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A list of Chicago area internet service providers 8/17/95 What follows is a description of the services offered, points of contact, and other information about the internet service providers in the Chicago area. The intended audience is those interested in either personal or business internet connections. The emphasis is on individual connections. WHAT'S NEW? * JORSM is a new internet provider in Dyer, Indiana * XNet is now connected to the internet via T1 (1.544Mbps) * MCS has moved to a new location downtown * I Connection is a new provider in Waukegan * InterGlobal is a new provider in Niles * InterAccess now offers ISDN from their downtown location * WorldWide Access has a new access point downtown * A temporary listing of info on new national providers in the area This list is on the web at http://www.mcs.com/~wsmith/providers.html. CHANGES Things are changing rapidly for all these service providers. New services are constantly being added and improved. Thus, you should contact the provider for up-to-date information. Discussion of this list belongs in the chi.internet newsgroup. Send any updates/corrections/comments to me (Randy Smith) at wsmith@etc.com. -------- SERVICES -------- S h S D I e L P e S B Back- M l Quo- I P d D B bone Data a Provider l UNIX ta P P . N S Modem Rate Phone # p Comments -------- - ---- ---- - - - - - ----- ------ ------------ - -------- AIS Y SVR4 5M Y Y Y N N 288 2x1.5m 708-413-1111 A 2,3,4 815-385-1116 312-255-0001 Alternet (UUnet) N -- - Y Y Y N N 288 45m+ 312-946-xxxx a 5 312-803-xxxx CICNet N -- - Y Y Y N N 288 1.5m 312-288-xxxx c 708-968-xxxx CIN Y Linux 5M* Y Y Y ? N 288 1.5m 708-310-1199 C 1,2 708-427-1638 312-622-4652 815-477-1638 CompuServe N -- - N Y N N N 288* - numerous CNSnet N -- - Y Y N N N 288 56k 815-436-0583 z 2 Ganymede Y BSD 5M N Y Y N N 288 56k 708-469-1474 G GES (JvNC) Y Sun 5M Y N Y N N 144 2x1.5m 708-964-xxxx j Grapevine Systems Y Linux 10M* Y Y Y N N 288 1.5m 312-226-1678 g 2 I Connection Y BSDI 10M* Y Y Y N N 288 1.5m 708-662-0490 i 2 InterAccess Y BSDI 5M Y Y Y N N 288 1.5m 708-671-0237 I 1,2,3,5 N 708-715-3050 N 708-716-6633 N 708-532-9472 N 708-260-8539 N 708-885-3123 N 312-205-1900 N 312-705-6633 Y --- 312-849-0322 InterGlobal Y BSDI 10M* Y Y Y ? Y 288 128k 708-298-1120 b 1,2 JORSM Y Linux 5M* Y Y Y N N 288 64k 219-322-2182 J 1,2,3 Lakeland netDIRECT N -- - Y Y Y N Y 288 1.5m 708-223-8610 l 1,2,4 MCS Y BSDI 10M* Y Y Y Y Y 288 2x1.5m 312-248-0900 m 1,2,3,4 N 708-637-0900 N 708-465-0990 N 708-385-0997 N 708-262-0900 N 708-413-8450 N 708-617-4300 Netcom Y Sun 5M Y Y Y N N 144 2x45m 312-380-0340 N 2,4 netILLINOIS N -- - Y Y Y N N 288 1.5m 312-288-0161 n 1 708-968-7208 NETWave N -- - Y Y N N N 288 56k* 708-585-0011 W 1,3 PSI N -- - Y Y Y Y N 288 45m+ 312-565-0102 p PYROtechnics Y Linux * Y Y Y N N 288 128k 708-991-9345 P 1,2,3,4 Ripco Y SVR4 7M* N N N N Y 288 1.5m 312-665-0065 r 2 StarNet N -- - N Y Y N N 288 1.5m 708-382-0174 S 1,2,4 708-577-3820 708-724-4249 708-949-5371 708-420-2924 708-932-4169 708-781-9014 312-395-1349 815-334-1538 815-455-6356 SUBA Y Sun 5M* Y Y Y N N 288 1.5m 312-929-0110 U 1,2 Sun Valley Software Y Sun * N Y Y N Y 288 56k 708-983-5147 s 1,2,3 synet Y IRIX 10M* Y Y Y N N 288 45m+ 708-434-4310 y 1,2 Tezcat Y Sun 20M* Y Y Y N Y 288 256k 312-850-0112 t 2 WorldWide Access Y BSDI 10M* Y Y Y Y N 288 2x1.5m 312-282-8605 w 1,2,3,4 312-233-9990 312-803-1670 708-367-1871 708-620-4064 708-506-1185 XNet Y Sun 10M* Y Y Y ? Y 288 1.5m 708-983-6435 x 2 708-882-1101 312-578-8200 All providers offer e-mail and usenet news service. Five other providers (SprintLink, ANS CO+RE, MCI, Net99, and Ameritech) provide local dedicated service only. Shell - does the provider offer shell (login) accounts on a UNIX machine connected to the internet. Y=yes, N=no UNIX - if the provider offers shell accounts this column gives the type of UNIX operating system provided. Quota - for shell accounts the disk space quota for the account. Additional space can usually be purchased separately, * indicates no hard limit. Term - does the provider offer a terminal server access service. This gives access to a terminal server connected to the internet, the user needs to have an account on some other internet connected computer. This type of account is becoming less common, and is often not very cost effective compared to a shell account. SLIP - Serial Line Internet Protocol - does the provider offer dialup SLIP access to the internet. SLIP (and PPP) access allows you to use graphical interfaces to network services from a PC, Mac or UNIX workstation. PPP - Point to Point Protocol - does the provider offer PPP dialup access to the internet. PPP is newer than SLIP and is gaining popularity. Select SLIP or PPP based on whatever software is easier for you to use on your platform. Ded. - does the provider offer dedicated line services. This can range from dedicated analog lines to T1 (1.544 Mbps) and beyond. ISDN - does the provider offer ISDN dialup. Only providers that currently are providing this service are marked Y, some others have indicated they are willing to provide it if people are interested. ISDN supports raw data rates of 56 or 64 kbps (using 1 B channel) up to 128 kbps (using 2 B channels). ISDN phone service is available from both Ameritech and Centel. Single channel ISDN is expensive, but if you use two channels (one voice and one data) the price is close to that of two analog phone lines (though still higher). Ameritech residential rates for basic voice+data service range from $28.82/mo in the loop to $35.27/mo in the suburbs. Centel rates for voice+data are $46.65/mo. NOTE: these rates may change and should be checked for your specific configuration. Equipment and installation charges are expensive with ISDN. Choosing the right equipment for data is very difficult at present. Also, note that there are no untimed calls with Centel ISDN. Ameritech ISDN per call charges are the same as normal phone rates for residential customers. For more information Ameritech customers call 1-800-team-data, Centel customers call 708-768-6868 and ask for a Sales Exec. Modem - Basic dialup modem rate in hundreds of bits per second. You can assume that higher speed modems will handle lower speeds in most cases. A * indicates that some areas are not served by the highest speed modems. If using SLIP or PPP 28,800 bps is strongly recommended. The v.34 28,800 bps standard has been approved, and v.34 modems are available (prices starting under $200). v.FC (Fast Class) 28,800 bps modems are available for prices starting under $150. v.FC modems are NOT v.34 (formerly v.FAST) standard modems, but are a snapshot of the v.34 standard at a point in time. Some modem manufacturers have backwards compatible support for v.FC in their v.34 products. However, v.FC modems do not interoperate with some v.34 modems. Check with the provider to determine if their modems are v.FC, v.34 or both. Backbone Rate - line speed of the providers connection to the internet. Connection speeds may be rounded off for space reasons. T1 is 1.544 Mbps (million bits per second) and is listed as 1.5m, T3 is 44.736 Mbps and is listed at 45m. + indicates provider runs additional lower speed connections to Chicago for extra bandwidth and reliability. For example, 2x1.5m+ would indicate a site with 2 T1 network connections and one or more slower connections. Note that faster connections do not necessarily imply better access speeds for the user. Numerous other issues affect your performance, including: (1) the number of other customers, (2) the speed of the networks the provider connects with, (3) the internal traffic routing schemes used by providers with multiple links. Data Phone # - providers phone number(s) for modem dialup. This is primarily intended to show the telephone area code and exchange so that you can determine your phone company rate for connecting to the service via dialup. You may need a different phone number to dial in at the highest data rates. Map - the symbol used on the ASCII map (below) to show the location of the telephone company central office(s) for the provider. Comments - 1) Has a no busy signal policy or guarantee for dialups 2) Offers a discount for paying multiple months in advance 3) Free trial period 4) Clarinet wire services news available free with subscription 5) Clarinet available for a fee In addition to the providers listed above there are two other classes of providers that offer internet related services: 1) Online services (e.g. America Online, Delphi, CompuServe, Prodigy, ...) 2) Systems that offer news and e-mail only Traditional online services are now getting connected to the internet. All the online services offer e-mail to/from the internet. At present America Online, Delphi, Prodigy and CompuServe also provide access to usenet news. Delphi offers a more traditional internet interface, allowing the use of most ASCII based internet services. America Online provides e-mail, news, gopher, wais, and a beta version World Wide Web browser through their graphical user interface. CompuServe has the ability to download files from the internet via FTP, and has recently made PPP internet access available allowing users to select the web browser of their choice. Prodigy has World Wide Web access for its users through their own web interface. Online services are a very expensive way of getting access to the internet because of their high hourly usage rates ($2.90/hr to $13/hr depending on the time of day, plus monthly fees) and slow speed (faster 28,800 bps modems are just starting to become available). The online services have numerous dialup locations sprinkled throughout the Chicago metropolitan area (which means local phone charges are usually in the lowest rate band). Online services are becoming more attractive as they begin to offer more internet services, and they can be a low cost option for someone who doesn't plan to spend much time online. CompuServe leads the crowd by being the first to offer true PPP internet access at rates that are competitive for low volume users. Prodigy and America Online are the runners-up with their web browser capabilities. E-mail and news only providers offer what are probably the two most popular internet services. Technically these are not "internet services", as each service is available without an Internet (TCP/IP) connection. E-mail and news only providers can be much less expensive (see the RATES section) and are a reasonable option for someone who wants only those services. Many of the more advanced internet services can be accessed from these providers via a primitive e-mail interface. However, if you plan on using any of those services with any frequency you should really get an account with a true internet service provider (often called "live internet" in marketing blurbs). For more information on news+email only providers I recommend looking at the "Chicago email FAQ" posted periodically to chi.mail by Doug Blair. Several internet providers located in other parts of the country are starting to offer local Chicago area access. These providers enable local Chicago area access by reselling other national dialup networks or by setting up their own local access points. Hourly network access charges are generally higher with these providers than those in the rest of this list. Many also require a long distance toll call for any type of inquiry. The following providers fall into this category: Concentric, CRL, Global Connect, and Holonet. Another national provider, Thoughport has a local office in Chicago and sells services primarily to businessed. Several other providers are in the process of establishing nationwide access. National Providers Voice Data Provider Phone Number e-mail Phone numbers -------- ------------ ------ ------------- Concentric 800-745-2747 crcsales@concentric.net 708-255-0770 CRL 415-837-5300 support@crl.com 312-663-5470 Global Connect 804-229-4484 info@gc.net 708-982-xxxx 708-397-xxxx 312-207-xxxx 219-887-xxxx Holonet 510-704-0160 support@holonet.net 312-201-0711 312-693-4100 708-801-9468 708-261-0040 815-939-0129 815-226-9871 219-884-4940 Thoughtport 312-862-6870 info@thoughtport.com businesses only (312) -------- CONTACTS -------- Voice e-mail Provider Phone Number Auto Response Human Response -------- ------------ ------------- -------------- AIS 312-255-8500 info@ais.net Alternet (UUnet) 800-4UUNET6 info@alter.net America Online 800-827-6364 info@aol.com postmaster@aol.com Ameritech 800-TEAM-DATA ANS CO+RE 800-456-8267 info@ans.net CICNet 800-947-4754 info@cic.net CIN 708-310-1188 info@cin.net CompuServe 800-848-8199 CNSnet 815-436-6352 info@cnsnet.com Delphi 800-695-4005 askdelphi@delphi.com Ganymede 708-469-1474 info@ganymede.net support@ganymede.net GES (JvNC) 800-35TIGER info@jvnc.net market@jvnc.net Grapevine Systems 312-226-1675 info@grapevine-sys.com I Connection 708-662-0877 info@iconnect.net support@iconnect.net InterAccess 708-498-2542 info@interaccess.com InterGlobal 708-298-9933 info@igcom.net JORSM 219-322-2180 info@jorsm.com Lakeland netDIRECT 708-223-8199 service@lnd.com MCI 708-947-2120 648-5560@mcimail.com MCS 312-803-MCS1 rate-request@mcs.com info@mcs.com Netcom 800-501-8649 info@netcom.com support@netcom.com netILLINOIS 708-866-1825 p-roll@nwu.edu NETWave 800-961-WAVE info@maui.netwave.net Prodigy 800-776-3449 PSI 800-82PSI82 all-info@psi.com info@psi.com PYROtechnics 708-991-9345 info@pyrotechnics.com Ripco 312-477-6210 info@ripco.com sysop@ripco.com SprintLink 800-817-7755 info@sprintlink.net StarNet 708-382-0099 starnet@starnetinc.com starnet@starnetinc.com Sun Valley Software 708-983-0889 ken@grayfox.svs.com SUBA 312-929-8008 info@suba.com synet 708-271-1500 info@synet.net taz@synet.net Tezcat 312-850-0181 info@tezcat.com sales@tezcat.com WorldWide Access 312-803-9921 info@wwa.com support@wwa.com XNet 708-983-6064 info@xnet.com admin@xnet.com An e-mail message sent to the auto response address will automatically send back a reply with information about the services the provider offers (or instructions on how to obtain that information via e-mail). --------- LOCATIONS --------- Provider Address -------- ------- AIS 980 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 875, Chicago, IL 60611 Alternet (UUnet) 3060 Williams Drive, 6th floor, Fairfax, VA 22031 America Online 8619 Westwood Center Dr., Vienna, VA 22182 Ameritech 2000 W. Ameritech Center Dr., Hoffman Estates, IL 60196 ANS CO+RE 100 Pheonix Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48108-2202 CICNet 2901 Hubbard Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48105 CIN 721 W. Golf Rd., Hoffman Estates, IL 60194 CompuServe 5000 Arlington Centre Blvd, PO Box 20212, Columbus OH 43220 CNSnet 2405 Essington Rd. #72, Joliet, IL 60435 Delphi 1030 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138 Ganymede 860 Hill Avenue, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 GES (JvNC) 3 Independence Way, Princeton, NJ 08540 Grapevine Systems 120 North Green Street, Chicago, IL 60607 I Connection 2504 Washington St., Suite 201-6, Waukegan, IL 60085 InterAccess 3345 Commercial Avenue, Northbrook, IL 60062 InterGlobal 8616 W. Golf Rd., Suite 301, Niles, IL 60714 JORSM P.O. Box 134, Dyer, IN 46311 Lakeland netDIRECT 30 South Whitney St., Grayslake, IL 60030 MCI 1801 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington DC 20006 MCS 2 Prudential Plaza, 180 N. Stetson, #2625, Chicago, IL 60601 Netcom 4000 Moorpark Ave, Suite 209, San Jose, CA 95117 netILLINOIS 1840 Oak Ave, Evanston, IL 60201 NETWave P.O. Box 6352, Aurora, IL 60598-6352 Prodigy 445 Hamilton Ave, White Plains, NY 10601 PSI 125 South Wacker Drive, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60606 PYROtechnics 1566 Algonquin Rd., Suite 112, Hoffman Estates, IL 60195 Ripco 3163 North Clybourn, Chicago, IL 60618 SprintLink 13221 Woodland Park Dr., Herndon VA 22071 StarNet 522 South Northwest Highway, Barrington, IL 60010 SUBA 2945 North Broadway, Chicago, IL 60657 Sun Valley Software P.O. Box 3056, Lisle, IL 60532-8056 synet 1401 W. Branding Ln. Suite 230, Downers Grove, IL 60515 Tezcat 1573-a N. Milwaukee, Suite 440, Chicago, IL 60622 WorldWide Access 20 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 766, Chicago, IL 60606 XNet 3080 E. Ogden Ave. Suite 202, Lisle, IL 60532 RATES ----- Rates for UNIX internet dialup (shell access) range from $11 to $25 per month flat rate (no hourly charges) and from $5 + $2.30/hr to $10 + $1/hr metered service (often some number of hours are included in the metered accounts, usually 15hrs). Rates for GES are not included in these ranges, since they are much higher than the other providers rates. Rates for SLIP/PPP dialup range from $12 to $250 per month flat rate and from $0 + $1.00/hr to $29 + $4.95/hr for metered service. Flat rates can be hard to compare for SLIP/PPP because some providers are offering full-time (dedicated) dialup, while others are assuming non-dedicated use. Dedicated use may provide static IP address assignment allowing you to offer your own outbound internet services. Some providers charge setup fees for accounts (up to $150), others don't. Typical setup fees are $20 or less for personal dialup accounts. Some providers charge for software (up to $400), some don't charge anything (and generally provide freeware), others don't provide software. Cost here depends on the software (freeware is cheaper, vaporware is cheapest). If you're interested in SLIP/PPP service you should check to see what software (and support) the providers offer because locating all the useful programs for your platform can be a time-consuming task. Rates for dedicated services should be negotiated with the providers. At this level equipment may be purchased or leased. Rates and services vary widely. The news+email only providers often offer one or both of these services free of charge. Generally, paying members (often referred to as "contributors") get better service as some combination of (1) access to both news+e-mail, (2) use of higher speed modems, (3) larger connect time allowance. Contributor status usually costs $20-$50 per year (most are in the $20's). Rates are hard to compare between the different service providers because the rate structures are often different and the services themselves are slightly different. Some services are metered, some aren't, some have account setup fees, others don't. Finally, some providers have different rates for personal and business use - I've used the personal rates above. OTHER ISSUES ------------ Here are a few other things you might want to consider when selecting a provider: 1) The book "Connecting to the Internet" by Susan Estrada from O'Reilly & Associates contains lots of good information about connecting to the internet. 2) Insure that the provider you select is suited to deal with your needs and level of expertise (or inexpertise). 3) Be sure to calculate your telephone company charges when using any of these services - they will affect your cost. Ameritech residential calls within 8 miles (central office to central office) are unmetered, and are significantly less expensive for businesses. Centel (Sprint) residential calls to other Centel customers are unmetered and calls to Ameritech customers are unmetered when the distance between rate centers is less than 8 miles (a rate center is analogous to an Ameritech central office for the purpose of rate computation). Check your phone book to see which exchanges are local for you and for other rate info (Centel customers should call 708-768-6000 until they get a new phone book because Centel rates changed October 3, 1994). See the map below for a rough idea of where the central offices are for the providers. Ameritech customers can call 800-244-4444 and ask for a "map and prefix list" to get information on rates to all exchanges. Centel customers call 708-768-6000 and ask for a Centel brochure. 4) How available are support personnel? Do their hours fit your schedule? What kinds of problems will they help you with? 5) Consider the amount of downtime (scheduled and unscheduled) and whether that will affect you. 6) What happens if all your providers dialups are busy? Some will buy more modems and/or credit your account. 7) Beware of extra charges, e.g. Alternet charges SLIP/PPP customers for for POPmail and NNTP (news) services separately. 8) TIA (The Internet Adapter) can be used to convert a shell account into a SLIP account (with some minor limitations). TIA works with the systems used by most (but not all) of the Chicago area shell account providers. More information on TIA is available by sending e-mail to tia-info@marketplace.com. If you are interested you should check with the provider to see if they allow or encourage the use of TIA. 9) This survey primarily covers internet connections for individuals. If you are interested in a dedicated connection there are numerous issues that you should be prepared to address. You need an expert to handle some of these issues, so if you don't have one on staff you should either hire one or get the assistance of a service provider who will help you with all aspects of your service (including security!). MAP --- The characters on the map below represent the approximate position of the telephone company central office(s) for each provider. This is important for figuring your telephone company charges when calling the provider (see issue #3 above). Due to space constraints these positions may be off by a couple characters in any direction. To ascertain which providers might be in your local calling area check a box approximately 14 characters vertically by 22 characters horizontally centered at your location. Then check the data phone #'s of those providers (from the SERVICES list at the top of this file) with the phone company for a final determination. A AIS J JORSM S StarNet a Alternet j GES (JvNC) s Sun Valley Software b InterGlobal l Lakeland t Tezcat C CIN m MCS U SUBA c CICNet N Netcom W NETWave G Ganymede n netILLINOIS w WorldWide Access g Grapevine Systems P PYROtechnics x XNet I InterAccess p PSI y synet i I Connection r Ripco z CNSnet Wisconsin | ----------------+-------------------------------+ McHENRY |LAKE | | | | / A | Waukegan| S | l i | C,S | Liberty | Crystal | ville | Lake | w,S | | S \ -------------+--+-------------------------------+ KANE |COOK P S m I \ | Palatine \_ +-+ C,x,I \_ | Schaumburg C b S \_ Lake | m,S,A Evanston\ Michigan +-----------------------+ N | |DUPAGE | \ St. | | I w,I \ Charles | | C U,m,r\ | Wheaton G w S m| Oak S | m | I Oak | Park A,x\ | y Brook| CHICAGO p| | c,n,j I | LaGrange t g,a,I\ | m,s,S,x | \ Aurora |W Naperville | | | | \ -----------+------------------+ / c,n | KENDALL |WILL | / w \ | Bolingbrook +--+ Oak \ | | Lawn +--\ | +--------+ m | ------- | | |LAKE Gary | | I |Indiana | +-------+ | | z | | Griffith | Joliet | | J | +--------------------+ | | | | Approximate scale (very rough, McHenry + Lake are compressed vertically): 1 character vertical = 2 miles 1 character horizontal = 1 mile Copyright (c) 1994, 1995 Randy Smith. All Rights Reserved. This document may be redistributed freely provided it is not used in a for-profit medium without the authors permission.