Aol Getting Worse ? (AOL Flat Rate)

Member Name: stinky monkey

Product:	AOL Flat Rate
Date:	03/05/02 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: any phone line, flat rate

Disadvantages: service going slower

A house move just over 16 months ago forced me into looking for a new isp as my previous one could not offer me the serive at my new address.

One big factor that I required was the ability to be able to use my laptop computer to access the internet using various phoneslines , some would be bt and others would be the local cable operator.
After searching for awhile it dawned on me that there only seemed to be AOL who offered such a deal that would allow dialup from anywhere and also came in a unmetered flat rate package.

So sign was easy via my Visa card and i also enjoyed my first month virtually free due to the 50 hour free trial that AOL where offering at the time , i believe they now offer 100 hours for the trial.

The software ? hmm well you either love it or hate it and to be honest i stay well clear of the browser and only use the software provided to check my email account.

Once installed it runs quite well , youchoose the best numbers for your area or phone operator and that is basically that everything else is automatically done for you.

Download speeds on my hayes v90 modem where what you should expect and they vary from site to site but i would say they average out in the region of 5 k per sec.

Email operates ok with no missing mails etc but if you are a big fan of newsgroups especially the binary kind then do not go near AOL as they do not carry such groups.

I have noticed however that since the start of 2002 the speed of browsing and downloading has dropped and the most critical complaint you can have i suppose is the dreaded sound of a engeaged tone.
I once spent 40 minutes trying to connect to the site between the hours of 9pm and 9.40 !!! this i find to be totally unaceptable and what made matter worse is i only had the choice of two numbers to dial due to my line being non bt.

I would probably say if you are in the hunt for a new isp then try Aol out but i would definatel
y shop around .

Summary: