I kept using AMEXOL.NET until a month ago. Amex kept changing their minds about how they were going to bill and how much, so it was (is) still free. It looks like they have finally made up their minds this time. On July 2, 2001, American Express will replace the existing free AmexOL Internet service fee structure and implement a simple pricing arrangement. For the first 75 hours of Internet usage each monthly billing period you will be charged $12.95. If your Internet usage exceeds 75 hours for any monthly billing period, you will be charged $29.95 for that period.
I called AmexOL to enquire if they were still going to have pop-up adds. They did not know if there were still going to be adds. In my opinion, the adds on Amex are not bad as you can turn them off with a little fine tuning in your start up options (look a bit back in this thread.) However, for the new fee structure I am not about to have adds. The new service is a bit pricy at $29.95.
I tried the AT&T $7/7c internet/long-distance plan, you can get miles on CO that way. However, it states clearly in their contract that you are not allowed to turn off the adds, or you will be charged the premium rate for AT&T access. These adds are more then obtrusive, at least AmexOL adds are not huge and always present! How would AT&T know if you turn off the adds? AT&T 7/7 software has a history keeper/communicator in it. If you disable the history program, you get disconnected after only a few minutes, and if the history tracker does not connect every so often, the other ends hangs up. The history keeper tells AT&T that there has been no add traffic (at least this is what I am thinking at the moment) and then up go your rates.
So, I am now trying the 3 month free trial of MSN, who now offers POP3 again, just like Amex does. Question is, do I want to pay for it (MSN)or go on the free internet hunt again? If I pay for internet access, who offers the best with an international deal (I am not for AOL, I want to only use Windows to make my connection, no special software?)