Wonder if anyone else on AOL has had the following. I received a letter a few months back stating that they are doubling my download speed from 500kbit/sec to 1meg to 'stay competetive with other providers', which they did do and it worked.
However today I get a letter stating that 'we informed you that we would be doubling your speed some time ago, but we are afraid that is not possible as the line needs upgrading and we will provide you with 512kbps'. And checking the speed, it has indeed being dropped.
What the hell is going on?!!! Am I been fobbed off here? Or do telephone lines normally behave this way? It worked before at that speed! They said they have reduced my monthly payments accordingly to 21.99, but the bill doesn't stay that, and AOL online help is staffed by a bunch of unintelligable donkeys with a grasp of the English language a parrot would be ashamed of. You just get told to ring them, at MY cost.
Coupled with the fact my modem dies 10 times per day and the AOL software has tried to take over my computer, I think it is time to move on. Anyone in the UK know of any good deals, or any tricks I can direct at AOL to improve matters? I don't seem alone either after hearing from other users. AOL is all I have used for many years.
AOL connection speed
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sucinum
- Pal Master
- Posts: 872
- Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2001 1:00 am
- Location: Karlsruhe, Germany
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quit aol.
for a new provider, start looking for local cable providers, if there isn't any, you'll have to stick with broadband. there should be plenty providers in the UK. i have no clue, just guessing, because even in crappy developed germany we have the choice, even though most people use t-online. fortunately, aol never really established here.
oh, and aol sucks, just if that didn't come out clearly.
for a new provider, start looking for local cable providers, if there isn't any, you'll have to stick with broadband. there should be plenty providers in the UK. i have no clue, just guessing, because even in crappy developed germany we have the choice, even though most people use t-online. fortunately, aol never really established here.
oh, and aol sucks, just if that didn't come out clearly.
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Trantor
- Duke of Banville
- Posts: 2466
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I guess I am the only one who never had any problems with AOL. I have 1000 kbps and think I've had it for a very long time now. I could upgrade to 3000 kbps, but I don't see any reason to do this, since I don't download that much and it would cost extra. Paul, you pay 22 pounds a month?! I pay 5 € a month for a flatrate with a maximum of 1 GB traffic, which is more than enough for me.
Though I don't agree with AOL sucking in general, I do agree with sucinum that you should quit and look for a new provider, since that really is unacceptable.
Though I don't agree with AOL sucking in general, I do agree with sucinum that you should quit and look for a new provider, since that really is unacceptable.
I will ask a friend of mine, who lived in the UK and could know a bit about that matter; won´t be before evening; maybe I can get some help/tricks from him.
Quitting the Provider is only a good idea if you got reasonable alternatives. I would say, stick with AOL (Alles "=everything" On Line!!) for now. It is not nice what they did, but there is surely a way to sort that out. I am no fan of AOL, I stick with t-online, but you really choose between the lesser evil.
Depends on where you live, what connection and providers are possible to you! Here,where I live, in a village, you have only tonline or sattelite connections and in Munich ,for instance you have m-net and other stuff as well.
So
We here had some months ago a speed increase, similar to yours. It was not that large(do not have the details) but you could opt for a charge free change of your connection rate (changing speeds is not free) until a special date(ultimatum).
Again, they could be as embarassed(not being aware of that fact yet) as you are angered(which you are pretty much aware!); You never used anything else than their service, so maybe they wanna keep you customer! I would wait a short time. AOL sucks here, but I don´t know for other countries. My brother used AOL in switzerland..depends on how much yu use inet..
Quitting the Provider is only a good idea if you got reasonable alternatives. I would say, stick with AOL (Alles "=everything" On Line!!) for now. It is not nice what they did, but there is surely a way to sort that out. I am no fan of AOL, I stick with t-online, but you really choose between the lesser evil.
Depends on where you live, what connection and providers are possible to you! Here,where I live, in a village, you have only tonline or sattelite connections and in Munich ,for instance you have m-net and other stuff as well.
So
We here had some months ago a speed increase, similar to yours. It was not that large(do not have the details) but you could opt for a charge free change of your connection rate (changing speeds is not free) until a special date(ultimatum).
Again, they could be as embarassed(not being aware of that fact yet) as you are angered(which you are pretty much aware!); You never used anything else than their service, so maybe they wanna keep you customer! I would wait a short time. AOL sucks here, but I don´t know for other countries. My brother used AOL in switzerland..depends on how much yu use inet..
If you do decide to switch providers, I can strongly recommend Force 9 Broadband Plus which is 2MB for £15, no download limits.
See http://www.f9.net.uk/residential/broadb ... age_choose
I've never had any significant problems with Force 9, having been with them for several years. I took advantage of the offer to upgrade to broadband for free (inc. modem) a few months ago. Note that you do have to pay back some of the setup cost if you terminate early.
See http://www.f9.net.uk/residential/broadb ... age_choose
I've never had any significant problems with Force 9, having been with them for several years. I took advantage of the offer to upgrade to broadband for free (inc. modem) a few months ago. Note that you do have to pay back some of the setup cost if you terminate early.
my household quit AOL after alot of pestering from me! AOL is a monster.
Telewest broadband is brilliant, im not sure if its the fastest but it has NEVER let me down, good service.
Ugh, i sound like an advertising person!
Telewest broadband is brilliant, im not sure if its the fastest but it has NEVER let me down, good service.
Ugh, i sound like an advertising person!
Spears of Valour: My free-to-download mass fantasy game! https://www.wargamevault.com/product/46 ... sy-battles
Great replies!
It seems my best bet is indeed to move on. Just have to persuade the crumblies, but even they are getting annoyed with the cut offs. I suppose we didn't kniow any better, having just the one ISP ever, but anyone with a modicum of sense would know that something smells a bit fishy here.
One more question: what about overlap between changing providers? How does it all work? As far as I am aware, I am on a rolling contract with AOL, as they took it upon themselves to extend their broadband service after the 1st 12 months without informing me. So I should be able to opt out when I like.
It seems my best bet is indeed to move on. Just have to persuade the crumblies, but even they are getting annoyed with the cut offs. I suppose we didn't kniow any better, having just the one ISP ever, but anyone with a modicum of sense would know that something smells a bit fishy here.
One more question: what about overlap between changing providers? How does it all work? As far as I am aware, I am on a rolling contract with AOL, as they took it upon themselves to extend their broadband service after the 1st 12 months without informing me. So I should be able to opt out when I like.
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Ameena
- Wordweaver, Murafu Maker
- Posts: 7538
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My dad says AOL is crap too from what he's heard of it...we've always had Telewest and we've never had any problem...well once I think the main server thing blew up so our area didn't have any Internet for a few days, but apart from that it's been fine 
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Ameena, self-declared Wordweaver, Beastmaker, Thoughtbringer, and great smegger of dungeon editing!
Ameena, self-declared Wordweaver, Beastmaker, Thoughtbringer, and great smegger of dungeon editing!
Des's offer looks very good. Its a pity I use my AOL email address for almost everything, this might be a pain in the bottom to rectify.
Still interested in peoples views on this 'phoneline' malarkey. AOL keep asking me if I want to upgrade to platinum with speeds 'up to 2mbps'. Which given that I can 'only' receive 512kbps seems rather dumb...
Still interested in peoples views on this 'phoneline' malarkey. AOL keep asking me if I want to upgrade to platinum with speeds 'up to 2mbps'. Which given that I can 'only' receive 512kbps seems rather dumb...