No more text-based Inet? San Antonio ISPs

[wake at wln.com]

     WEB4LIB folks ...
     Thought these URLs might be useful for those who field similar
     'reference' type questions about ISPs.
     
Regarding Madeleine Showalters question:
> I am looking for an Internet Service Provider in San Antonio which 
> offers a dial-up account with text-based e-mail.  This is for a user 
> with an IBM PC-XT (no windows).  If anyone knows of one, please let 
> me know.
     
  A good online resource for locating ISPs by area code is:
   http://thelist.iworld.com/areacode/areacode.html
  The List has nearly 4,500 ISPs. Detailed descriptions mention 
  shell in only one case:
     
  LiveNet, Inc.
  Automated email:    info at livenet.net 
  Human email:        matthew at livenet.net 
  Phone:              (+1) (804) 499-9328 
     
  Another OK resource on the WWW for locating ISPs by area code is 
  POCIA - Providers of Commercial Internet Access.
    http://www.celestin.com/pocia/
  The only trouble is the data may be outdated. 
     
  For San Antonio, they list at least one shell provider:
     
  Connect International Inc.   (Last update 8/5/96)
      San Antonio TX USA
      Voice: 210 341 2599, Fax: 210 341 6725, Modem(s): 210 349 1105 
      Shell access: yes
     
 BoardWatch Magazine's directory of ISPs lists six in San Antonio,
  but unfortunately, the abbreviated format of the directory doesn't 
  show which might have shell:
     
  Company name           Voice phone    Email
  Texas NetWorking, Inc  210-272-8211   info at texas.net 
  Internetwork Operating Co  299-4662   info at internoc.com 
  Internet Direct        210-308-9800   sales at txdirect.net 
  Connect International  210-341-2599   info at connecti.com 
  Fibrcom, Inc           210-524-5587   info at fibrcom.net
  South Texas Internet Connections, Inc.   210-828-4910  sales at stic.net
     
 Both of the WWW sites also list nationwide providers which have local 
 dial numbers in the 210 area code, so you may be able to find one of 
 those which meets your need.
     
 As an ISP in the Pacific NW, we have noticed that very few of our new 
 competitors actually setup Unix hosts and shell access. Many have NT 
 servers or other small boxes which only support PPP access. This cuts 
 down immensely on their support costs - they provide software, and 
 they don't help people with older equipment. I think full service ISPs 
 are in the definite minority. Most users seem to want email and WWW
 access, and don't want to learn how to use telnet or FTP, thinking that 
 'all the information they'll ever need' is available graphically.
 Maybe some day it will be. 
  <on soapbox now>  But meanwhile, I'm holding out to retain support for
 full command line access for our users, so that people with Tandys (or 
 is that Tandies) and simple software like ProComm or ZTerm can still 
 get in and use the Internet. I also would argue that it is common sense 
 to look at your WWW pages using Lynx, or at least offer a text-only 
 alternative for those who don't have fancy dialup software. We want to 
 make this information ACCESSIBLE, don't we? 
  <off soapbox>
 But that's probably my librarian training popping out on me.
     
 Hope this info helps you.  KW
     
*************************************** 
 Kate Wakefield, Network Svcs. Manager
WLN  PO Box 3888  Lacey, WA  98509-3888 
800-DIAL-WLN  or  360-923-4065 (direct) 
   wake at wln.com  or  support at wln.com
***************************************