My ISP, PacBell, has announced that they are switching to SBC Yahoo! Dial, which will require using their custom software and custom browser. Looks like it is time to bid a "fond farewell". Of the major ISP's, who is good and who isn't? How about MSN, AT&T, and Earthlink?

Earthlink & at&t! I have earthlink at home, i havent had a connection drop in 2 years.

I use earthlink and haven't had any major problems. The customer service is unbeatable. When I have had problems (because of this stupid computer of mine) I give them a call and they walk me through everything on the phone and problem solved in a matter of minutes.

Even though I understand Earthlink is good in some areas it was not in my area, Earthlink bought out Sprint which had always been excellent & reliable, after Earthlink took over I couldn't even get online at night so you might want to check & see if you can find out if they are reliable in your area if you consider Earthlink. Also if it were me I would not use their software since I understand it comes with a customized browser, I did not use their software when I used Earthlink [I no longer use Earthlink, went with a local ISP & the service is much better, cost less too] Good luck with whatever you decide to do

DW, brings up a good point. I live in chicago and its super easy to just switch dial up numbers because we have so many available. And i completely agree about staying away from the earthlink software. Mainly because i doesnt really offer anything. Your connection can be setup manually in Dial-Up Networking. Earthlink doesnt really have a customize browser. It looks more like an IE piggy back of some sort.

I use Earthlink dialup. Their customer service was waaay below par in my opinion (I don't particularly like being "insulted" and "accused") and it was that way on several occasions. Finally got a senior level manager to handle my account and I've got direct access to them :). Not easy to come by, but I'm relentless and was not going to accept their laziness. As for their browser: Yes, it does say "Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by Earthlink" (which can be changed I believe with a registry tweak) and I've gone into "Favorites" and deleted out all of their links. Easy enough to do. For the price I'm paying (free), I'll put up with a few nasties from them :) --Nikki

I've been on Earthlink for 9 years, no problem with a modem connectings and have 5 access numbers in-case of backbone lagging or auth failures. I might get a cable modem thru earthlink in the future :) Live chats with a techies on the website very great services better than using on earthlink's TTY line.