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Buying an internet connection may not be as simple as you thought. Till last month, Internet Service Providers were flooding the market with...

Buying an internet connection may not be as simple as you thought. Till last month, Internet Service Providers were flooding the market with 8216;free gifts8217; like a set of CD ROMs, Reebok shoes or even cricket bats signed by Sachin Tendulkar depending on the number of hours of net surfing you needed to buy. But the greed for building up annual figures or the 8216;March blues8217; as they were called in the market place8212;that phase is over.

The big guys in the net business are now down to value added packs8212;which means more variations in your package where you will need to read the fine print.

The biggest ISP Satyam, offers 50 hours of surfing for Rs 315, with a validity of one month. But giving you a better deal is Dishnet which offers a 25-hour dial up package for Rs 249 only which carries a validity of 12 months. You could also compare this with the Now brand from Data Access which gives you a Rapid 25 hours connection with a Rs 290 upfront payment and a monthly billing at the rate of Rs 10 per month if you clock in a minimum bill of Rs 50 every month. Sounds complicated, but may be worth a try.

All these packages are advised when you are at the entry level or if you are trying an ISP for the first time, and want a trial pack before you settle down finally with your favourite.

Satyam also offers a 100-hour package with a 12 month validity for Rs 990. You could even go in for a cheaper package if it suits your usage pattern with Rs 880 for 150 hours but a validity of three months.

Dishnet8217;s dial up package for 100 hours with a 24 month validity costs Rs 849 while Now offers a Rapid 100 hours for a membership of Rs 975 which offers the first 20 hours for free and carries Rs 10 per hour surfing rates and has a six-month validity.

But if you are a serious surfer, then it must be the larger more intensive usage packages that you would be looking out for. A Satyam 200-hour package comes for Rs 1,790 with a 24 month validity and a 500 hours with a 36-month validity costing Rs 3,390. And the add-on that you were looking for: Stayam offers night surfing completely free and your hours begin at 11 p.m. till 8 a.m.

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Dishnet8217;s dial up for 500 hours comes for Rs 2,950 while Now offers a Rapid 225 hours for Rs 290 upfront payment with the first 25 hours thrown in for free and a Rs 10 per hour charge later.

Not to forget the Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd VSNL packages which are available for Rs 950 for 100 hours, Rs 1,750 for 200 hours and Rs 3,000 for 500 hours. But you would have to go to the VSNL office to get your connection which may be difficult to get off the shelf at your local grocery store.

Satyam also offers unlimited internet usage at a monthly charge of Rs 599 and Rs 1,699 for three months. Dishnet offers unlimited surfing for a month at Rs 389, Rs 989 for three months, Rs 1,699 for six months and Rs 3,499 for a years subscription.

But if your needs are akin to those of a corporate user or you run a Small Office Home Office and don8217;t want you phone line to be blocked you could go in for a leased line connection which provides a 64 kbps connection compared to the 4 to 9 kbps connection offered by ISPs. But then you have to shell out a one-time payment of Rs 20,000 to 25,000 mainly for the modem and cabling charges and then depending on usage your monthly bills could be in the region of Rs 2,000 upwards.

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Happy surfing but remember ISPs are known to change their rates without too much advertising or notice.