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Toronto Free-Net (TFN) is Toronto's oldest Internet service provider (ISP), serving the greater Toronto area (GTA) since 1994. We offer reliable and affordable high speed and dialup Internet access.
TFN dialup and high speed (DSL broadband) are economical (cheap!) and offer superior value. The high speed has the highest cap (maximum downloads per month) in the industry, second to none. The dialup is highly provisioned, so that users never encounter a busy signal. All TFN packages include webspace and email, with no advertisements and with no restrictions on the method of access. Toronto Free-Net provides full service at the same price or cheaper than competitors' trimmed-down DSL and dialup options.
Toronto Free-Net is a non-profit corporation, with almost 50,000 members. It is controlled by its users, who are voting members and not just customers. They set TFN's services and policies to fit members' needs. As a result, TFN prices and payment terms are fair and straightforward, rather than intended to obscure and to maximize corporate profit.
There are no term contracts and no cancellation penalties. You can cancel a TFN service anytime. Just inform the TFN office that you are cancelling, and you will owe no further payments — you are not locked-in.
Similarly, there are no hidden fees and no tricks hidden in fine print. Toronto Free-Net does not force its users to rent DSL modems nor to install unwanted software to enable full access.
TFN offers steady low prices for individual services without requiring
you to purchase a bundled package nor to make a long-term commitment.
There is no need to haggle — all members pay the same low, competitive prices.
[Read more at:
How TFN differs...]
Toronto Free-Net is committed to removing Internet access barriers for all GTA residents.
In 1994, when few could obtain Internet service, TFN delivered, free of charge, the first Internet access to tens of thousands of Torontonians. Today, Internet access is an essential service. TFN continues to offer a free of charge dialup level, free of commercial advertising. This is a lifeline for those Torontonians who would otherwise have to forgo Internet access from home, in order to pay for very basic necessities.
Toronto Free-Net's mission is to help people in the GTA to overcome Internet access barriers, to teach people how to make meaningful and effective use of the Internet, and to act as an information reference for local and community resources.
More than merely providing DSL or dialup connections like other ISPs,
TFN volunteers teach Internet literacy, from the basics of how to
use a web browser, to the depths of provisioning resilient servers and
designing TCP/IP networks. TFN empowers people to become informed users
of Internet technologies.
[Read more at:
How TFN differs...]
TFN makes a point of providing support and Internet access to people who are under-serviced by mainstream providers. TFN volunteers go beyond the mainstream to make the Internet accessible to everyone, regardless of ability, income, technological preferences, etc.
At TFN, you can use the low cost and even free of charge dialup, email, and webspace services with dignity. Your Internet identity, in your email messages and in your webspace, is not debased by advertisements. Free of charge users receive the same support as paying dialup and high speed users.
TFN members are diverse and they celebrate diversity. Rather than abandoning people who use unconventional equipment, TFN volunteers enjoy the opportunity to work with assistive technologies and to find new ways to make TFN accessible to fellow members with special needs.
Similarly, TFN technical support volunteers have the freedom, denied to their commercial counterparts, to spend the necessary time with users who need more patient assistance. Where a commercial provider sees a "difficult customer" who needs too much attention and costs too much time and money, TFN volunteers see a fellow member in need of Internet access.
At TFN, your choice of computer is respected, no matter how old or new,
how powerful or how slow. TFN supports all computers and operating
systems. Whether you still use a computer from the 1980s with MS-DOS and
Kermit, or the latest GNU/Linux distro, or just the current version of
Mac or Windows, whether you want high speed or dialup, TFN volunteers
will work with you to get you online!
[Read more at:
How TFN differs...]
TFN cradles innovative projects in technology and education to benefit the community. We assist and nourish the efforts of other non-profit organizations to provide Internet literacy and access to technology.
TFN offers fulfilling volunteer tasks for all people, technical or not.
At TFN, technology professionals and even hobbyists have the opportunity to study communication technologies in depth, to be mentored by more experienced volunteers, and to practice on commercial grade equipment.
Some TFN technical volunteers do this to gain experience, which helps them get paying work in a technology field. Others are successful information technology workers giving back to the freenet which sparked and fed their interest in this field, when it provided their first glimpse into the Internet.
Non-technical volunteers work on tasks such as processing member's payments, accounting, answering inquiries from the public, monitoring the regulatory environment, and crafting TFN's marketing strategy. They too learn computer skills, at a rate they can handle and to the level they choose.
Other volunteers are gifted teachers who love helping freenet members grow from the most beginning users to high levels of computer literacy.
TFN volunteers, young and old, inexperienced or highly educated, gather
at the freenet to teach and to support each other, to receive guidance
or to find a sense of purpose. And, of course, to have fun together.
[Read more at:
How TFN differs...]
As a non-profit organization, Toronto Free-Net is proud of its sustainable business model.
Toronto Free-Net keeps costs low by making smart use of free software, refurbished hardware, and volunteer time.
Core operating costs, such as the maintenance of TFN's network infrastructure, are not provided by government funding. TFN's budget comes from member donations and from providing DSL and dialup Internet to all Torontonians at cheap non-profit prices. Toronto Free-Net builds community, creates training opportunities, provides reliable free service & support to vulnerable GTA citizens, and advocates for a fair and accessible Internet, without depending on government funding for survival.
By choosing Toronto Free-Net dialup or broadband DSL Internet service, you get a bargain for excellent service while supporting universal Internet access in Toronto and the GTA.
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