Zetnet: Internet Service Provider

Interested in getting into the Internet but don't know which Internet 
Service Provider to use? Paul Jones tells you about Zetnet...

I found an news snippet in one of the last issues of ST Format about an 
Internet Server which supported the Atari, namely Zetnet. I decided to 
investigate into them. I phoned up the supplied number, and Zetnet sent me 
a 'information pack'. The pack consisted of four parts - a small brouchure 
about the special PC software made by Zetnet, 'What is the Internet' 
leaflet, a price guide and an order form. I read the 'What is the 
Internet' leaflet which briefly descibes the main features on the 
Internet, including email, newsgroups and the World Wide Web.

I filled in the order form, filling in my own prefered email address 
(paulat.jones@zetnet.co.uk), ticking the box for 'full account' and 
lastly, for the computer type I ticked 'Atari'.

A week later I had a package from Zetnet containing a Windows version of 
software, and a registration form, with the wrong password. I complained, 
and Zetnet told me the Atari software will be sent and the password 
corrected for free, and that I could keep the Windows version. A day or so 
later, the Atari software came and a registration form with the right 
details arrived.

I rushed to my computer and installed the software, which might I add very 
easy to use - the installation asked me a path, and then the files on the 
disk were installed onto my hard drive. Supplied in the 'Zetnet Atari 
Access Pack' was CAB v1.5, MGFTP, STiK v1.2, Telnet, NEWSie and AtarIRC, 
in fact, the very latest versions of every program needed to use the Net. 
After setting my options in the listed programs, and a small edit of the 
supplied script file for STiK, my computer was ready for the Internet.

Features

Zetnet offers all types of connection, including the SLIP protocol which 
STiK can only use at the moment. It also has dynamic IP addressing and 
uses a 0845 number, so your calls to Zetnet act like a local call. The 
sign up fee is œ20. From then on, you can pay either monthly (œ7.50) or 
annualy (œ80), which works out to around œ6.66 a month. Zetnet also have a 
'Zetnet-Atarians mailing list', which as the name suggests is a mailing 
list where Atari users can get together to talk about software problems 
they have on their machines, which anyone can join by sending an email to 
David Henderson asking to join. Also for your money you get five megabytes 
of webspace for your own homepage.

If you are interested in geting onto the Internet, then I reccommend this 
provider. It's cheap, you are supplied all the software you need, it's 
fast, and it is actually supported via the 'Zetnet-Atarians mailing list'.

Contacting Zetnet

The Zetnet Internet Service can be contacted by telephone on 01595 696667, 
fax on 01595 696548, email 'info@zetnet.co.uk' or on their homepages 
'http://www.zetnet.co.uk'. If you already own a Zetnet account, you can 
get your own webspace by asking 'webweaver@zetnet.net' for some.

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Zetnet Logo
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Zetnet text logo