These companies have a permanent connection to the Internet. They provide you with an Internet connection in your home for a fee. Simply put, they are like a telephone company but provide Internet service instead of telephone service.

Some providers allow you unlimited access at a fixed monthly rate. Others charge a fixed rate for a fixed amount of hours. Additional hours could cost you more.

Internet service providers can be national such as AT&T WorldNet, or local to your community. Most importantly, you should check to see if the ISP provides a local access telephone number. You don't want to be paying long distance telephone charges on top of your Internet access fee.