AOL and Wireless Networking

bbb_uk

Hi All,

Within the next few weeks I'm probably going to have to setup up a wireless network and have a PC and a laptop share ADSL broadband.

I was thinking of D-Link's DSL-902, DSL-904, or DSL-G604T.

The problem is this person has AOL(!) and knowing how troublesome AOL can be wondered if it is still possible to use an ADSL Broadband router (mentioned above) when using AOL broadband?

Does anyone actually use a wireless router with AOL?

Thanks in advance.

trickdick

Hi Kev

I'm on AOL and am also looking at setting up a wireless network.

If you look at keyword "networking" on AOL they offer a telephone backup service if you use Netgear or Thomson products.

Might be worth considering unless you really know what you are doing !!

Mattjimf

i have the dsl-g604t and am on AOL, and have had no problems with either, been using it for just under a year now. With the g604t all you need to do is access the router by opening IE (shows it better than firefox), then when you have logged on, password is same as username, select the second tab at the top (can't remember what it is as i have updated my firmware), scroll down to connections 1, enter your aol username and password and your sorted.
As a point of note ensure you change the password for the router and change and hide the SSID, also i'd reconmend saving the setting once your finished on your hard drive, for if anything goes wrong.
If you have any other problems let me know and i'll try and help as much as i can

jakemuk

shouldnt have any problems although if your not familiar with networkign then buy a netgear of thompson as there tech support will refuse to help you point blank

bbb_uk

Thanks for replies.

It's not for me but for a friend who unfortunately has AOL. And knowing how troublesome AOL are wondered if only certain wireless routers will work with them.

I do wish AOL would use standard stuff instead of insisting on using their own stuff for everything including their own TCP/IP driver.

I will check that keyword 'network' though and see what it says.

Mattjimf wrote:

...scroll down to connections 1, enter your aol username and password and your sorted....

My friend runs multiple accounts and one username/password is for a kid so has restrictions on it. Does that mean that the restrictions wouldn't apply anymore if the aol username & password entered was a full access aol username&password?

I therefore take it that it is not possible to still have individual accounts anymore when linked via wireless?

Langside

I would strongly advise buying from AOL for the reasons given by others - AOL are getting less generous in their old age and flatly refuse to even advise on any problems involving kit not sold by them. I am currently awaiting a refund from DELL who sold me a wireless router & instllation along with a new PC; I won't bother with the details, but the engineer came four times on Saturday mornings over a couple of months, for a total of around 20 hours, and the home network finally gave connectivity that caused me to lose my ability to log on to AOL and get so many error messages from McAfee that I had to use System Restore to wipe out all the attempts to get things working.

Mattjimf

bbb_uk wrote:

My friend runs multiple accounts and one username/password is for a kid so has restrictions on it. Does that mean that the restrictions wouldn't apply anymore if the aol username & password entered was a full access aol username&password?

I therefore take it that it is not possible to still have individual accounts anymore when linked via wireless?

The router means that he won't have to run AOL's software to connect to the internet. The restrictions on the kid's account is part of the AOL software, he can still run the AOL software but will have to update it to connect via TCP/IP and will have full access to all the accounts via the software. I would reconmend he gets something like net nanny so that the kid can't click on IE or whatever browser and gain access to sites s/he shouldn't.

bbb_uk

Mattjimf wrote:

The router means that he won't have to run AOL's software to connect to the internet. The restrictions on the kid's account is part of the AOL software, he can still run the AOL software but will have to update it to connect via TCP/IP and will have full access to all the accounts via the software. I would reconmend he gets something like net nanny so that the kid can't click on IE or whatever browser and gain access to sites s/he shouldn't.

Does this also mean accessing individual email accounts would be out of the question unless AOL is setup to work over a TCP/IP connection (I assume communicate directly with router)?

ticitybo

I’m not up to speed on the technical side of things and as such I am easily confused when it comes to techno speak (TCP/IP etc, etc), however I have managed to set up the following.

I use AOL on one PC which is connected to a Belkin Router. I also run another PC connected to the same Router and I also use a laptop that connects to the same Router via “wireless” and I also use “Freetalk” (VOIP) which is also connected to the Router.

They all work, at the same time if required. I can connect to the internet via Internet Explorer on either of the PCs or with the Laptop without actually logging on via AOL.

Both PCs and the Laptop can send and receive e-mail via Microsoft Outlook and/or Express without logging on via AOL (all of them have a different e-mail address).

If I can set this up, trust me, anyone can.

It only required minor changes within the settings screen for Outlook and Express, whilst Internet Explorer was set up using the XP connection wizard.

Happy to provide screen shots of the settings etc if this helps – just ask.

bbb_uk

ticitybo wrote:

Both PCs and the Laptop can send and receive e-mail via Microsoft Outlook and/or Express without logging on via AOL (all of them have a different e-mail address).

Thanks for your reply.

Are their email addresses still whatever@aol.com?

I have no problems with settings, etc (TCP/IP or even setting up an outlook/express email account) but I avoid AOL as much as possible so I'm not sure if you can use outlook(express) for reading/sending via an aol email address.

ticitybo

"Are their email addresses still whatever@aol.com?"

Yep, I send and receive e-mail as though it was sent/received using AOL so the recipient will see that it was from XXXXXX@aol.com etc. etc.

The advantage as far as I am concerned is that if I actually log on/use AOL I seem to get slightly slower download speeds due to the fact that AOL is constantly streaming information (if streaming is the right phrase).

Where as if I use Internet Explorer it seems faster, certainly easier and my e-mails are more manageable when I use Outlook or Express.

I should have mentioned that I have a 1MB connection and this seems to be more than adequate for my needs; I have considered a faster connection but the current connection seems fine to me.

As for AOL, I can’t knock or fault them. I’ve been with AOL since Version 2.0 (roughly 1999ish) and I’ve never had any problems. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones.