Net4Nowt Wizard helps consumers search 2,000 ISP packages



-/May 25, 2004 Wi-Fi Technology News/-The process of selecting the right ISP has probably never been more confusing than as at present. With over 2,000 ISP packages available in the UK and a choice of technologies ranging from satellite, cable, broadband ADSL and dial-up who knows which is the best deal to be had?

One web site that has been helping consumers find a path to their right ISP provider is Net4Nowt. Net4Nowt has been operating since 1999 and offers one of the largest directories of Internet Service Providers on the web with around 2,000 ISP packages listed generating approximately 26,000 clicks to ISPs each month. The site has now launched its ISP wizard to help consumers search through hundreds of ISP packages for one that will match their needs.

The ISP Wizard feature was developed as part of a research project at the SAE Institute in Sydney in association with Middlesex University in the United Kingdom by Net4Nowt site owner Peter Harris. The research involved surveying over 260 consumers and 28 ISPs to understand which features of an ISP are most relevant when selecting a service. It is these features that form the basis of the ISP wizard.

Consumers can now simply select their preference for price, speed, contract term, technology type and a number of other factors before being presented with a list of ISPs that match their criteria.


Commenting on the development, Peter Harris said "We have always aimed to help consumers find the right ISP for their needs and the ISP wizard has enabled us to now do this in an interactive manner." Initial feedback from the testing of the device has been positive and revealed users particularly liked using the tool, not least because it tells them how many packages match their selection criteria in real time.

The idea of the wizard was first conceived in July 2003 and following the research project developed in late 2003/2004 with assistance from QiQ programmer Paul Hamlington.


The ISP wizard can be found at http://www.net4nowt.com/wizard

Net4Nowt started as part of Paul Hillbeck?s personal web page in 1988, a simple listing of ISP's offering pay as you go Internet access. In 1999, Peter Harris of Internet Consultancy QiQ approached Paul with a view to developing the site and Net4Nowt was officially born.


The word nowt is an English northern dialect word meaning "nothing." Thus, the phrase Net4Nowt therefore literally means "net for nothing." When Net4Nowt was first launched there were many Internet businesses practically falling over themselves to offer free Internet access and while this has changed Net4Nowt remains synonymous with helping consumers finding a good value Internet access deal.


Net4Nowt provide listing information to a number of publications. We are frequently quoted in national newspapers and in news stories relating to the ISP industry. The UK?s office of telecommunications is familiar with Net4Nowt and has used the site in its research, similarly the BBC have quoted our information in technology related news stories.


Paragon Publishing's' Practical Internet Magazine recently tried to figure out the best web sites of all time. They assembled a panel of 50 industry experts to decide on the top 100 sites. Net4Nowt appeared in the listing at position 73. The review of the site reads "It seems that there are more ISP's in Britain than there are people, and this site has become invaluable to anyone trying to pick out the right service provider for them. You'll find comprehensive lists of free, 0845, unmetered and broadband ISP's here." The top ten included sites such the BBC, Amazon, Streetmap, Railtrack, Yahoo, Yell, eBay and Lastminute with Google picking up the number one position.


Today, Net4Nowt is solely owned by Internet consultancy QiQ Limited. Net4Nowt is the UK?s leading ISP directory and is venturing further a field with ISP listings for all major web enabled countries on the planet. Net4Nowt is focused on providing data and information on ISP's in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and United States of America ? collectively over 260 million Internet users.


The ISP wizard is located at http://www.net4nowt.com/wizard