posted on May 22, 2001 07:28:28 AM new
I'm thinking about it ~ I started using a DSL a few months ago. I just don't want to give up my e-mails. I've never experienced the problems other AOL user's mention, is it just a matter of time?
posted on May 22, 2001 07:34:41 AM new
There are a few things I don't like about AOL, but not enough to change to another service because of an expected rate-hike.
The Lord giveth, and my ISP, eBay, image host, online payment service, and auction service provider taketh away. Whatever. It's only money. *sigh*
posted on May 22, 2001 07:41:55 AM new
I have six mailboxes with AOL, my kids use it, too.
I've never been happy with hotmail or yahoo mail. It would be a pain to change all of that, but I was told just the other day that I can keep my aol mail for about $10 a month.
I can't find any info on that.
All of this nickle and diming is starting to pizz me off!
posted on May 22, 2001 07:56:18 AM new
The information you need regarding only paying $9.95 for AOL can be found on AOL KEYWORD: BYOA
BYOA = Bring Your Own Access
If you have Cable or DSL, you're not using AOL's access numbers so they will cut your monthly fee by $9.95 per month.
The only downside to this is if you access your AOL account from anywhere else (i.e. a friend's house, work, etc) which DOES access AOL using a modem, you'll be charged .4 per minute to access your account.
When you agree to BYOA, that means you agree never to tie up their access lines. If you do, that's when the charge will come in.
Good luck! By the way, I've used BYOA for over a year now and regret not switching over sooner. Never a problem. Then again, I only access my account from one location (my home).
posted on May 22, 2001 08:28:17 AM new
Greetings all, i really hate aohell, it should be called america off line, thay bounce me off so hard( even at 7:00 am on a sunday morning) i have to reboot my computer. not alot of fun, it's so slow also and then you have to deal with all those stupid pop up ads like your not paying for the service, yuck!!! i am have to use juno to upload my pics to my web host, and now thay want me to pay more money, what a joke! thay most likely need the added money to keep thire stock price up, i will be leavint this non-existant excuse of a service befor july, all the chiping away at my pocket book, ebay, aw it's getting very borng. well that's my 2 cents, anyone have a isp thay would recomend???
posted on May 22, 2001 08:48:30 AM new
I've been an AOLer for about 5 years...Suffered through the "too many users, not enough physical connections" hell, and have made it to the other side...I have no problems with them....I rarely get kicked off, heck I've left my connction open and come back 2,3,5 hours later & I'm still there....Sure, there search engine s*ucks, and there constant product sales pitches are annoying, I NEVER use their techs to assist is solving problems since the last time I did that years ago and had to rebuild my entire pc due to their "technical assitance", trying to actually acess any of their online tools is usually sooo slow that I watch years of my life ebb away while waiting and I exist in a group that most of the world thinks is a bunch of techboobs! ...BUT, I still have no urge to move on to another ISP...Heck it's only a buck ninety!
posted on May 22, 2001 08:54:58 AM new
With the AOL/Time Warner merge or buy out, (whatever), there is no doubt you will continue to see increases every three - six months. The cable system here is increased every six months. One more reason to drop anything to do with either of the two conglomerates.
posted on May 22, 2001 09:03:28 AM new
hi rancher, i live in the ny metro area, i pay aohell $21.95, another $9.95 to juno so i can upload pics to a pic hosting service that aohell woun't let me use, so i'm already paying $31.90 , that "no big deal $1.90" brings my tab to $33.80, i'm now in the dsl price range!!!
posted on May 22, 2001 09:17:41 AM new
Howdy BZDELUX....I'm on Long Island...I'm payin' the $21.95 a month, use AOL to host my pix and don't have DSL available in my neighborhood yet In your case it seems more cost effective to make the DSL switch...If you're payin' the price might as well have the added speed!
posted on May 22, 2001 09:24:48 AM new
BZDELUX- I know many AOL eBay sellers that use their AOL home pages to host pictures. AOL doesn't allow this ?
[ edited by reamond on May 22, 2001 09:27 AM ]
posted on May 22, 2001 10:13:55 AM new
hi reamond, i like to use freepicturehosting.com,thay have great templates and are free. when ever i try to use them aohell lets me up load 3 or 4 pics and then bounces me, i tey agian same story, juno is just fine, i cna upload 40 pics in one sitting, go figure. thanks all for your input.
posted on May 22, 2001 10:22:11 AM new
I also use AOL BYOA along with Verizon DSL and rarely have a problem. I host all my ebay pics on aol - also never had a problem.
You can access your AOL mail anywhere. Just go to the website. There is a link to log in and check your mail without dialing via AOL. If you want the mail to be save automatically in your file cabinet, do not delete them and just reread next time you dial into AOL.
AOL gives 2 megs of space to every username. If you create a home page, than it goes up to 4 megs. Thus, one can have about 28 megs of space to host pics.
I like the AOL mail system so much that I find it worthwhile to pay the $9.95/month for it. I also use the space as backup in case my main host goes down.
posted on May 22, 2001 10:57:30 AM new
Thank you commentary for your reply.
One thing I recall specifically doing before I signed up for "BYOA" was asking an AOL Tech to please speak to me in layman's terms; then I asked him, "If I'm at a friend's house who has a modem, not cable or dsl, and I go to www.aol.com to pick up my mail, will I be charged the .4 per minute penalty?" And he replied, "Yes you will".
Not that I give anything the techs tell me too much credibility. I guess it doesn't really bother me either way because I don't have the need to access my email away from home.
I will say that I agree re: my FTP Spaces are easily accessible for each of my 7 screen names. I find it's never once given me any trouble. It's fast, reliable and very easy for this layman to use.
posted on May 22, 2001 11:00:27 AM new
"I like the AOL mail system so much that I find it worthwhile to pay the $9.95/month for it. I also use the space as backup in case my main host goes down."
DITTO! I wouldn't give up my AOL for anything and for the same reasons!
posted on May 22, 2001 11:04:48 AM new
Thanks, KMAMEG!
I'll look into it this afternoonn!
Like you, I never access from anywhere but home so it sounds perfect!
smooooooch!
posted on May 22, 2001 12:24:11 PM new
KMMAMEG - I use the website whenever I am away from the main computer. Like if I am buying something from a dealer and have to wait for them to total it up, I will ask if okay to use their computer to login to my AOL email. I do this whenever I have auctions closing that day in case there is a question pending from a potential bidder and I have been on the road all day.
I should add that while I am a big fan of the AOL email system, I am not a fan of them as an ISP. They do have slower access even if your are using IE for browser. And it seems like AOL 6.0 is worse than 5.0
However, I love the ability to easily check which of the 7 screen names have new mail. Also, if I am using IE, I can hear whenever I have new mail so I can jump back to AOL.
And AOL customer support is fairly good. After you been thru several others, you do find it nice to be able to talk to a human being without having to wait 20 minutes each time. Even if that person may not know a thing they are talking about
Motto - never trust the answer you get from one tech. Call back and see if you get the same answer from another tech. Especially, if the first tech askes you to delete 50% of everything off your computer to make something work.
posted on May 22, 2001 04:23:52 PM new
I truly like AOL. Never have any problems with it being slow or signing me off.
I've come to the conclusion that many of the problems AOL users suffers are because of their own computer, or lack of computer knowledge.
BTW, you can stop those pop-up ads from showing up by checking them off in your AOL preferences. See, you blame AOL, but it's your fault for not being familiar with what they offer.
When was the last time you purged your browser cache or temporary Internet files? That will help a lot too. Is your hard drive space getting close to max? That will give you fits too.
Regarding their customer srevice support. As commentary above me said, it all depends on who you talk to. Call back and double check with another support person. They helped me when my video card took a dump. I had no idea what it was. They did, and I simply replaced it myself, saving repair fees.
They also help guide my on a simple solution to transferring tons of files over to my hard drive when we upgraded to a new computer without having to copy all the files on disk etc. Plus, being able to call someone 24/7, is real handy. I find their customer support great. Try using them sometime.
posted on May 22, 2001 05:34:17 PM new
If you like the content then AOL isn't such a bad deal. If you dont read any of their content or other things and are just using them for an ISP then you're paying too much.
The other thing is if you like ease of use and it's all in one thing then it's good. Like for mom.
posted on May 22, 2001 06:28:24 PM new
COMMENTARY - Thank you very much for that information regarding accessing you mail. I must admit I agree that one must always double check what an AOL Tech tells them; something I did not do when asking them about accessing my email away from home. I guess because I knew I wouldn't have much need to do so. But it's still very good to know that I can, without being charged.
Thanks again!
Just wanted to add that I never upgraded to 6.0. Too many friends had/are still having so much grief with it. I stuck with 5.0 and am a happy camper because of this decision.
[ edited by KMAMEG on May 22, 2001 06:35 PM ]
posted on May 23, 2001 02:47:52 AM new
That little raise means nothing to me since someone is usually on this computer 20 hours a day!
However, I did change to AOL access when they added it in this area and I'm not happy with it at all. Then I found that every local access company is using the same line out which is why everyone around here keeps changing companies looking for a better one!
So I'll be looking into a cable connection very soon.
...BUT, I still have no urge to move on to another ISP...Heck it's only a buck ninety!
In your case it seems more cost effective to make the DSL switch...If you're payin' the price might as well have the added speed! 
I guess it doesn't really bother me either way because I don't have the need to access my email away from home.