43Z")
And why do they still call it NetZero when they’re not free anymore? (Yeah, yeah, I know why, but I still find it interesting that their modern ads trumpet their low charges when relatively recently, they were talking about how the 'Net should be free…) ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/8 "2004-12-24T16:17:14Z")
I think they still have a free service, don’t they? It’s only for 10 hours of time a month though, which isn’t really enough to do anything. The one that costs $10 a month is the “Platinum” service, which has no ad banner and no monthly time limit. I’ve used it for years and years and been perfectly happy with it. We tried the NetZero Highspeed for a few months and it was worthless to us, because either our computer isn’t fast enough to make a difference or we don’t have the right sort of phone hookup for it to work right. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/9 "2004-12-24T16:26:24Z")
> [@Duderdude2](#): > > The service is absolutely free; you don’t even need to download their software, you can just dial-up using the Winndows Dial-up wizard. You ought to able to set up a DUN for nearly any dialup service, including NetZero. If they’re sneaky, like PeoplePC is, they might use a hashed version of your password or something, in which case, you’ll need a tool like [DialGuard 1.0](http://persocite.francite.com/Lusifer3300/id17.htm), which shows you the login and password strings your ISP software is sending out. Then you can unistall yoaur ISP software and set up dialup connection either manually or using the Wizard. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/10 "2004-12-24T16:31:27Z")
Scratch that. It won’t work for NetZero, apparently. It does work for PeoplePC, though. I don’t have any of their software installed anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/11 "2004-12-24T18:53:39Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > You ought to able to set up a DUN for nearly any dialup service, including NetZero. If they’re sneaky, like PeoplePC is, they might use a hashed version of your password or something, in which case, you’ll need a tool like [DialGuard 1.0](http://persocite.francite.com/Lusifer3300/id17.htm), which shows you the login and password strings your ISP software is sending out. Then you can unistall yoaur ISP software and set up dialup connection either manually or using the Wizard. Normally you’re right, but we’re talking about the uber-cheap, advertising displaying, soul-eating internet providers. I couldn’t dial-up directly to any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Duderdude2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@Duderdude2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duderdude2)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/12 "2004-12-24T18:58:48Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I’ve used it for years and years and been perfectly happy with it. We tried the NetZero Highspeed for a few months and it was worthless to us, because either our computer isn’t fast enough to make a difference or we don’t have the right sort of phone hookup for it to work right. Or because it’s a scam. Net Zero High Speed is barely do anything more than you can do yourself. It simply caches webpages (much as your browser already does), which prevents it from redownloading the entire webpage every time you visit it. I believe the service may also further compress images before they’re sent to you, but it doesn’t make nearly as big a difference as they claim. For 15 bucks a month, you’re almost in DSL territory, which would be far faster, and suck-free. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-use-netzero/281358/13 "2004-12-24T19:05:06Z")
> [@Duderdude2](#): > > …uber-cheap, advertising displaying, soul-eating internet providers. Speaking of which, in my recent travels about the 'net, I found [this one](http://www.highstream.net/content/compare.asp), called HighStream. I’ve never heard of it, but they claim to offer unlimited (I assume. Actually, I can’t find any information on their site about time limits :dubious:), DUN-compatible, ad-free internet access for $8.95 a month. Anyone have any info on them?