1995. First was AOL, but that was only until the free trial ended. I learned fast that AOL sucked, so I jumped to Prodigy for another free trial and more contempt. Then to Compuserve for yet another freebie and more annoyances. After 3 months of free junk, I tried a local ISP (now defunct) and was with them for around 3 or 4 years until they went under. After that another couple of years with other local ISPs and finally to cable.