NetZero
provides high quality Internet service for only $9.95* per month
- thats less than � the price of AOL**.
Direct
access to anywhere on the Internet
Fast,
reliable connections and thousands of access numbers
Instant
messaging compatibility with popular programs such as AOL Instant
Messenger, ICQ, and Yahoo! Messenger
Personalized
e-mail address
Junk
e-mail filtering
Webmail
check your NetZero e-mail from any computer, anywhere
Bannerless
surfing
Fast
page loads
Personal
start page with news, channels, shopping and more
Join
the millions who have discovered the benefits of NetZero Platinum.
Signing up is easy - you can download NetZero
Platinum software in less than two minutes and start using
the Internet immediately - no waiting!
*
Additional phone and live tech support charges may apply.
** Price comparison based upon competitors standard monthly rate
as of 11/1/02.
�
2002 NetZero, Inc. NetZero is a registered trademark of NetZero, Inc.
AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, and ICQ are trademarks of their
respective companies.
Callserve
enables telephone calls
from your PC over the
Internet to anywhere
in the World at the
most competitive rates
available. Home users
can save up to 85% on
long distance calls.
Just download Callserve's
free Internet Telephone
and follow the simple
on-screen instructions.
With
Callserve, you dial
numbers exactly as you
would from a UK-based
cellphone, including
the international dialling
code from the UK when
needed. Most UK users
will find it convenient
to use the dialling
codes they're familiar
with, especially since
the US services tend
to assume you will use
the US codes.
When
the Callserve software
loads, it puts a replica
of a mobile phone on-screen,
and you dial by clicking
on the numbers -- inconveniently,
it doesn't seem to accept
keyboard input. Callserve
doesn't offer you the
option of storing your
PIN on disk, unlike
Net2Phone. There are
a couple of extra 'keys'
you won't find on an
ordinary mobile phone.
One, bearing a '$' sign,
takes you to the Web
pages where you can
add funds to your account.
The other, adorned with
a small 'i', accesses
the online help pages.
The latter are pretty
good as these things
go, but would be improved
by better indexing and
internal linking.
Our
testing with Callserve
went reasonably smoothly,
although the sound quality
suffered because the
service won't work over
BT's NAT-based ADSL
service. This isn't
peculiar to Callserve:
the communications standard
supported by Callserve
and the other services
reviewed here, H.323,
requires a number of
ports to be open on
the user's computer.
BT's NAT (Network Address
Translation) protection
closes these off, and
there is no way for
an individual user to
open them.
This
may be good security,
but it means that if
people want to use popular
services like Internet
phones or video conferencing,
they'll need to get
the non-NAT service
and install their own
firewall. Although this
might seem shortsighted
on BT's part, there's
no compelling reason
for it to support a
technology that, after
all, enables competition
with its core telephone
call business.
Testimonials
"Thank you
for the excellent service
I get from Callserve
and the cheapest Internet
phone calls. You make
my World connection
much easier."
Capt. Mamoun Mokhtar,
Marine Pilot UAE