Some of the more important questions you might want to ask are listed below. The Internet can be addictive. If you will be an active user, only choose from providers that offer a flate rate. Some ISP's will not quote an ISP ratio, but will state a quality factor. This factor indicates the number of times out every one hundred calls you should be able to connect without a busy signal.
Higher numbers are better here.
Numbers don't always tell the whole story. If you have the ISP's number for dialup accounts, call over a period of a week during the times that you would normally use the Internet. If you get a lot of busy signals or the computer never picks up your call, consider looking somewhere else. Nothing is more frustrating than paying for a service that you can't use. You will most likely have questions about setting up your computer or downloading the ISP's software package.