What Is NetZero Broadband DSL?

With a monthly NetZero DSL broadband account, you can access the Internet with speeds of up to 6 megabits per second (Mbps), which is faster than traditional dial-up service. You also receive a wireless modem that features firewall protection, 24-hour live customer support, "always on" Internet, which means you're always online without having to use your phone line, and MegaMail, an email account with spam and virus protection. NetZero DSL broadband also offers a free pop-up blocker and a free dial-up account you can use as a backup if your wireless service goes down.

For an additional monthly fee, you can add security features to your DSL service. NetZero offers four security tools: Norton 360, Norton Internet Security, Norton Anti-Virus and PC Tune-Up. Norton 360 is the most comprehensive security option and provides virus protection, spyware deletion and email and attachment review for virus risk. It also blocks offensive websites, shields your computer from hackers, edits spam content, automatically backs up your files and internal drives and conducts periodic checkups of your hard drive. Norton Internet Security, Norton Anti-Virus and PC Tune-Up provide some, but not all, of the security features offered by Norton 360. Review each option to determine which fits your needs.

NetZero DSL broadband also has an entertainment package for a monthly fee that features hundreds of online games, a premium ecard service from American Greetings, a Nascar TrackPass, gameday audio of Major League Baseball games, Encyclopaedia Britannica and Nick Jr. educational games with popular children's characters such as Dora and Blues Clues. You also can add a Games Unlimited option that lets you plays more than 100 games and allows you to try any game for free and play without having to be on the Internet.

Learning Edge is another monthly-fee option that NetZero DSL offers, which combines the Nick Jr. games and Encyclopaedia Britannica with Award Funways, which features 3D virtual world education games for children that teaches them math and literacy in creative ways; iKnowthat.com, targeted at children from age 2 to 12 to help them in subjects such as science, language arts and geography; Clever Island, with more than 90 educational games that also provides a virtual report card to chart your child's progress; and Boston Test Prep, a program that helps teenagers prepare for standardized tests.