OT: Anyone else experiencing problems with AOL?
 

Lately, AOL has not been functioning properly. Log-on speeds are v-e-r-y s-l-o-w, and it boots itself off many times.

Here's my set-up: brand new state-of-the-art Dell 8200 series desktop w/ 1.8GHz Pentium 4 chip, AOL v.6.0, standard V90/56K modem (have had this for a few months with no problems).

Problem: Have always been able to log-on at a speed of 48,000-53,000 bps; now only 16,800-19,200 bps. Have tried new access numbers to no avail.

Dilemma: Have had AOL for many years with relatively no problems, and would hate to give up my AOL e-mail addresses that everyone already has. Plus, there are not many ISP's with a history of reliability.

DSL & Cable is out of the question as my company was hurt by the WTC attack; have to be extra frugal financially these days - will still be another 19-23 months before I'm back to where I was on Sept. 10th.

Any suggestions?

I would start by checking your phone line. It sounds to me like you may have some static on the line which is preventing the higher speed connection. Do you have a phone on that line? Make a normal phone call from that line and see if you hear anything. You could also call your phone company and have them ping the line to see if there is any resistance.

JrDavid68

Might also want to check an AOL related bulletin board. They probably don't know a thing about 911's though.

-Boyo

It's a separate dedicated phone line just for the modem. I'll have the phone company run a check on it anyway.

Thanks.

AOL was virused not long ago. It may be why everything is slow. The small company I use (3.500 customers) had the same problem. My DSL is acting like a dial up connection.

Keith

AOL dumps me all the time. i thought it was just the way AOL works. call them up and they blame microsoft, call microsoft and they blame AOL. ever since i got XP, i have to restart the computer quite a bit because AOL freezes. this is technology?

<i>"Anyone else experiencing problems with AOL? "</i>

Yeah, they send me junk mail and CD's about every 2 weeks. It's a real problem carting this stuff out to the trash all the time. -- Curt

But the cds make great party coasters. Or if you dip the edges in glue and ground glass, they make a festive throwing stars. They are also a dessert topping...and a floor wax.

Great bass! mmmmmm

AO-HELL
 

AOL sucks. AOL is the 77 Gremlin of the internet world - great for a first car to learn to drive in, better than walking, but eventually you realize you need something more reliable and that you're not embarassed to be seen in.

AOL handles load balancing by arbitrarily dropping connections. They handle email overload by returning 500-series error codes to SMTP when the server is too busy. Imagine if a shop took your car in, then crushed it because they didn't have time to work on it that day.

I manage a mailing list for VW buses similar to rennlist (but *MUCH* smaller) and with all of the heartache AOL has caused over the years, the policy for AOL people having problems is "Change Providers".

And if you went with a real ISP, you wouldn't have that dog-slow, ad-laden interface!

Phone company just ran a check on the line; sure enough, they register some abnormal resisitance on it. Repair guy will be here later to fix it.

Also, plugged my other phone line into the modem and it worked fine: 49,333 bps.

Thanks for everyone's help. This board is so amazing.

A better question would be to ask if anyone is NOT experiencing problems with aol

THEY SUCK GET RID OF THEM!

911NYC - I used to go through that about once a year or so and the phone company would always find something amiss outside the house. Hope it works out.

With all the extra complaining above, it turns out not to be AOL's problem - imagine that. I also have a bad taste in my mouth for AOL, but I do recommend them for the the "timid" computer user just getting started. Once comfortable, I then recommend changing to a real ISP.

This thread is similar to a call I just had from a user practically screaming at me about what a crappy computer, printer, network etc. we have. She was trying to print some pages (pages 44 - 52) of her document and they aren't coming out!!!! Turns out her document is now only about 30 pages long - go figure.

Many times the problem that people have with the computer turns out to be:

"A problem with the interface between the chair and the keyboard."

JrDavid68

Believe me, I'm no timid computer user by any means, but I'm a very busy person, I don't sit in front of a computer screen all day but when I do, I need to know it's going to be there. For the most part, AOL has served that purpose.

For $23.90 a month, I have unlimited usage which is important to me.

Would love to know which ISP's other Pelicaneers (Pelicanicians?) recommend, how much you pay and is it unlimited usage?

Here in south Florida Adelphia power link is 42.95 for 24-7
On all the time and you dont tie up the regular phone line.
AOL at 23.00+18.00 for dedicated phone line guess whats a better value. Speed+++++++ u bet.
GB83SC

PacBell/SBC DSL for $49.99/month

In NorCal, Calweb.com for $18/month unlimited - and no bu115h1t interface.

Adeliph powerlink
 

Figure this in Northwestern Ohio Adelipha power link is $39.95. ????????? they must think yours is better, or there priceing plan is what the traffic will bear. Dave

I've been using AOL for 15 years and have had very few problems with the service. (about 5 years ago, there was a problem getting busy signals but AOL added millions of modems and that problem has gone away) I use a 56k modem on a shared line and have no problems, I always log on at over 50kbps. I use Windows XP, not perfect but a very, very good operating system. Go to "Modem" in Windows Control Panal and che to see if the driver is a Windows XP driver. If not, find out what brand modem is in your system and go to the manufacture's website and dowload their Windows XP driver. Hope this helps.

AOL - -laugh-

Wow! These old threads are hilarious!

I have an AOL account a very long time that is my primary email.. What I'm experiencing is allot of spam lately. I am considering using one of my other email addresses.

Wow, I'm not sure what's crazier, this old thread or the fact that it was revived by Red instead of some random SPAMmer.

Yeah I thought it was recent, and I was going to say the 90's called and want their ISP back.

yer on a roll today

I was bored and sorted the forum by date...SmileWavy

Wow, yeah, I think "bored" is an understatement. Hahahah.

Still, it's cool to see these old threads and the folks that are no longer around. It's a shame that some of them are gone.

so far none have taken off as a revivified necro-thread

but if you bump enough of them...

8-track will make a come-back.

My wife can read her AOL mail while in China when nobody can get into their GMail accounts.
Too far under the radar for the Chinese to worry about I guess

I guess I'm one of the few who still uses AOL?

I have a gmail account if that helps.

I know a manager in a tech. firm who has an AOL Email - mostly to f with people's heads when he meets them.

I still think AOL Instant Messenger was the perfect IM program, especially for parents of kids away from home.

Add me to that list.

Me too.

Didn’t even know they still had a platform. Time to stick a fork in it.

With such market dominance, how did AOL end up folding?

I remember stories of charging customers after their contract ended, that sort of nonsense, and I never liked the company for some reason.
Still it would be interesting to examine just how a company on top of it all dies.

With such market dominance, how did VisiCalc end up folding?

With such market dominance, how did Yahoo end up folding?

With such market dominance, how did Lotus 123 end up folding?

Not forward looking. Not constantly innovative. Not becoming ‘user friendly’. Not integrating with and adopting other platforms. Bad management decision making. To list a few.

You of course know the answer. A bigger company came along and either provided the web browser for free, or bundled the software with a office suite of programs for cheap.

Microsoft just killed the pay for web browser market with a free program as part of the OS. They killed the office program market by having Office virtually free, in education formats.

For years there were a dozen or more "Presentation" software packages. PowerPoint just eliminated the competition. Now Office is a major cash cow for them.

Google became dominate by making it "free" and they just sell the information you provide to them to sell you stuff.

the point is that when the big tech EO's testify to Congress that their dominance can evaporate almost instantly, they are not lying

Almost time to resurrect the SCWDP threads .....