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Review of PeoplePC Internet Service

I've been trying PeoplePC dial up internet access. Do you ever wonder how well does an ISP that charges about 10 bucks a month work? Well, I've been pretty impressed.

I downloaded their software off their website. It's a 2 part deal. The first part is a small download that just takes a couple of minutes. Then that file downloads more components, but it doesn't take long.

The software doesn't change much on your system or install much. It just uses the browser on your computer. It seems to use standard dialup networking, but installs a little layer over that, a login screen which is really just displayed in a little Internet Explorer window. So, it doesn't seem likely their software is going to do anything radical that would mess up your computer. I like that simple approach. In working for ISP's I heard so many horror stories of how various larger ISP's software had messed up people's computers.

The setup doesn't ask for much info, just the basic stuff, name, address, phone, credit card number, pick a userid and password, that's about it.

They've got lots of connection numbers. I get occasional disconnects after being connected for a long time, but they're not too annoying. If you don't usually connect to the internet for very long, or if you just want a backup provider in addition to a high speed provider, this should be fine.

Since PeoplePC is pretty generic, is seems to work fine with any browser. I tried it with IE, Netscape and Opera, without any problem. They give you an email account, which works with POP mail programs like Outlook or Outlook Express, or is accessible via webmail. But if you're like most people, you don't need any more email accounts.

All in all, it seems like you get a fair deal for your money. Not quite as reliable a connection as somebody like Earthlink, but a whole lot cheaper.

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