FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. How much does the service cost?
Program packages have a one-time start-up fee of $200 dollars. This fee provides the
ISP with full access to all existing and future Start-a-ISP sites.
Monthly fees are charged on a per PPP account basis. Monthly charges range from $10.00
to $8.00 per month for single channel analog or a 64K ISDN account. ISDN 2(b) channel
accounts, 128K, and shotgun dual analog accounts range between $20.00 and $16.00 per
month.
2. What hardware is used in a typical site?
Located within a typical site is a Cisco router, a 100MB network switch, and Livingston
PM3's. We use a standard sizing model for building a site. Each site will have a limit of
(200) modem ports for each full T1 bandwidth to the internet backbone. As sites grow in
size, we continue to add additional T1 circuits for internet backbone connectivity. This
provides a more redundant approach to expansion in that if one of the T1 circuits failed,
we would still have active service through other T1s in the site.
3. When do I pay for my accounts?
All monthly usage invoices are paid by the customer by one of two methods. The first
method is our Enduser Billing Service where we can charge your endusers CC's on a monthly
basis and send you out a check minus our fees. This is also a great service that can be
setup within 24 hours and does not require merchant approval. The second method is
deposits placed on your account. All accounts will need to be prepaid at our wholesale
rates and you then do the collecting for the enduser account fees yourself.
4. Who owns the accounts?
Your customers, and their accounts, are owned by you. We do not make any claim to the
ownership or control over an account. You are free to move accounts between our service
and someone else's service without restriction.
5. How does email work?
Remember, if you are connected to the internet, anywhere, you can check email anywhere
as well. You don't have to be connected to your own network to check email in your
network. Email settings for your users will be no different regardless if they are
connected to the internet through a Start-a-ISP location or your own modem pool.
6. How does UseNet/News service work?
News service is available as a BASIC Service, or you can use your own News service. If
you are using your own News service, you will have to place all the dial-up IP address
Class C address blocks into your News server's allowable access file.
7. Whose DNS is used for the dial-up User?
All sites deploy equipment that provides "server assigned DNS", "server
assigned gateway", and "dynamic IP assignment". This means the standard PPP
dialer you issue to your clients can connect to any site without making any changes to
their settings. The DNS settings will be passed to the dial-up user's software
automatically. If your user does not have dial-up software that can receive automatic DNS
information, then you should provide them with your DNS information upon set-up.
8. How do I create an account for my customer?
Available in the Start-a-ISP
Backroom we have put together an account management system. It is a form driven
web interface used to activate, modify, and delete accounts. The account manager runs
every minute and processes the accounts you submitted.
