DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '26 I => Current Talk '02 II => Topic started by: Birdie on October 05, 2002, 03:21:53 PM
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There are so many of you out there who know so much more about computers than this pointed head woman. My husband is planning on changing internet servers, and he is thinking about going back to AOL, or perhaps Earthlink. Do any of you have any words of wisdom or advise? I would love to go cable but the cost is so very high. Thanks in advance for any heads up.
I have to go throw a few things together I am taking my mother to Newport for the night to my sisters. Of course it will kill me not to visit "Collinwood" but don't think I could drag my mother there. She just doesn't get it. And this is her weekend to play. So I will have the pleasure of going to the Christmas Tree Shop or maybe Walmart. Oh boy, it doesn't get better than this. Actually, I am glad to be able to spend time with her she isn't getting any younger and she just turned 75 this week.
Birdie
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Birdie,
I have MSN as an isp and I cannot complain. They are always available for technical assistance and I have no problems (knock wood) with access.
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I hated AOL because it was so slow, but now that I have Cox High Speed Internet, it really gave AOL a boost, 8.0 is coming out any day now, waiting for the upgrade. If I didn't have AOL, I would use MSN. Since you can't pay extra for cable, that sounds like a good way to go. I do use MSN Explorer sometimes. I have that with my Hotmail account.
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My husband is planning on changing internet servers, and he is thinking about going back to AOL, or perhaps Earthlink.
AOL - BAD
Earthlink - BETTER
In PC Magazine's annual reader's survey (published back in July), AOL came in dead last. On a scale that ranges from A+ to E (they don't give F's - but E is pretty much an F without actually being an F ;)), AOL Dial-Up received an E for overall satisfaction, initial setup, rates, technical support, connecting at the highest speed, connection reliability, speed of page downloads, and e-mail service. AOL Broadband did slightly better: D-
On the other hand, Earthlink Dial-Up received B+ across all those categories, whereas they received a C+ for their broadband service.
If I were you, I'd give serious consideration to going with a local Internet service. They provide much more personal service and they tend to be more reliable. Several are available in MA, but the biggest are probably:
ABCisp - http://www.abcisp.net/
$15.95/month Dial-Up
2 e-mail accounts
5 MB Web Space
RCN - http://www.rcn.com/internet/dialup/index.php
$19.95/month Dial-Up
1 email account (more available with no additional fees)
10 MB Web space
True Computing - http://www.truecomputing.net/
$21.95/month Dial-Up
1 e-mail account
5 MB Web space
I can't vouch for ABCisp or True Computing, but I use RCN (they're available in 8 states and the District of Columbia) and I have no complaints. Setup is very easy - you just follow a few steps that they've laid out on their site.
However, if you'd rather go with a nationwide service, I'd suggest either Earthlink or AT&T WorldNet. I've used both AOL and Earthlink, and I totally agree with PC Magazine's survey results. ;) As for AT&T, they also received a B+ across all categories.
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but now that I have Cox High Speed Internet, it really gave AOL a boost
I'm assuming that you connect to AOL using TCP/IP (which is the technical way of saying you connect through another service) rather than dialing directly through one of AOL's numbers? TCP/IP is the way I've connected to AOL, and while you do get better service that way, I've still found AOL to be inferior to almost any other service I've tried. :( And I've tried almost all of them...
8.0 is coming out any day now, waiting for the upgrade.
If you upgrade to 8.0, say bye-bye to Microsoft Internet Explorer. Advanced word is that AOL will be introducing an entirely new browser, developed using the core code that's the basis for the Mozilla browser and Netscape 7.0. But that's not really much of a surprise, considering that AOL/Time Warner now owns Netscape ;) (though, thankfully, Netscape remains a separate division from AOL).
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MB WROTE:
I'm assuming that you connect to AOL using TCP/IP (which is the technical way of saying you connect through another service) rather than dialing directly through one of AOL's numbers? TCP/IP is the way I've connected to AOL, and while you do get better service that way, I've still found AOL to be inferior to almost any other service I've tried. And I've tried almost all of them...
I am on AOL also and still get the sliding effect, but I don't use the dial up anymore (way too slow) and instead use the Cable Modem to sign on. This is definetely much faster for me to use.
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have Aol hate it! considering Earth Link when i have a spare moment!so if we upgrade to 8 can't get on IE
MB?
jennifer
Ick Birdie hope you get to have "fun" next time in Newport I hate WalMart and CTShops are so bad now!
oh well sure your mother enjoyed it!
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so if we upgrade to 8 can't get on IE MB?
You'll still have IE on your computer because it's a part of Windows. But to use IE for the forum, you'll have to log on to AOL and then open IE separately (like you have to do to read the archive) because a totally new browser will be included with AOL 8.0. Or at least that's what's being reported...
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Thank you for all your advise. I am going to pass it on to my husband.
MB, I had not heard of those other servers so I will also look into those. Your advise is appreciated. We have been using MSN and it keeps freezing on us and we have to reboot the darn thing.
Just got back from our trip to Newport. The weather was wonderful. Yes, we did go to both Walmart and Christmas Tree. Those are the kind of things my mother likes to do. Even though I didn't get her to visit "Collinwood" my sister and I brought her to the Black Peral for the chowder. So I got my DS fix with a visit to The Blue Whale. I looked for our Bob behind the bar, but it must have been his day off.
Birdie
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[scrm][scrm]We are on AOL, the absolutely slowest service. It is not only slow, but constantly cuts us off for no reason. We use dial up and it is SOslow. Plan to change soon. Thanks for all of the tips about other systems.
Afan
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I have not had that problem of being cut off AOL since I got high speed internet. It used to happen a lot.