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Re: Re[2]: TECHNICAL QUESTION

This is true and I do know of people who have taken this approach. If Aol
does not have a local number, you can sign up with the local ISP and then
tie in to AOL service. I have never steped into AOL because of two personal
reasons.

1) I'm cheap. I would rather pay 10USD versus 20USD monthly with AOL. 
   I could dabble in what I get, but you bore you.
2) I'm concern that when I load AOL on my CPU, it will trash some current
files which I would have to reconfigure. This is an assumption on my part.
I am a MAC user with FreePPP. 
>      
>      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.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 


-- 
Sincerely,  

------------------------------------ FROM: -----------------------------------
Duncan McAlpine  
Boeing Customer Services                                 Phone: (206) 544-9517
Airplane Maintenance & Repair Engineering                  FAX: (206) 544-8844 
            
EMAIL:  dm2477@lab3.ca.boeing.com                  Schedule: 6:00-2:30 M-F PST          
        duncan.g.mcalpine@boeing.com
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