[Doerter]

I've been using freei <http://www.freei.net> occasionally for the past month or so. For those who aren't familiar with it, it is a free internet&mail service that puts a small advertising banner on your desktop while you are online (this is what makes it "free") Lately I've
been having increasing problems, now to the point where I cannot even
connect. I am running on a Mac 7500 G3 Mac OS 8.6 with 48 mb ram. I had
been running version 1.2 and for the last week or so had not been able to
access my freei.mail for over a week (I have never been able to use the web
based access). Yesterday things were working until the evening when I was
unable to get on at all. This morning I downloaded version 1.3 and
installed it. It dials and seems to connect but no ad banner starts and
within a couple of seconds it disconnects. I downloaded it onto another
computer (an iMac DV se, 128 mb ram and Mac OS 9.0) and the same thing
happened. I then went next door and got online, activated a "new" account
for my neighbor, downloaded the software... and the same thing happened
(this machine was an iMac 233 32 mb ram, Mac OS 8.6).

All of these machines are easily able to connect to 3 different local ISPs. I also called some friends (iMac, PM 5400) that were using Freei.net... they also have been unable to access anything since Saturday Dec. 11th.
It would seem to me that something that they have done on their end is making
it impossible for Macs to connect and use freei.net. I called their tech
support number last week and left a message on the answering machine and
have left numerous emails with [email protected] OF WHICH EVER HAS
BEEN RESPONDED TO!

If freei.net is for real, I would expect that they might respond but I have heard nothing yet. Is there anybody else out there that has been using this??? And if so, are you running into the same problems that we have? Or is this isolated to oh.freei.net?

[wlonh]

After reading your post I did a little checking... I have a freei.net account and had not used it in awhile, so I logged off my pay-ISP and logged on to ny.freei.net no problem and at the usual speed (50667)

A friend of mine is always online in Ohio and he has a freei.net account as well, so I AIM'ed him and asked him to check his freei.net, He had trouble using his freei.net account... very slow browsing, AIM logon took 6 tries...

It appears that freei.net is undergoing some growing pains in your vicinity, and hopefully your service will be restored soon.

[Doerter]

Thanks for the quick reply. I hope that they get their act together as I have told a bunch of people about Freei and they are all calling me now wanting to know what happened. I sure wish that Freei would take the time to monitor their tech support and customer service emails. Nothing like talking to the proverbial wall!

[redondo]

I also tryed to download, install and use freei ISP with no luck. The downloading went OK, but when I tryed to connect and set up my account it wouldn't let me. Something
is meesed up at their server. They must figure that because is free they won't kill themselves to fix it, but then why even bother to offer it????

------------------

[MS]

I'm not trying to be a smartass, really, but my Dad always said,

"You get what you pay for"

or

"If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

Take your pick.

[This message has been edited by MS (edited 12-14-1999).]

I have been having trouble with freei.net.
It is acting flaky by not allowing me to log on for the first 2-3 attempts. I have not changed my user name or password and this problem happens intermittently. iHave also noticed that the Ad. banner [v1.0] causes many freezes and crashes--MacsBug told me.
So whenever it does iConnect through remote access w/out it.

About getting what you pay 4: TV is 'free' also in that it is supported by ads-but the set doesn't tell you you don't have permission to watch!

iGuess you do get what you pay for--explains a lot about Trash tv.

I've heard lots of bad stuff about freei. I use freewwweb. I've been using them for two years and have had no major problems. Granted, the speed of their support varies, but it's free, and I haven't needed any real support to speak of. Also, I haven't seen any ads or banners... yet.

Even if their service deteriorates, I'll just drop them and move on, and it won't be any kind of loss for me. That's the bright side about free isp's; you can try them all and skip it if they aren't any good - you've invested nothing.

Ben

freewwweb wants a credit card number.

"Your credit card number is used for age and identity verification only and WILL NOT be charged."

Whom are they kidding???!!!

Cheers, Julie

[wlonh]

freei.net in NYC works like a charm for me, better than my pay-ISP which is one of the best in NYC... I get connection every time at the first try at a higher connection speed than my pay-ISP with freei.net, and have never been 'bumped'...

once again i say your mileage may vary... one just does not know until one finds out for one's self, regardless of the integrity of other's experiences, they are anecdotal and not empirical unless they prove to be true with YOUR Mac on YOUR phoneline in YOUR specific geographical locale, and you wouldn't know that unless you try it yourself.

iUpdated to latest version of Freei--(cooler look, but still uses too much RAM and processor cycles for a banner ad!)

My authentification problems were temporary and iHaven't had them lately.

Any other comments on the new interface?

[Doerter]

The new interface is OK and I have actually been able to connect the last couple of days but the "mail.oh.freei.net" mail server still must be having problems. I can't get any mail from it and any mail I send to it gets bounced back. The ad banner still makes any machine I run it on lock up after a while... and there is no "force quitting" it either.

[penginkun]

Pinged 'em for you. Here's the results:

----mail.oh.freei.net PING Statistics----
15 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

Dead server, at least for now...

[Doerter]

Thanks penginkun, that's what I figured. Maybe they will get it together sometime!

[pkatt]

I use freei occasionally also. It never has worked correctly. I'd rather pay 13.95 a month and have working internet.

[Doerter]

Just a quick update... can still get on the net using the freei access but their mail is still inoperative. And still no response from tech support at Freei. Needless to say, I'm not about to drop my non-free ISP!

[seanyepez]

All,

Ahem... Freei isn't free. They advertise stuff to you. They are paid by huge banner sites such as DoubleClick.net (damn them), etc. I can't even log on to Freei most of the time, as it takes about 10 tries for them to actually connect me. I get this weird dropping "ca-plunk" noise most of the time I attempt to log on. That's why I switched to MindSpring.com - I get online EVERY sinle time.

Go download a different client such as NetZero. They don't drop me, but their ads are worse!

Enjoy,

- Sean Yepez

[omarv]

I have had great success using freewwweb. It's Mac friendly enough and best of all, no banner ads. Works a million times better than Freeinet. Hey I'm saving 15 bucks a month and getting the exact same thing I used to get.

[wlonh]

freewwwb.com is GREAT, period.

they DO NOT require a credit card number at all... and there's NO software to download and NO banners and it is FAST here in NYC, been using it for some weeks (?) now.

the best, for details search MacNN NEWS for keyword 'freewwweb'
and see this: http://forums.macnn.com/cgi-bin/Forum5/HTML/001522.html

detailed instructions: http://collinsnotebook.epinions.com/...3874F965-prod4

[This message has been edited by wlonh (edited 02-07-2000).]

[MS]

Isn't netzero the same thing as freeinet? Or is netzero PC-only.
Freeinet is just not working for me. Every time the banner loads the computer just freezes. I can't get it to work at all.

I bought an iMac a couple weeks ago, and decided to use free internet access. I got the freei software and loaded it up, and got it started. Funny thing was, it crashed itself, but I stayed online with no problems. Now it's easier to just use the PPP connection and skip freei's interface. Some users may be ethical issues with this method (you're not viewing the ads, which are supposedly paying for the service); I have yet to re-review the user agreement.

(I've also talked to many Windoze users that use Windows Networking to access freei.)

Only complaint would be the busy signals, but with 2 numbers to call in my area, I'm usually connected in half a dozen tries.

[wlonh]

netzero.com is a free ISP
freei.net is a free ISP
freewwweb.com is a free ISP


freewwweb is the best so far: NO BANNERS, no JUNK software to download

[MS]

wlonh,
Yes, I realize netzero is another isp, but when I attempted to register, everything was fine until I got to the download part and it said, "no mac version exists yet. Please email us if you are interested..."
So I ask again, is netzero PC-only? Unless there is some hidden way to get a mac version, it appears so.

I have both an iMAC DV 400, and a (ouch)pentium PC. and have down loaded freei.net to both of them. The iMAC crashed and has not been rite since, and on the PC I can recieve e-mail, but not send it out. I have tried to circumvent this by using other mail clients but it is very time consuming. However It is still better than AOL 5.0, which crashes on purpose so often you could set your watch by it.

I have been using freei for several months now with no problems on an iMac Rev. B. I did have trouble creating an account at first because their database listed an incorrect dial up number, but all fixed now. Another interesting side effect of using freei is that I have NO BANNER ADDS. I don't use the freeinet software. After I created an account I use Remote Access to log on to freeinet just as I would anyother ISP. It works great! As far as email goes...I use Outlook Express 5.0 to download all my Hotmail email to my machine ust like a normal email account with my old ISP.

[victor]

Can someone please post the URL for the software download for www.freewwweb.com?

Or can someone tell me where I can find the IP #'s for it so I can just set up netscape?

victor

[wlonh]

do yourself a favor, NEVER use any software from any ISP that is proprietary to that ISP.
it is garbage.

and furthermore it is unnecessary, all the info you need is in this thread.

again:
there's NO software to download and NO banners and it is FAST here in NYC, been using it for some months now.

detailed instructions: http://collinsnotebook.epinions.com/...3874F965-prod4