Should I really switch to AOL??

Aurora_emma

I wonder if anyone who has had recent experience of AOL could give me some advice?
My lovely partner is going to be moving in with me in the next couple of months.:j He has always had AOL as his ISP and started his current contract with them last September. He thinks he signed a minimum 18 month contract. (I'll get him to check.)
We are swapping my Sky to his name so that he isn't in breach of contract and we may have to do this with the phoneline too, but I am really worried about the internet connection. Am I justified to be worried about AOL?

Currently I am very happily with Demon, who I have been with for a number of years. I work from home and continual internet access is vital to my job, so swapping at all is scaring me greatly, I really CAN'T go without internet without having to take precious holidays.

If I do say I will cancel mine and switch his to this address - I don't want the software anywhere near my computer - will I be able to use the internet as normal through our router or will I have to turn his (polluted with AOL) computer on for it to log into AOL to does it just work like other ISPs?
How long does switching take these days?
Another issue is that he really doesn't want to lose his AOL email address.
Am I overreacting not wanting to switch to AOL do you think?

As always - really grateful for any advice people might have

mattrgee

Speaking from the perspective on an IT Professional I would avoid AOL at all costs. Its not just the dodgy Internet service they provide but the pointless software that is loaded on to your computer to help you surf the Internet. You don't need all that nonsense as I'm sure you know and it's a pig to get rid of.

If possible get O2 broadband, it's fast and customer service is great.

willo65

The new AOL installer doesn't automatically put AOL software on your computer, you can bypass this. Also you could get him to set it all up through his computer and then you just plug in and go. When I switched I had a switch date of approx 14 days and they sent me exact date and said I may not have internet access for upto 4 hours on that day. Switching day I was away for a couple of days came back installed and all sorted.

gardner1

Should i join AOHELL:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
AVOID AT ALL COSTS

black_paw

never get it off the computer don't do it ! true right aohell

alkip

I'm currently with AOL, the service has been ok, DL speeds are basically shocking but some of that will be down to the fact that I'm out in the sticks.

However, I've recently changed to a googlemail account for my e-mail as the AOL is, to put it bluntly, bloody annoying! I found a 'saved images from mail' file the other night which is when I thought "enough is enough"!

Also the amount of software that AOL puts on your comp is still awful, ok so I've found ways to get rid of most of the unwanted stuff but to me it shouldn'thave been there in the first place, I didn't ask for it!

There's certainly better out there.

Don't forget that even if your partner is tied to an 18 month contract with AOL you can still buy it out.

deanos

You dont need the software to use AOL, ive been with them about 4 years and had the odd slow speed but nothing worse than any other ISP, just put your details in the router and thats it.

ihatebt_2

I agree with mattrgee. Avoid AOL.

goonerAFC

Im with them.

Avoid. Trust me, slow speeds during the name, and in the night it magically speeds up. It also disconnects ALOT during the night.

clickclash

No, just no.

Jaffa.

Okay, I'm currently with AOL and we decided to renew after the 18 month contract. We managed to get the price down to £6.99 with a 12 month contract.

The uptime is about 98% and they’ve actually really improved - customer service is also much much better. These are the speeds that I just got:



Don't use the AOL software - when your setting up the router you'll want to point your browser to http://192.168.0.125
you don't need any cd's to set it up trust me