Contact Information

isp.ifish.net
2337 nw york street
Portland, OR 97210
1-866-IFISH01
FAX: 503-972-3953

ispsales@ifish.net
Sales, customer service, and account information.
support@ifish.net
Non-urgent technical support issues and general questions.
billing@ifish.net
Billing and invoice related questions.

comments@ifish.net
Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
abuse@ifish.net
Abuse related issues and spam.

Business Hours Monday - Friday 8 AM to 5 PM
Sales Hours Monday - Friday 8 AM to 5 PM

Technical Support Hours Monday - Friday 8 AM to 9 PM

F.A.Q.’s

Dialup
DSL

Dialup F.A.Q.

Dialup Basics

1. What is a Dialup connection?
2. Does isp.ifish.net offer unlimited access?
3. Where does isp.ifish.net offer Dialup access?
4. Can I get 56k access?
5. Can I access my isp.ifish.net account when I am out of town?
6. Do I get web space with my account?
7. How much does a Dialup account cost?

Ordering

1. How do I order a Dialup account?
2. What happens after I place my order?
3. How will I be billed?
4. What if I have other questions not covered here?

Go to the Dialup pricing page.

Dialup Basics

1. What is a Dialup connection?

A Dialup connection is the traditional method of accessing the Internet. With a Dialup connection, your computer's modem dials our modems and establishes and maintains your connection until you disconnect. Dialup connections are an economical way to access the Internet without making any changes to your existing phone line.

2. How many hours of access do I get a month?

Our nationwide accounts are unlimited.

3. Where does isp.ifish.net offer Dialup access?

isp.ifish.net offers Dialup access nationwide. Here is a list of our access numbers.

4. Can I get 56k access?

isp.ifish.net offers 56k access numbers in all of its coverage area. Whether or not you are able to achieve true 56k connectivity is dependent upon a number of factors, such as the quality of phone lines in your area.

5. Can I access my isp.ifish.net account when I am out of town?

Yes. isp.ifish.net has nationwide access numbers allow you to connect to isp.ifish.net from virtually anywhere in the US. We also provide Webmail (link to mail.ifish.net) , a web-based interface for checking your e-mail for customers who are out of town and have Internet access.

6. Do I get web space with my account?

Dialup accounts with isp.ifish.net include personal web space for non-organizational use. Each login comes with 10Mb of disk space and allows you to create web pages for all the world to see.

Ordering a Dialup Account

1. How do I order a Dialup account?

Ordering a Dialup account is simple. Just signup through our online signup form. Or call us at 503-972-6690 or 866-IFISH01 to speak with one of our tech support.

2. What happens after I place my order?

If you go through our online signup process we will call you to finalize setup and get billing information. If you call us, after you place your order, one of our technical support representatives will walk you through the steps necessary to configure your computer. Once that's done, you're ready to go!

3. How will I be billed?

All isp.ifish.net services are month-to-month contracts.

All isp.ifish.net accounts are billed via credit/debit card only, Visa or MasterCard only.

It is your responsibility as the end user to make sure your credit card information is up to date and is not expired. All accounts with expired or declined credit cards will be notified via email that such is the case and will be given a 10 day grace period to get isp.ifish.net the correct billing information. Accounts not brought up to date within the 10 days will be suspended until credit card information is updated. Bills are due when received.

4. What if I have other questions not covered here?

You may call our sales department at 866-IFISH01 or 503-972-6690 for more Dialup information or you may email sales.

DSL F.A.Q.

Introduction

1. What is DSL?
2. How fast is DSL?
3. How does DSL compare to cable modems?
4. What does DSL cost?
5. What's the catch?

Installation

1. What hardware does my computer need for DSL?
2. How close to the phone company do I need to be?
3. Can the phone company use my existing phone line or will I need a new one?

Ordering

1. How do I order DSL?
2. What happens after I place my order?
3. How will I be billed?
4. What if I have other questions not covered here?

Go to the DSL pricing.

Introduction

1. What is DSL?

DSL (digital subscriber line) is the latest in next-generation technology allowing for the transmission of voice, video, and data over existing copper telephone lines at incredible megabit speeds. DSL is dedicated, high-speed bandwidth which uses existing phone lines, without tying them up. You can access the Internet while using the same line for voice or fax. In addition, you stay connected -- no more dialing up or waiting for a free phone line. Simply put, a DSL connection transforms your phone line into a high-speed digital link. This link is capable of providing you with all the traditional services you're accustomed to while simultaneously providing you with continuous high-speed access to the Internet 24 hours a day. DSL's use of the existing infrastructure makes it cheaper to install than other services which require the laying of additional cable.

2. How fast is DSL?

DSL is available in a spectrum of speeds. Whether you're a home user or a business, DSL offers high bandwidth performance at a price you can afford. Most DSL offerings start at a minimum of 5X faster than dialup and can go to 30X faster. It depends on the phone companies offerings.

3. How does DSL compare to cable modems?

Cable modems attach to the cable TV network connection in a home or business. The potential bandwidth estimates for this new technology range upwards of 30MB from the service provider to the subscriber. However, cable networks are inherently different in design than telephone networks. Cable networks are broadcast oriented -- meaning that each subscriber in an area receives the same signals as all others in that area. DSL runs on the existing telephone network which is circuit oriented -- meaning that each connection is independent of all others. Since DSL connections are independent, the bandwidth available to the end user is more consistent and secure.

4. What does DSL cost?

DSL pricing varies considerably depending upon the DSL carrier, the level of isp.ifish.net service you've chosen, the speed you've chosen, etc. In addition, there are setup fees, as well as the cost of a DSL device to consider. When paying for DSL, you are paying two fees -- one for the actual circuit (including the speed you receive) and one for your Internet access (throughput, e-mail, etc.).

When ordering DSL, you should consider both the speed required and the traffic expected on the connection (your throughput). If you are unsure of how much throughput you will use, take your best guess.

You can see our current DSL pricing here.

5. What's the catch?

DSL is so new that it is not available in all areas. It is also distance-sensitive; the speeds available to you will depend on your location. In order to maximize our customers' access to DSL, isp.ifish.net works in partnership with a variety of DSL carriers -- Qwest and CenturyTel. Since DSL is such a new technology, there are still occasional glitches to be worked out. For mission critical business applications, such as a web site handling financial transactions, we recommend you choose frame relay, have opus:interactive.com host your web site for you, or co-locate a server at opus:interactive data center.

Installation

1. What hardware does my computer need for DSL?

Typically, all you need to begin using your DSL line is a NIC (network interface card) or a USB port, and a DSL modem. The DSL modem connects your DSL line to the NIC or USB port on your computer.

2. How close to the phone company do I need to be?

Three miles is the longest acceptable distance from the phone company's central office or remote telephone switch location. Beyond that, data rates begin to degrade. Typically this distance is large enough to include most people in any given area.

3. Can the phone company use my existing phone line, or will they need to install a new one?

This question depends in part on the results of a line test. In general, if your DSL carrier is your phone company, your DSL service will be added to your existing phone line.

Ordering DSL

1. How do I order DSL?

isp.ifish.net works with DSL circuits provided by Qwest and CenturyTel. The speeds and carriers available to you will depend on your location. To order DSL, contact our customer service team to check availability for your address and phone number. If you are placing your own order with Qwest, be sure to tell them that isp.ifish.net is your ISP.

2. What happens after I place my order?

Once you've ordered DSL, there are a number of things which must happen before you're up and running. DSL access is not instant so you can expect some delay before you're able to use the service. Your customer service representative can give you an idea of the amount of time you'll need to wait. This process also varies depending upon your local phone company (Qwest or CenturyTel). Here's how it works:
• You or isp.ifish.net will place your DSL order.
• Your line is provisioned.
• Your phone company will provision your existing phone line for the additional service similar to adding voice mail service to your phone line.
• DSL hardware is installed and configured to connect to isp.ifish.net.
• Your phone company will send you a box containing your DSL device, line filters, installation instructions, etc. to your location.
• Once you receive this box and your DSL device is installed on your computer, you'll need to call isp.ifish.net's technical support team (866-IFISH01 or 503-972-6690) so that we can help you with your configuration.

3. How will I be billed?

If your DSL carrier is Qwest, the service is added to an existing phone line and the DSL service will be billed on your regular phone bill. In this case, isp.ifish.net will bill you for our services separately. If your DSL carrier is CenturyTel all of your costs will be billed by isp.ifish.net. All isp.ifish.net services are month-to-month contracts.
All isp.ifish.net accounts are billed via credit/debit card only. It is your responsibility as the end user to make sure your credit card information is up to date and is not expired. All accounts with expired or declined credit cards will be notified via email that such is the case and will be given a 10 day grace period to get isp.ifish.net the correct billing information. Accounts not brought up to date within the 10 days will be suspended until credit card information is updated.

4. What if I have other questions not covered here?

You may call our sales department at 866-IFISH01 or 503-972-6690 for more DSL information or you may email sales.

Spam and Virus Filtering

Spam Filtering

isp.ifish.net continues to work towards becoming a no-spam zone and has taken significant steps to limit the quantity of spam delivered to our customers whose email is hosted on our servers. Our aim is to reduce the level of spam by more than 90%. We use Imail along with Declude JunkMail. This solution is 90%+ effective in spam blocking. We weight each message based on failed tests and then delete heavy weighted messages as SPAM. The lower weighted messages get marked up with a header note which can then be filtered by each user depending on the level of spam blocking they want. The lower the weight, the more false positives. In other words if you set it really sensitive you may have to create a SPAM folder and monitor what gets put in there to make sure you aren't deleting anything you want to keep.

We have been working with the Declude software for years now and are experts in this area. We are VERY satisfied with Declude. Some customers may want isp.ifish.net to not filter their email for spam. We can exempt individual mail accounts from the scanning process on customer request. Please email support@ifish.net to be removed from filter. If you suspect that e-mail is being incorrectly filtered please report it to isp.ifish.net as soon as possible. Messages quarantined by our sieve filter system are reviewed for false positive indications of spam. You should email support@ifish.net as well if you think that legitimate emails are not reaching you and you wish to recover them.

Virus Filtering

All email accounts @ifish.net are protected by our sophisticated virus protection software. This software intercepts all email before it reaches you and searches it for spam and/or viruses. If the email contains a virus, it is quarantined on our servers so it can not cause damage to your computer. If the email is suspected of being spam (unwanted junk email), it is held on our server for five days until it is automatically deleted.

Our virus protection software, which protects our email servers, is world-class and extremely accurate at removing email borne viruses. Virus definitions are updated every morning at 1:00 AM. However, no virus protection system is 100% accurate, so you are always advised to install your own virus protection software.