I'm looking at moving from Zen as it's simply to expensive. I'm on the
unlimited 1Meg for £29.99 a month. I can't complain at all about Zen, I am
always connected and my download speeds are always as expected (I always
download over 100K/sec). I've had two problems since i've been with them and
they have always answered their support line quickly and passed the issues
onto BT (in both cases).
Anyway, I'm tempted by the AOL Gold package for £24.99 a month, unlimited
upto 2Meg as I want a truly unlimited service.
A realise AOL had a bad press a couple of years ago with regard to tying you
in to using their own proprietary browser and connection software but I
believe that's not now the case? There is also no minimum contract if I use
a 'compatible modem' and not request the freebie they provide. I've got a
Netgear DG834G v2 wireless router, I see on the AOL website, this is listed
as a compatible router, has anyone had any experiences using it with AOL?
Will AOL simply provide me with all the technical details i need to connect,
rather than any automated software configuration? I prefer to set everything
up myself.
Thanks for any experiences.
J

JB wrote:
You can use any router, you don't need to install any AOL software. AOL is
brillo - you will not regret it.

email me for specifics.

--
huLLy
Big K and now the (Sergeant) Fuller Effect - ain't life grand!
Tel: 07976 123278
villageidiot(at)sheepandmeths.co.uk
ICQ 136-987-925

JB wrote:

Using AOL here and I find it to be excellent. Always maximum speed and
so far it's been reliable. Put the order through on Friday evening and
it was working by Monday evening (I couldn't believe it either) Also
since it was obviously before they thought we were using it it seemed to
get 2mbps (on 1mbps silver package) - still syncs at 2272kbps but
downloads definately are now at bang on 1mbps.

Paying £14.99/mo for first 6 months, no minimum term. Software hasn't
been near the machine!

Also used my own router...
If the router doesn't have a profile for AOL, you can set it up but the
MTU must be set to 1400 (and not the normal 1500)

jpnews wrote:


As the OP says there's no minimum contract if you use your own
equipment. Though it's not well advertised. Personally I think 1MB
(bit of a basic speed now but enough for me...) for £14.99 (for first 6
months) is a bargain. It's same price as tiscali, only faster, no
minimum term and truly unlimited!

That said I use it as a 'bare bones' ISP. Don't use their email, use
another provider (well actually a couple) for Usenet, but I can't fault
them.

I do a lot of streaming and therefore my usage is around 50GB/mo.

On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 10:48:09 +0100, "JB" <jez@hotmail.com> said:

There are rumours in the press:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/aol_access/

| AOL mulls sale of European access business
| Maybe, maybe not...
| By Tim Richardson
| Published Thursday 15th June 2006 10:40 GMT

| AOL may be prepared to flog the internet access part of its business
| in Europe, but insists its whole operation is not up for sale.

....

Many good UK ISPs have gone down the pan after being bought out.

--
Alan J. Wylie http://www.wylie.me.uk/
"Perfection [in design] is achieved not when there is nothing left to add,
but rather when there is nothing left to take away."
-- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 10:57:20 GMT, Loz <me@privacy.net> wrote:

Actually they changed the recommended MTU to 1450 quite a while ago -
and very recently they have made changes in the network that mean it
is not nessecary now even to set it to 1450, instead you can let it
auto configure to 1492 (on PPPoE) and it should work fine.

Moonshine wrote:
Ah right, I never heard about that. Thanks.

"JB" <jez@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4495215b$0$4874$fa0fcedb@news.zen.co.uk...

"john mason" <john@nospammason.com> wrote in message
news:2wflg.60698$rC1.25276@newsfe4-gui.ntli.net...
I thought there were many people unhappy with the performance of Tiscali? I
would rather pay a bit more (although not as much as Zen) for better
performance, and being not tied to a 12 month contract.

john mason wrote:

Provided you don't use more than 30GB a month.

JB wrote:
They have an appalling rep. Their customer service is the worst I've
ever known!

Someone I know is on the 2mb "service" and they have received a letter
advising them of their heavy usage.

It's not that I have too much against usage limits, but they sell it as
unlimited - which it clearly isn't. Why don't they just sell it as
Tiscali 30GB?

Thanks for that. Explain why a couple of routers I set up for AOL people
recently worked out of the box.

Dave

gort wrote:

I just used an AOL profile so I didn't think anything of it....
So does that mean that any ADSL should work on AOL now?

john mason wrote:

lol - Tiscali is SHITE!
--
huLLy
Big K and now the (Sergeant) Fuller Effect - ain't life grand!
Tel: 07976 123278
villageidiot(at)sheepandmeths.co.uk
ICQ 136-987-925

On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 11:54:12 +0100, in uk.telecom.broadband you wrote:

That was my expectation when I came to install a new modem/wireless router
for a friend last week, but despite a long call to the helpdesk (and to be
fair to the guy he did try to help despite the router not being "supported"
- a D-Link) we found that the only way to get the initial connection was
via the AOL 9 software.

Once the connection had been established this way, everything worked as
expected via "normal" applications, but for some reason it needed this kick
to get it going. Fortunately, my friend has had AOL dial-up and now
broadband for years, so she's not too bothered in switching to different
software anyway.

Iwan

On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 19:16:15 +0100, Loz <me@privacy.net> wrote:

I guess - but unless you are after something particulary esoteric, you
are going to be safer sticking to models on their approved/supply
list.

Did you remember to set the MTU to 1400 ?

If you need AOL to hold your hand yes.

Dave

On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 22:26:53 +0100, Colin Wilson wrote:

Yes - that got picked up automatically by the D-Link along with the other
basic DSL settings. I think the D-Link firmware probably has the settings
for various ISPs coded in.

Still, it works now.

Iwan

On Sun, 18 Jun 2006 16:51:10 GMT, "john mason" <john@nospammason.com>
wrote:

Maybe it is, but for 14.99 I get an unlimited (unlimited meaning no
limits whatsoever) connection.

AOL software is not necessary (although it helps to have it on an
other machine for the times you want to listen to their music)

Their email is plain vanilla IMAP.

To use a third party SMTP server (like the one offered by your
hosting, for instance) remember to set it on port 587.

As a balance, their support is absolutely appalling, helpless, and a
menace to your mental health and blood pressure, if you ever try to
call them.

HIH


[L.]