The launch of BT SurfTime is nearly upon us, many ISP's should sign up to the BT Scheme which is due to start in April, creating a wealth of unlimited access ISP's. But for the moment there is quite a few 0800 access providers with a wealth of options. Most of the ISP's listed here have just launched or are about to launch no provider has started up and not had problems but I suppose that's the way it goes with a new idea.

As many of them have learned from there pervious mistakes. I have put together a list of the current 0800 access providers and rated them on the basis of value and performance (brackets after name denotes current status). To help you choose an ISP I have put together a page that asks you for a couple of questions so you can find the right provider for you. Choose you ISP HERE.

Pay Free Call Providers

BT Internet (Active)
Offers Free Weekend access. Monthly Charge is £11.75.
Problems: Occasional problems with slow routers.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 4/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 3/5

F9 (Active)
Offers Free Weekend access. Monthly Charge is £9.99.
Problems: Tends to be a little slow.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 3/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 3/5

Claranet (Active)
Offers 5 options for freecall Internet access.
1. FreeTime Weekend. Free weekend calls and 20% off  all other calls to Claranet. Monthly Charge £11.99.
2. FreeTime 12. 12-hours/per month, Free off peak access to Claranet. Monthly Charge £5.99.
3. FreeTime 35. 35-hours/per month, Free off peak      access to Claranet. Monthly Charge £14.99.
4. FreeTime 80. 80-hours/per month, Free off peak access to Claranet. Monthly Charge £29.99.
5. FreeTime Unlimited. Free Off peak access to Claranet. Monthly Charge £49.99.
Problems: Has had problems with engaged tones.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 3/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 4/5

PurpleNet fREEdial (Active)
PurpleNet offer 2 packages.
1. fREEdial Weekend. Free calls to fREEdial at the weekend. Monthly charge £9.99.
2. fREEdial plus. Free calls to fREEdial at off-peak times. Monthly charge £49.99.
Problems: Only just started so none at the moment.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 3/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 3/5

Ezesurf (Registration)
Free 24/7 Internet access with lots of extra's such as free domain and free ISDN instillation. But run by the same people as 08004U. Monthly Charge around £20.
Problems: Run by the same people as 08004u so it could be unreliable.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 1/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 5/5 (That's if it works ok)

24-7Freecall (Pre-Registration) 
Free 24/7 Internet access not as many features as Ezesurf but uses Planet. Monthly Charge £24.50.
Problems: Starting Soon (February).
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: N/A
ISPreview Value Rating: 4/5

08004u (Not Sure)
Enough Said.
Problems: Too many to list.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 0/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 1/5

Telewest (Active Feb 14th)
Offers Surf Unlimited open to customers with a Telewest line. Free 24/7 access. Monthly Charge £10. but £29.99 as £10 for Surf Unlimited, you also have to spend £10 on calls and £9.99 line rental.
Problems: Just opened no problems so far.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 4/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 5/5

Games Inferno (Pre-Registration)
Are to offer unlimited access with no call charges under BT Surf time scheme. There are a number of options.
24/7 access: £34.99 per month.
Evenings Only £6.99 per month.
Weekends Only £6.99 per month.
Off Peak Only £13.98 per month.
Problems: Starting when BT Surftime launches. Currently a reliable 0845 access provider, so hopefully it will show no problems in the future.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: N/A
ISPreview Value Rating: 4/5

No Charge Free Call Providers

Callnet0800 (Active)
Offers free 24/7 free call access with a 1 hour cut off. Only catch is that you have to have a box installed, which routes all your calls through Callnet Telecom. Although this can be switched off. Supported by large American company.
Problems: Large backlog of registrations. Has just re-opened signup. Speeds seem ok at present.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 3/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 5/5

0800Freedom (Pre-Registration)
Is going to offer Free 24/7 access launching in the near future probably with a banner add and a few other catches.
Problems: Launch delayed from November to Spring 2000.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: N/A
ISPreview Value Rating: 4/5

X-Stream (Active)
Currently conducted a trial of there 24/7 access service. Incredibly busy during peak times and banner adds when dialled on to X-stream.
Problems: Engaged tones most of the time and you either get disconnected or its very slow.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 3/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 3/5


Free Some of The Time Free Call Providers

Greatxscape (Active)
Initially offered off-peak access for free if you switched your phone company to Telnet but went back on that and now only offers 20 hours off-peak access for free. 
Problems: Started to restricted what they called "Abusers" to 20 hours online. Now new customers can only surf for 20 hours per month. 
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 2/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 4/5

Screaming.net (Active)
The pioneer when it comes to free call internet access. Started in April of last year. Offering free off peak internet access if you switch your phone company to Localtel. Although it has faced some problems with billing because of the dodgy billing software and BT sending the CDR's late. Has 3 hour cut off.
Problems: Various problems with billing on Localtel and speed problems during the summer. The service has improved during late 99. In the last couple of weeks has experienced problems with peering but hopefully this is sorted out now.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 3/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 5/5

IC24 (Active)
Run by the Mirror Group it offers free time on Sundays between 9am and 5pm with a one hour cut off.
Problems: None
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 4/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 3/5

Strayduck (Active)
You dial into them for 2 weeks on an 0845 number and they average the time you spent on their service in those 2 weeks then the third week you get 0800 access for the amount you averaged over 2 weeks. Run my Telinco.
Problems: None.
Current ISPreview Performance Rating: 4/5
ISPreview Value Rating: 3/5

There are some other 0800 ISP that are fake or claim they are going to offer a service and don't produce enough details. These are not worth mentioning here.

Conclusion
As the launch of BT Surftime is so soon it might just be worth waiting till April as many other ISP's will join the unlimited access group but if you can't wait I'd advise you to look at "What 0800 ISP's should I use?" feature. This year is a big turning point for dial-up access to the net. But don't forget about the high bandwidth connections such as ADSL which is also launching this year and should offer unlimited high bandwidth access for about £50 - £60 per month.

Also See What 0800 ISP Should I Use?