AOL - The truth behind their software/service etc

[BladeRunner 0]

In the numerous years I've been online AOL has been the butt of many jokes.

I think it is also very safe to say that I have probably attacked them as much as the next person.

So it was a major surprise to me today when I could be found with not only an AOL "Completely Free" 120hr trial CD in my hand, but also seeing it fed into my computer!!

 

To give a little background behind what would appear on the surface as madness I am not in a broadband area.

BT ADSL will never be available in my area, simple as that.

Cable have missed us out too and until BT get Midband sorted out I've really got no other option than dial-up.

ISDN is an option but I'm afraid that it is too expensive for what it is, 64k for the same price as broadband I'm sorry I cannot consider this fair.

When flat-rate came out I of course jumped to that option, using Virgin.net I could have unlimited hours online every month all for a healthy £14.

The drawback? Every 2hrs you'd be disconnected, you could dial straight back on but when playing MMORPG's 2hrs simply is not always enough.

AOL give you flat rate too, unlimited hours of connection every month and most importantly no 2hr disconnection, in fact they never disconnect you.

This feature alone was enough for me to install that trial and give it a go.

 

As a "convert" I feel I should give people the truth behind AOL

 

1. Yes you are forced to use the AOL software to connect to the Internet. It is family orientated and horrible.

However you can happily connect and then minimise the software, you do not need to use it at all after connection.

2. You can happily use IE or any browser of your choice. You are not forced to use the AOL browser and they add NO customization to your existing IE/Netscape etc.

3. E-Mail is terrible. You cannot use Outlook or any other e-mail program to send & recieve, you are forced to use their software.

I'm fine as I have my own virtual POP & SMTP servers with my domain name hosting account so I can use Outlook for all my e-mail needs when connected through AOL. Those without their own domain names will find AOL e-mail horrible.

4. Connection is actually very good, they have a lot of users yes but they also have a lot of phone numbers too.

The software will try some six different numbers to get you connected and all of them fall under your "flat-rate" connection. Little chance they will all be engaged.

 

AOL is far too family orientated however I feel this is the market they are aiming for and the one that has made them as popular as they are.

I would love to see an "Expert" version of their software what allows you to use standard dial-up networking connections and the ability to use any 3rd party e-mail program and who knows, maybe in the future they will.

However, if you are seeking a dial-up or ISDN ISP that offers you no restriction on number of hours a month or how long you stay connected for at a time then AOL could well be for you.

Don't fear those trial CD's and the stigma associated with AOL, register your own domain and nobody need even know you use them!!

[CUViper 0]

RIP Bladerunner...

 

[BladeRunner 0]

Well I'm still here :-P

AOL for over 24hrs now and no problems.

In fact I've just logged into AO (My current MMORPG of choice) and the ping to the server is excellent, certainly no slower than my old ISP and now I have the luxuary of never getting disconnected!

 

I'll never tell the rest of the world that I use them though and I'll never actually use my AOL e-mail address, but as a pure access to the Internet provider they are proving to be rather good.

[packman 0]

AOL e-mail appears to be incompatible with other more-standard mail clients, but clearly some people do like certain aspects of AOL.

 

I'm no fan of AOL at all. I use a standard dial-up ISP account myself, in conjunction with Outlook Express 5.5. I find that, whenever contacts of mine who use AOL send me messages in HTML, not only is the whole received text block-highlighted (I happen to use a coloured background and the highlighting is white, so this is why it shows) but also my AOL contacts complain of missing numerals and missing special symbols in the messages I send THEM. Communicating with them in any sort of technical way becomes a bit hit-and-miss, therefore. I don't get this from any of my other contacts.

[BladeRunner 0]

Oh AOL e-mail is terrible!!!

Don't get me started on that - you have to use their software to send e-mail, you cannot use Outlook, Outlook Express or any other 3rd party software to gain access to your e-mail.

 

However this doesn't effect me at all.

I have my own domain names and the company who host my website also provide POP3 & SMTP servers, so I just log into mail.prawlings.net (my primary domain name) to send & receive all of my e-mail thus bypassing AOL's system.

 

My connection to AOL goes something like this:

 

Open AOL client

Connect

Minimise

 

Do everything I always used to do online through all my favourite programs, IE, Outlook etc and don't click the AOL client again until it is time to disconnect!

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

lol

 

with ALLL of the problems peoplehave with our company (software) - it is usually AOL related

 

for one - most of our customers who use AOL on our site - get disconnected often, seems either:

 

ever 45mins , 60 mins, or 2 hrs.

 

Ping times from players on AOL are always a joke - upon doing a report almost ALL AOL users on our site (often around 100 +) all have ridiculously high pings - as opposed to anyone else.

 

Email: I think this is simply people do now kno whow to use a "reply" so they never include the previous email (for support)

 

Connection speed - for the many that i have asked what speed they are conneceted at - i would say average is probably about 37-40kb. - Sorry, but unless u got crappy old phone lines, u should not get anyless then 45k.

 

U can use IE after..LOL - i spent almost 2 horus with a person tryihng to get IE to work - it would not work! it would not display ANy pages and evr time u started it up, it would ask to dial up and connect with AOL - even though they were alreadyt connected.

 

Also, another person - had AOL and a DSL with another company - The person who try to connect with the dsl - AOL would pop up! - check setting - set it to "never dial a connection" - guess what AOL would still pop up.

 

Someone else - removed ALL aol software from add/ remove - got new dial up account - tried to connect - window pops up - Connection via AOL.

 

 

U are right - AOL has gone for the "family" market, but they are not so frendly to me, if they work, great, you are one of the FEW lucky ones!

 

so yeah enough AOl bashing for me - check out:

 

http://www.nomoreaolcds.com/

[BladeRunner 0]

I shall have to class myself as "one of the lucky ones".

In response to the problems you've either experienced or heard about:

 

for one - most of our customers who use AOL on our site - get disconnected often, seems either:

 

ever 45mins , 60 mins, or 2 hrs

 

To begin with I was having a few issues with this, unexpected disconnects and this annoyed me as the ONLY reason I've gone AOL is because they are the only flat-rate ISP I can find that don't disconnect you every 2hrs.

I used AOL's own troubleshooting guide and they suggested changing the modem initilization string to a "default" one they had created.

This has done the trick, to confirm I had a marathon 4hr Anarchy Online session last night without a single disconnect.

 

Ping times from players on AOL are always a joke - upon doing a report almost ALL AOL users on our site (often around 100 +) all have ridiculously high pings - as opposed to anyone else

 

I don't play FPS's on line because I know that over half the skill there is based on your connection speed.

My current MMORPG of choice is Anarchy Online and my connection to their servers is no slower than when I was using Virgin.net

Certainly Ping rates have not gone through the roof.

 

Email: I think this is simply people do now kno whow to use a "reply" so they never include the previous email (for support)

 

Yup, I've already touched their e-mail system.

If only you could interface Outlook or Outlook Express into AOL I'd be happy, but alas you cannot.

Major failing there.

 

Connection speed - for the many that i have asked what speed they are conneceted at - i would say average is probably about 37-40kb. - Sorry, but unless u got crappy old phone lines, u should not get anyless then 45k

 

I am on terrible lines, but that is what you get from being "out in the sticks" here in the UK.

I used to mainly connect at 42.6k.

When I changed my modem from an external USR to an internal true hardware Diamond my connect speeds went up to anything from 46k - 50k.

These are exactly the same connect speeds I get through AOL.

I've never connected at anything less than 42.6k since I started using them and as that is the speed I always used to connect at this hasn't proved to be a problem.

 

U can use IE after..LOL - i spent almost 2 horus with a person tryihng to get IE to work - it would not work! it would not display ANy pages and evr time u started it up, it would ask to dial up and connect with AOL - even though they were alreadyt connected.

 

Here is how my first ever connection to AOL went.

I installed the CD and it then dialled into a free phone number so that I could get my free trial up and running.

After this was all installed it checked to make sure I was using the best phone numbers and then asked me to disconnect and reconnect, which I did.

AOL launched and connected me.

I then opened up IE6 (built into WinXP) and attempted to hit this very site.

First time it worked.

No settings changes, no AOL customization within IE.

It simply just worked, no problems at all.

I've never been asked to dial-up when already connected via AOL.

 

Also, another person - had AOL and a DSL with another company - The person who try to connect with the dsl - AOL would pop up! - check setting - set it to "never dial a connection" - guess what AOL would still pop up.

 

Cannot comment on that as I do not have access to ADSL nor is it likely while I live at this address.

Sounds like a configuration problem though as I've seen similar on a work laptop which can get it's connection via either the local LAN or dial-up when at home.

Just need to check those settings.

 

Someone else - removed ALL aol software from add/ remove - got new dial up account - tried to connect - window pops up - Connection via AOL

 

It is funny you should mention this as one of my worst fears was AOL getting integrated into the OS and you not being able to remove it.

I created a System Restore Point before installation for that very reason.

After I'd been using AOL for a while I decided to remove it to see what exactly it left behind.

It was actually pretty amazing, many uninstallations fail so badly, this one worked without a single hitch.

No sign of AOL left on my system, no program folder, no nothing.

Attempted to connect via my virgin.net connection and it did so fine.

Even using RegClean and there was still no trace of AOL.

A very good uninstallation process.

 

U are right - AOL has gone for the "family" market, but they are not so frendly to me, if they work, great, you are one of the FEW lucky ones!

 

They are family orientated and that is why they have such a massive user base.

I literally followed all of the instructions that came with the trial CD and it all worked without a hitch.

I didn't need to do anything else and with the exception of the modem string change (which had very easy to follow step-by-step instructions) it has been extremely flawless.

 

so yeah enough AOl bashing for me - check out:

 

Didn't check the link, I see enough "MS Bashers" links to know what this will be about.

Me thinks it is the usual trend of "bashing da big boys cause its cool to do so".

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

well m8 good replys!

 

and i can imagine alot of errors is due to users - but also, some due to AOL wanting to make it's almost "own" policies

 

 

as for the link - it is about AOL cd's and how they send them out and try to get everyone to use them, it is actuallt amusing as opposed to bashing, in a way.

 

 

as for the disconnects - this was something 9to which i shoudl have mentioned) that AOL admitted to some customers, how ever there is some settings that u can change IN aol to fix this, almost as if disconnect people, but if they comeplain we can override it.

 

as for the game, it is not a FPS , but an online [censored] software, so does not need NEARLY as much bandwidth.