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Email and dialup services to be discontinued as of 12/31/08
We regret to announce that Prairienet will be discontinuing all email service, including mailing lists, and modem dialup service on December 31, 2008. Please see the homepage and FAQ for more information and links. Web hosting accounts will continue to be available although they will no longer offer email.

Converting Your Individual Membership Account to a Basic Web Hosting Account

Request conversion to a free Basic Web Hosting account

This option is available for personal accounts only. We recommend that businesses and organizations that have been using regular membership accounts for their Web sites explore options with commercial Web hosting services which provide far more space, tools, and features than Prairienet can provide. See below Before You Apply for a Prairienet Account" for a possible free option.

Web Hosting for Non-Profits

Prairienet has been hosting Web sites for organizations in East Central Illinois since 1994. Prairienet's Web server sees over 2 million hits per month and is connected to the Internet via the University of Illinois' high-speed network.

We host Web sites for over 200 organizations, everything from Boy Scouts Troops, PTAs, schools, libraries, hobby clubs, to religious organizations, libraries, municipalities and state-wide non-profits. Clubs and organizations with modest needs can take advantage of our economical Basic Web Hosting account which offers organization email and a Web site for only $35/year. Fee waivers are available to qualifying non-profits.

If you are new to Web hosting, this Web Hosting Tutorial does an excellent job of explaining the basics.

Before You Apply for a Prairienet Account

A number of free Web-based services have come online in the last year or two. The most significant of these has been Google Apps.

If you would like:

• your own domain name (or need a .com domain)
• Web-based tools for managing your Web site content
• ready-to-use Web site templates
• a shared calendar
• multiple email accounts in the format: myname@mydomain.com with 6GB of mail space each
• POP and IMAP email access plus excellent spam control
• ability to create, share and collaborate on documents
  AND
• your group has few, if any, applicable technical skills

Overview of Web Hosting Plans

If you would like to use your own domain name, you may want to look into domain forwarding services offered by domain name registrars.

As of December 31, 2008, Web hosting accounts will no longer offer email.

	Basic Web Hosting	Standard Web Hosting	Advanced Web Hosting
Annual Fee	$35/year	$120/year	$180/year see requirements
Eligibility	yes	yes	no
Eligible for fee waiver?	yes	yes	no
Own domain name?	no	no	yes
Quotas	10MB Web 10MB Home	50MB Web 10MB Home	100MB Web 10MB Home
POP or IMAP mailbox	one	one	one
Spam and virus filter	yes	yes	yes
Virtual domain name hosting	no	no	yes
Internet Access (PPP dialup)	no	10 hrs/day	10 hrs/day
E-mail tech support	yes	yes	yes

As of December 1, 2006, new Advanced Web Hosting accounts (which include domain name hosting) are limited to organizations in East Central Illinois that are 1) registered as a 501(c)(3) or 2) in the public sector. We have imposed these additional eligibility requirements due to the increased administrative overhead of hosting virtual domains. Organizations wishing to make use of their own domain names still have the economical option of setting up domain forwarding.