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Gregg Keizer is an Oregon-based freelance technology writer. Alan Stafford is a senior editor for PC World.
The votes are in: Our readers cast their ballots for national and regional Internet service providers. From these survey results, plus our in-depth performance testing and features comparisons, we determine the best ISP in the land.
Getting involved with a caring Internet service provider can lead to a wonderful relationship. For example, Amy Hurka-Owen of Mebane, North Carolina, loves her local Internet service provider, Intrex.net. She loves the way its support personnel jump to help her solve a problem, and she loves the fact that she's never gotten a busy signal.
That hasn't stopped Hurka-Owen, who teaches at nearby Elon College, from thinking about dropping that ISP like a stone. "I've been trying Road Runner this month," she says of Time Warner's cable modem-based Internet service, "and I don't think I can bear to go back to my local provider. Cable is so much faster. With Web pages now so graphical, I think we'll all be forced to go to higher speed and faster connections."
The only stumbling block to her switch is the price: more than double what she pays the local ISP she loves so much. But even though the higher cost may stretch her family's budget, Hurka-Owen can't get over the faster downloads and the way Web pages snap into place. "It's just a speed issue," she says, explaining why she's on the verge of switching.
Hurka-Owen has plenty of company. Millions of Web users are hungry for faster Internet speed, more reliable service, and better support. With the ISP picture mutating faster than a politician's positions in November, now's the time to see if you've got the right connections.
Many Ports In A Storm
The ISP business is huge. According to Boardwatch, a publication that covers the ISP market, more than 7400 Internet service providers now compete for consumer and small-business customers. But the big daddy remains America Online. With membership estimated at 21.4 million by Internet analyst firm Jupiter Communications, AOL dwarfs every other ISP.
Not that others don't dream of challenging AOL's preeminence. EarthLink and MindSpring merged earlier this year, and long-distance telephone carrier Sprint Communications subsequently bought a quarter of...