Standard Features - All NetHeaven accounts include all of these features, which are described in detail in the next section. Some accounts have additional features as well.
- Dialup Access - including 56k dialup, 125 hours/month
- No Busy Signals!
- Toll Free Dialup Access - one free hour/month
- Static IP Address
- Web Hosting including
- Website - do-it-yourself (10 MB)
- Virtual Server - name-based
- Network Tunnel - connect from another ISP
- Static IP Address - run a server
- Continuous Tunnel Connection
- Email - two mailboxes (two email accounts)
- Toll Free Support
- Business Use
- Domain Services - registration, DNS, email mapping
- Security/Accessibility Choice
- Subnet - for home or office network
- Anonymous FTP Site
- Usenet - 60,000+ newsgroups
- Accounts May be Shared - split the cost!
- Additional mailboxes - $5/mo each
- Additional domains - $10/mo each, includes a virtual server
- Additional file space - $5/mo/5MB
- Additional IP addresses - up to 8 included, $10/mo for second 8, inquire for more
- Additional network tunnels - $10/mo each
- Weekly Web Hit analyses - sample report - $5/mo
All NetHeaven accounts, regardless of type, include dialup access. We just don't see any reason not to include it, and it simplifies things for us not to have to distinguish among users, some allowed to dial in and some not. So everyone gets it whether they use it or not, and people who initially don't expect ever to use it sometimes find it useful on occasion.For many NetHeaven users, dialup acccess is the primary reason for having an account.
The dialup access has a 125-hour monthly limit on connection time. That limit is intended to prevent busy signals while being more than enough time for nearly all users. We do not count use at times when busy signals are not a threat. That generally means before 9 am and after 11 pm, during lighter-user summer months, or on access numbers with surplus capacity. These conditions vary over time, and excess use that we overlook at one time may become unacceptable later.
Some accounts include ISDN dialup access, which is dialup using ISDN digital phone service at both ends. You need an ISDN digital phone line to make ISDN calls to us and use ISDN dialup.
Our ISDN access numbers can receive non-ISDN calls, so the same access numbers provide both ISDN and non-ISDN dialup.
No Busy Signals. When we say no busy signals, we mean it. A busy signal on one of our access numbers almost always means the telephone service is out of order. (When digital telephone service is out of order it generates a signal called a "fast busy" that sound a lot like a busy signal.)
We can't prevent telephone outages, but we can and do prevent our lines from filling up. For example, during 1999 one of our sixteen access numbers was occasionally full, on average about two minutes per day. To prevent that from getting worse, we stopped accepting new users of that access number.
Toll Free Access. All NetHeaven accounts include one hour per month of toll free access, enough for traveling users to keep up with their email. (Some special accounts include more toll-free use.) We bill for excess use at approximately our cost plus 10% rounded up to the next whole dollar. This works out to roughly $6.00/hour. Free trials do not include toll-free access.
Our toll-free access numbers (1-888-278-9525 and 1-877-638-4861) terminate on digital access lines and support 56k connections (V.90 and K56Flex). Users can choose whichever number gives them the best connections from any given location.
Static IP Address. When you log onto the Internet, your computer is assigned a number called its IP address. This number identifies your computer to the Internet and tells other computers how to send data to it. If people such as employers or clients need to be able to find you or identify you, it is useful always to have the same identity. Most services charge extra for this, but we do not.
All NetHeaven accounts are web hosting accounts. Just as we see no reason not to include dialup, we see no reason not to include web hosting. Members who don't need it don't have to use it, but always including it means we don't have to keep track of who gets it and who doesn't.Website. All NetHeaven accounts include a do-it-yourself website for business or personal use. We provide the space and server, you provide the design and implementation.
There are special free features we offer for business websites. We recommend you become familiar with them before establishing your business website. See: How to use your Web space for a business site.
Our websites are not intended for highly active sites, and sites accounting for more than 1% of the total load on our server may be subject to additional charges. Such charges will only be on a "going forward" basis and only after the user is given a chance to avoid them by reducing the site's activity. (In seven years of operation we have never had to impose such charges.)
Virtual Server. A virtual server is what lets your website address be
http://www.yourdomain instead of having to behttp://www.yourdomain/yourdirectory You need domain services for this, and they're included too. Because they are for more than just web hosting use, they're covered separately below.
A Network tunnel enables someone who connects to the Internet through another ISP to "tunnel" to our network and become part of it. Their computer gets a new IP address, one on our network. Tunnels can be very long, so users do not have to be in our local area to be on our network.Static IP Address. The new IP address is the same every time the user establishes the tunnel. This enables the user to run a server on his or her computer and have the server be on our network. A static IP address also simplifies peer-to-peer networking.
When combined with a subnet (another NetHeaven account feature described below), a static IP address enables a user to run a small network of servers. This requires that the computer establishing the tunnel (but not those running the servers) be capable of gatewaying. UNIX systems are capable of this, but most Windows systems are not. However, Windows NT and 2000 systems are.
Continuous Tunnel Connection. A tunnel uses almost no resources when it's idle, so users with 24x7 access to the Internet can leave their tunnel up 24x7. If they run a server, their server can be always on the Internet as well as always at the same IP address.
All NetHeaven accounts include at least two mailboxes (two email accounts), and some include more. These can be for different users, to encourage account sharing, or they can be for different uses by the same user, such as personal and business.
Our regular support hours are 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. We're sometimes available at other times also.Whether you call a local number or our 800 number (1-800-910-6671), you will reach a user of NetHeaven who understands the user's perspective and speaks unaccented English. Some of the time he or she will be working from home and may even be your neighbor.
All NetHeaven accounts are usable for business use. We not only permit business use, we encourage it. Our membership features are designed to promote business use.Business use means real business, not "make-money-fast" scams or mass marketing via email ("spam"). Those are not tolerated here.
You need a domain to make use of the virtual server, and we include the services needed to register and make use of a domain. These include
- Applying for your domain registration
- Primary DNS (Domain Name Service)
- Dual off-site secondary DNS
- Email services such as address mapping and mail forwarding
NetHeaven domain services are included with any account, but the domain registrar will charge you an annual fee to maintain registration of your domain. You can reduce this fee by doing the registration yourself through one of the low-cost registrars.
Free trials do not include domain services. If you want to register a domain right away, we require a non-refundable deposit equal to payment for a month. You still get a free month; the deposit is applied as payment for your second month.
By default we prevent access to our users' mail and files from off our own network, to improve security. Security is never perfect, but this provides more than at most Internet services.However, this is also an inconvenience to some users who want access to their accounts from other places. For these users we have a more accessible "external" server. Users choosing to be on this server can access their mail and files from anywhere. The tradeoff is they must live with less security and significantly more obscure passwords, and they may have to change their password from time to time.
As an alternative, our users can use the network tunnel feature of their account to connect to our network through another ISP and have access to their mail and files without having them on the external server.
Users having their website done by a webcrafter on another network generally need to have their website on our more accessible server.
A subnet is a block of IP addresses for use on a local network in a home or office. Even a dialup connection can be used to connect such a network if the computer making the dialup connection is capable of having data packets transmitted through it. Then each computer on the network can use the Internet. We will provide an 8-address subnet (enough for a network of 6 computers) at no additional charge.
Anonymous FTP predates the Web as a means of distributing information to anonymous users. Where the Web is well adapted to downloading data for immediate viewing, anonymous FTP is most used for cases where data is to be downloaded and stored for later use.Users wanting the FTP site option get a special second ID that lets them FTP data into the site, from which anyone can download it by anonymous FTP. Anonymous uploads are not supported.
Usenet is like a global bulletin board, divided into topical areas called newsgroups and accessible via Web browsers (Netscape, Internet Explorer, etc.) We buy this service for our members from Altopia, Inc., a company that sells only Usenet news . They carry more than 60,000 newsgroups. Access to this is available to all account holders.Usenet access must be from a NetHeaven IP address. For our direct access users (dialup, DSL) that is automatic. Access through a network tunnel from another ISP to our network also is from a NetHeaven IP address.
We encourage sharing of NetHeaven as a way for people who could not afford individual accounts to join together and split the cost. The second mailbox makes it possible for two users of one account to have separate email. Some users have even turned account sharing into small businesses by selling off parts of their account.We do expect that one person will be our point of contact for the account. He or she will take responsibility for use and payment and will be eligible to make support calls. Secondary users may call for support but may be asked to call back at a less-busy time.