THE SECRET
Internet Service
Providers want you to think that they are each
better than the next. "We've got the fastest
dial-up!", "Our network is the most
stable!", "We've got more modems than
other providers!" are all common claims
various ISP's make on their web sites.
The "Dirty
Secret" most ISP's won't tell you is, they
all use the same upstream providers. The days
of each ISP owning, maintaining and provisioning
their own dial-up equipment have long past.
Nearly all Internet
Providers, even the national big names like AOL,
EarthLink, PeoplePC, NetZero, all lease access
to an "Upstream" provider. Some of the more
popular upstream providers include O1, Level3,
AT&T, MCI, Qwest, ELI, PacWest and others. All
of these "Upstream" providers all offer,
basically, the same service, and they're all
about the same as far as performance and
reliability.
In our area, many
local ISP's, including NorCal Internet, use O1
Communications.
So, you might ask
yourself, what makes one ISP better than the
next? Well, since reliability and performance
is going to be basically the same from one ISP
to the next, the main difference between ISP's
is their price & customer service.
Some ISP's don't
specialize in Internet related fields. They may
sell office products, furniture, or a variety of
other items. Internet is just another one of
their products. Their hope is that by selling
you Internet, they can also market you their
other products, whether you want them or not.
You're just another product on the shelf to
them. They claim they provide great customer
service, but then start cutting back the hours
that customer service is available to you.
Their plan?
Eventually, they'll sell off your account to
another ISP, take the money and run. Milk the
product for as long as they can, then dump it.
When they're done, they'll go back to selling
their "Core" products; the other products on the
shelf.
HOW IS NORCAL
INTERNET DIFFERENT?
We're a family owned
and operated ISP. We ONLY sell
Internet and Internet related services. This
* IS * our business, and we take it
seriously. Whether it's hosting your website or
providing you with various forms of Internet
connectivity, we have only one objective in
mind. Making sure your Internet experience is
the best it can be. Period.
Unlike other local
providers, we offer 24 hour a day, 7 days a week
telephone technical support, and to top it off,
we're one of the most competitively priced
providers around!
Now that you're
armed with the truth about ISP's, we're
confident you'll choose us to provide your
Internet service.
INTERNET
SERVICE PROVIDER SECRETS