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Access the Internet With Juno Web

The new Internet service is reliable, fast, and includes the popular e-mail client.

By Lisa Moskowitz, PCWorld   

One of those ISPs is Juno Web, which provides unlimited access for $14.95 per month for the first three months, after which the monthly fee goes to $19.95. Juno Web is the Internet-access component of the popular Juno e-mail client which is free of charge, but requires users to live with advertisements.

To access Juno Web, you must first download and install Juno e-mail, which can be somewhat time consuming, considering the 23-question profile you must fill out in order to receive it for free. This profile gives advertisers a general idea of Juno's demographics. Once you have that installed, simply click the Web button to sign up for Internet access. You'll be prompted to enter your credit-card number and then to download Juno 2.0 or request a CD-ROM. It took me about 15 minutes to download the upgrade using a 33.6-kbps modem.

After the software is installed, click the Get New Mail button in the e-mail interface and Juno will recognize that you've signed up for a new service, which should take effect within 4 hours of your signing up. You will need to answer a few general questions about your phone service and set up your access numbers. Juno Web will then automatically launch Netscape Navigator 3.01. You can upgrade to more recent versions of both Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer if you wish.

I found Juno Web to be a quick, reliable service. Over the course of three days, I connected to the Web in the mornings between 7:30 and 9:00, in the late afternoon around 3:00, and again in the evening after 8:00. I was able to access the Internet within a minute of dialing in. I encountered access problems only when I tried to connect when there was a voice-mail message waiting for me in my phone-company mailbox. Juno needs a regular dial tone, but my phone emits a series of short beeps to notify me of a waiting message.

Once I got to the Web, pages popped up quickly--in an average of 8 seconds for text only and 20 seconds for pages with graphics. If your Web account is inactive for more than 15 minutes, you'll be logged off. When I tried to switch accounts while connected to the Web, my system crashed and I had to reboot. Juno technician Bill Phalen says they've tested the same scenario at Juno without trouble. While you can have as many e-mail accounts as you wish on a single PC, you can only have one Juno Web account per PC.

A single interface lets you access your e-mail and connect to the Internet. Three tabs--Read, Write, and Web--and a menu bar guide you through the service. You can create folders and import or export them from and to your hard drive or a disk. You can attach both graphic and text files (a feature also available with Juno Gold for $2.95 per month, but not with the basic service) and select a font style as well as text and background colors. You can also create a signature file up to 400 characters long and perform a spell check on each message. Juno e-mail delivered a text-only message to my Yahoo account in less than 2 minutes and a 102KB message that included an attached text file in about 4 minutes.

Juno boasts more than 1000 access numbers, or points of presence, for both its e-mail and Web services, and it supports both ISDN and 56-kbps connections. Right now, the service is being upgraded to support the v.90 protocol. Currently, there are approximately 24,000 people using Juno Web. That's nothing compared to the more than 13 million on AOL; and it might account for the service's quick response time. The real test will come if and when a majority of Juno's 5.8 million e-mail users sign up for Juno Web.

Juno's help and technical support is pretty comprehensive, although West Coast folks like me who surf the Web past midnight EST won't always be able to get live technical support. You will find a great deal of helpful information on the Juno Web site, or you can send e-mail to support@juno.com. And if you have a suggestion for the big cheese, you can send him e-mail at president@juno.com.

Overall, Juno Web is a reliable, fast Internet provider with a tried-and-true e-mail client that's hard to beat.