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Re[2]: TECHNICAL QUESTION

     
     Wait, wait, wait (don't leave, come back...)
     
     As an AOL insider (I'm an R&D VP in their Newport Beach offices) you 
     might not expect this comment; however, I'd have to agree that AOL 
     phone access currently sucks.  You should see people scrambling around 
     here to get it fixed.  I wish I had the money that's being spent.
     
     The AOL service itself is still excellent, if you can only get on it.  
     And it's going to get better (hey that's what I do).
     
     Think about this approach: get your own ISP *before* you dump AOL.  
     After establishing a connection to your ISP,  start AOL, but select 
     "TCP connect" in the Setup section from the Welcome screen, and then 
     Sign On.  This gets you connected to AOL via your ISP's internet link.
     
     AOL calls the above "bring your own access," and charges a flat rate 
     of $9.95/month for it.  It might be worth it to change over to this 
     combination (ISP + AOL) to those who value features found only on AOL.
     
     There I've done my duty as an AOL employee, member and stockholder.  
     Now if I could only grow a pumpkin heavier than 50 lbs!
     
     ...Paul

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: TECHNICAL QUESTION
Author:  "Troy Nayler" <troy.nayler@odyssey.on.ca> at ~Internet
Date:    1/17/97 2:34 AM


That is precisely the reason I left CompuServe! Busy signals, way to 
expensive, bad connection speeds "9600 BPS" <----- that is very bad when you 
have a 28,000 BPS modem, I connect at 115,200 BPS every time now using the 
uart chip on my modem. Also they use 500k/second T1 lines, you can find 
servers with 1.5 gig/second T1 lines "which is how they connect to the 
Internet (T1 or T3)" more inf. per second the better. There are more reasons 
why you should not use AOL or CompuServe........
You should look for a ISP with a 1.5 Gig/second connection, unlimited hours 
online, free e-mail, Free web page 5 megs at least, dial up connections of 
at least 28,000 BPS. You should get all this for one flat monthly rate of 
$25.00 to $30.00 CDN. a moth, about $20.00 US max. oh ya and a customer to 
modem ratio of less than 8:1 then you will have no problem with busy 
signals.
Hope this helps.
     
Troy.
http://www.odyssey.on.ca/~troy.nayler/
Home of the "World Wide Pumpkins" home page
     
----------
> From: SEichorn@aol.com
> To: pumpkins@athenet.net
> Subject: Fwd: TECHNICAL QUESTION
> Date: Friday, January 17, 1997 12:21 AM 
> 
>   Forgive me for being off-topic, but I thought this is revelent. I will 
give
> them one more month and if results aren't satisfactory then it's to 
another
> ISP. 
> ---------------------
> Forwarded message:
> From: techprob@aol.net
> To: seichorn@aol.com
> Date: 97-01-15 13:03:10 EST
> 
> Dear seichorn,
> 
> I am writing to you on behalf of America Online to answer your recent 
E-Mail
> to our staff. 
> 
> 
> This letter was written by Bob Pittman our President and CEO of AOL 
Networks
> to our members to try and explain the problem. 
> 
> I agree with your views!  We take our responsibilities very seriously to 
give
> you the very best service possible--including the ease of phone 
connections
> at ALL hours of the day.  And if we fall behind on ANY part of AOL's 
> leadership--content, navigation, community, connectivity, search, 
speed--then
> we go into a crisis mode here.
> 
> We're in one now!  We're all working day and night to keep up with this 
> unprecedented demand.  And we are solving the problem.  We're spending 
$250
> million through the spring alone to add additional capacity to meet this 
> demand.  WE WILL SOLVE THIS ISSUE...but, unfortunately, it does take some 
> time.  We must physically add new equipment that requires the time and
> cooperation of other companies who supply us.  And they're all scrambling 
to
> help us as well.
> 
> In spite of that, ADDING CAPACITY--NOW! is the subject of most of our 
> internal meeting, e-mails and conversations--little else matters right 
now.
> How can we do even more sooner?  We do understand how it feels. I make it 
a
> point to sign on using access numbers from different cities every night 
in
> prime time so that I can personally see how the demand issue feels as a 
user.
>  Although we have a great service, that doesn't matter if you have to 
work
> harder to get online.
> 
> What's going on?  How did this happen?  Unlimited pricing HAS increased 
our
> usage...but before you think we're morons for not being ready let me give 
you
> some back-ground.  We DID understand that unlimited would increase our 
usage
> among our members. And we built extra capacity in anticipation of the 
> December launch of our unlimited service.  
> 
> What surprised us was the HUGE increase in demand unrelated to the 
unlimited
> pricing--the sudden increase in popularity of AOL.  You may have seen 
news
> reports of the first decline ever in TV viewer ship--and the speculation 
that
> it was moving to online usage.  Well, I can assure you it is going to 
online.
>  In November, the month BEFORE we launched unlimited, AOL did 60 million 
> hours of usage--double to 30 million hours of usage we did in the summer! 
>  THis unexpected usage--compounded with the extra usage from the 
unlimited
> pricing--is causing the problem of getting connected easily in prime time 
at
>  night.
> 
> But I want to stress this is a solvable problem...and one that we will 
solve!
>  And we know it's frustrating--it is for us as well because we take our 
> responsibility to you very seriously.
> 
> We also understand you're here at AOL because we have given you a product 
> that you use and love.  And if we don't fix this problem, you won't 
stay--and
> we shouldn't expect you to.
> 
> I'd just like to say thanks for bearing with us and assure you that we do 
> understand the problem, we do have solutions, we are implementing them, 
and
> we WILL FIX THIS PROBLEM.  Indeed, in some locations it is already better 
> than others and some weeks are better than others as we roll out our 
extra
> capacity day by day, location by location trying to catch up and pass 
this
> demand.  
> 
> As much as we all hate to hear bad news, please do keep giving us 
feed-back.
>  It is essential for us to hear what you're going through.  And as it 
gets
> better, please let us know that as well. It will help us find and focus 
on
> the remaining hot spots.
> 
> My sincere apologies for the aggravation you've been going through...and 
> thanks for your concern and support.
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you for using America Online.   
> 
> Technical Support Staff
> 
> --------------------
> 
> Why did AOL not plan ahead for the obvious increase in membership 
> and usage so there would have been minimal inconvenience to the 
membership.
> Taking over 2 hrs to sign on is ridculous.
> I would like an explaination and not an excerpt from Steve Case's Jan 
letter.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
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