Internet providers

You need to have permission from a computer that is hooked up from the Internet, to connect to them over the phone.

	Some companies charge a fee for this but have many phone lines and many additional services for your convenience. à America online ($19.95 a month)
	Other provide the phone lines and quality connection, but no additional programs à Corecomm ($9.95 a month)
	Some companies don’t charge you anything, but will send you commercial messages as long as you are online. à AltaVista (FREE) à Netzero, (FREE)

However, because these services are fairly new, they do not have local access numbers in small towns yet. This means, that for people in the country the choice is really which provider gives them a local access number to make surfing the Internet really worthwhile.

Most of these Internet providers will also give you a space on their computer for your web page, and a mailbox address for your e-mail.

Regardless of which provider you use, you need software on your computer that will let you access the Internet. The Microsoft Explorer and Netscape Navigator are the most common software programs around and they are both free. Click on the buttons to access their website and download the latest version of their software.