Choosing an Internet Service Provider
TJU Already Provides Some Off-Campus Internet Services. Why Should
I Spend Money on Commercial Access?
Thomas Jefferson University provides direct
dialup, and graphical access accounts for faculty and staff
via the department of Information
Services (IS).
If one or more of these reasons applies to you, you should consider
buying additional access.
- You're a student who lives off campus
The University doesn't provide free dialup accounts to students.
You need to buy an access contract from an Internet Service Provider.
Do some comparative shopping at the List of ISPs and be sure
to ask questions.
- Cost
Faculty and staff who request ITS dialup and PPP accounts must provide
an interdepartmental charge code. If your department is unable to
provide this support, you may wish to buy your access independently.
- Added-value services
Some Internet service providers sell more than just access. They
may provide chat rooms, homework helpers for kids, shopping services,
subscriptions to popular magazines, and more.
- Access for family members
ISP services may provide email for your children or spouse. Use
of the commercial service by family frees up Jefferson resources
for work-related purposes.
- Personal homepage space
TJU doesn't provide students with personal homepage space, and faculty
or staff get space only through departmental pages. If you want
to do something truly personal, a commercial service may be just
the thing.
- Back-up access
Sometimes the Jefferson services are unavailable. The commercial
service can be a back-up plan, for "access insurance."
- Development & design services
Want to design a site for your private consulting service? Some
commercial providers offer designers and programmers to help you.
Of course, for your TJU-related work, Jefferson
Information Technologies (Jeff-IT) is the source for faculty
and staff.
Remember - CAVEAT EMPTOR. Shop carefully,
and ask lots of questions. See our list of questions to ask when you shop for an ISP.
