Filtered ISP FAQ
What are the main features of this service?
q SPAM control. Whenever you get an unwanted message, send it to NetConnect, and they will automatically block that address from ever sending you (or anyone else) anything from there.
q Virus protection. Constantly updated, this feature will ensure that you never get any viruses from any incoming emails, which is the principle source of Internet viruses.
q Internet filtration. Most services that claim to filter out or block porn sites provide rather minimal coverage. While no service can be fool-proof, this one is of an excellent quality.
q No advertisements. Period.
q 5 email accounts. Choose up to 5 addresses assigned to your wholecity.net account at no extra charge.
q 5 Megabytes of web space. Should you have a web site you want to park with NetConnect, you can do so if it does not exceed this size (talk with them is you need more).
q Read your emails from anywhere. Go pretty much anywhere in the country (except a few weird places in Texas, for example), and if you have your computer with you, you will find local access (“pop”) numbers available to you. If you don’t have your computer, then you can go online and view your emails on the wholecity.net web site.
q About 10% (or more) given to the ministry of your choice. The amount depends on the connection you choose and how you found us, but in most cases, if the ministry you choose is a member of Christian Ministries United, they will get $2/month per subscriber who designates them as their beneficiary.
q Unlimited minutes. Day or night, access is easy and dependable.
Just whom can I designate? Any member of Christian Ministries United is automatically on our list (see www.cmu-richmond.org for a full list of members). Beyond this, we are beginning the process of signing on new ministries or other nonprofits that wish to participate for their own fund raising purposes. The full list will be available at our www.wholecity.net site once it is fully functional sometime early in 2003.
Will this have a “look” or portal feel like many services? No. This is strictly a way to access the Internet. You can choose a home page to automatically go to upon dialing in that would have whatever you want. This is one way we can save money to give away. In the case of AOL, and perhaps others, you can keep your access to AOL and your address for $4 a month. We don’t think this is necessary, but it is your choice. Dialing up is way too easy. All you have to do is click on your Internet Explorer icon and it dials up automatically and goes straight to your designated home page.
How can you afford to do this? So many have tried and failed. We may too, but we don’t think so. NetConnect has been in this business since1997, with a cumulative of over a hundred years of experience among its staff, and a reputation for high quality and consistency. Moreover, all the big companies have to rely heavily on advertising and promotion to keep up subscriptions. This service will rely on word-of mouth and participation by ministries and other nonprofits self-motivated to generate an ongoing residual income for themselves.
Can I keep my current email address or create one of my choosing? In most cases, yes. Keeping an address with a service like AOL will mean having to pay them a fee. With free services like Yahoo or Hotmail, there is no problem. Creating a “vanity” address is also becoming popular so that you can keep a permanent address that is to your liking. This involves registering a domain in your name. Ask about this when tech support calls you to sign in. You can use Outlook or other such programs for retrieving and organizing your emails.
How do I get started? Fill out the application and fax it in. Within the next few months this process will all be automated online, but until then, you fax it in and someone from tech support will personally call you and walk you through the process to download the software and get started.