Home networking with Aol?

Hi Folks
Thinking of going with aol silver but have read reviews that home
networking is not available with the silver package?. I assume this
means no networking support from aol?. I had planned to get a wireless
modem/router to allow my laptop to be used anywhere in the house as
well as the desktop could I still use this modem/router with aol
silver??. I have also been told that you have to use aol`s own browser?
again this seems strange as I wanted to use Firefox and also Thunderbird.
Advice appreciated.
Cheers
Steve

On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 19:38:13 GMT, Steve <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Thinking of going with aol silver but have read reviews that home
>networking is not available with the silver package?. I assume this
>means no networking support from aol?.

correct, no support rather than not possible.
http://www.computing.net/networking/...rum/25621.html managed
it.

Router setup etc needs to have 1400 MTU, PPPoE connection, main
account "screen name" as login.
http://www.the-scream.co.uk/forums/s...253#post163253

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

Steve wrote:
> Hi Folks
> Thinking of going with aol silver but have read reviews that home
> networking is not available with the silver package?. I assume this
> means no networking support from aol?. I had planned to get a wireless
> modem/router to allow my laptop to be used anywhere in the house as
> well as the desktop could I still use this modem/router with aol
> silver??. I have also been told that you have to use aol`s own browser?
> again this seems strange as I wanted to use Firefox and also Thunderbird.
> Advice appreciated.
> Cheers
> Steve


AOL support various routers now (not sure if Silver is official or not)
and there is info via google on how to set up.

I used a dg834 router on my out-laws system - had to set up 3 screen
names, 1 for the router and 1 for each PC (using 2 pcs). Also had to
set the MTU to 1400 on both router and PCs, something that a lot of
routers cannot do.

I cannot remember if they cannot connect via the AOL browser from each
PC at the same time, but that does not matter as they use Outlook for
mail and Firefox for browsing. You do not have to use the AOL software.

They have been online now for 6 months with no problems.

If you use a router that is supported by Gold or better then it will
work on Silver from my limited experience.

"Steve" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F8Xxe.22083$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Folks
> Thinking of going with aol silver but have read reviews that home
> networking is not available with the silver package?. I assume this means
> no networking support from aol?. I had planned to get a wireless
> modem/router to allow my laptop to be used anywhere in the house as
> well as the desktop could I still use this modem/router with aol silver??.
> I have also been told that you have to use aol`s own browser? again this
> seems strange as I wanted to use Firefox and also Thunderbird.

I've seen information from AOL saying that you need AOL Gold to use
networking. I'm not sure whether this is because Silver actually doesn't
work with a router or whether it's to do with the number of user names
(screen names) that you get.

You need a separate screen name for the router to connect as, otherwise you
will not be able to log in at the AOL console as that user from outside the
network (eg from dial-up at work or when on holiday); you can still log in
as the "router" screen name at the AOL console on your network.

You don't have to use AOL's proprietary browser. I've certainly used
Internet Explorer perfectly well and I've no reason to think that Firefox,
Opera or any other browser would be any different. You don't even need to
log into the AOL console on the PC in order to browse the web.

You can probably use any router with AOL, but it might be better to go for a
Netgear DG835G (UK) if you've no good reason to go for anything else,
because the Netgear is the router that AOL sell bundled with their broadband
package in PC World: if they use that router, it must work and they are most
likely to help you if you have any problems. Whatever router you use, it's
probably a good idea to set the router's MTU to 1400 (default is 1458)
because that's what a lot of people recommend. I've had two customers where
an MTU of 1458 has worked perfectly well but another customer when the
router fails to authenticate or disconnects immediately unless MTU is 1400.

"johnydeath" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:42c84a70$0$18644$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> I cannot remember if they cannot connect via the AOL browser from each PC
> at the same time, but that does not matter as they use Outlook for mail
> and Firefox for browsing. You do not have to use the AOL software.

How do you set up Outlook (or Outlook Express)? For example:

- what is the username: is it "screen-name" or "screen-(E-Mail Removed)"?
- what are the POP and SMTP servers?
- does POP access use SSL?
- does SMTP need authentication and/or SSL?
- are there any other non-standard settings required?

I ask in case any of my customers want to use Outlook or Outlook Express
rather than the AOL app that keeps the email on the server and so doesn't
allow you to prepare email and read old email offline (eg when your laptop
is away from home).

Thanks for info chaps.
Best to get the included modem package from PC World I think.
Seems a bit more to broadband than dial up configuration than I first
thought.
Forgive the girlie question but is the router for other pc`s to use?.
I obviously need the modem for connection to my desktop, but the
wireless router for my laptop?.
Other screens to access it ???? aaaaargh.
No doubt its easier doing it than reading how to do it
Thought with XP nowadays its all plug n play ;-).
Cheers again
Steve

On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 20:54:07 GMT, Steve <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Best to get the included modem package from PC World I think.

unlikely, that includes AOL Gold. Its a Netgear 834 wireless router
you can buy anywhere.

>Seems a bit more to broadband than dial up configuration than I first
>thought.
>Forgive the girlie question but is the router for other pc`s to use?.

phone line -- router -- PCs the router serves them all, wired or
wireless

>I obviously need the modem for connection to my desktop, but the
>wireless router for my laptop?.

you need a *combined* ADSL modem router to feed everything. Pay
somebody competent to do it for you.

>Other screens to access it ???? aaaaargh.

screen *names* (WTF are they ?) are required for each user of AOL
Cheeseware on the system, as well as one for the router.
Simpler to use a real ISP not America Online.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

Ta for that Phil guess I need to do some homework before going for it.
Thought broadband was simply like dial up but much faster and on all the
time ;-(.
Didn`t know I had to think about ISP compatibilty with the modem, router
etc.
Will get there eventually.
Thanks again
Steve

On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 22:26:27 GMT, Steve <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Didn`t know I had to think about ISP compatibilty with the modem, router
>etc.

only with AOL.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

On 3 Jul 2005 21:47, "Martin Underwood" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I ask in case any of my customers want to use Outlook or Outlook Express
>rather than the AOL app that keeps the email on the server and so doesn't
>allow you to prepare email and read old email offline (eg when your laptop
>is away from home).

It might be better to suggest they consider a domain name of their own, and
they may well find they are provided with a single POP mailbox by the reg.
firm and space for a small website too... I've used the Claranet 9.99/yr
mail + news account (which accepts mail on port 2525 as well as port 25,
in case the user's ISP blocks port 25). Claranet's mail has been very
reliable (in my experience) for the past 5+ years, though there was a
brief spell when they had a problem and that was quickly sorted out.

Mail from Yahoo.co.uk offers POP and SMTP facilities, I believe. Peter.


--

UK ADSL <http://tinyurl.com/5jpa4> - Happy to save cash with Plus.Net!!
E-mail + files - 30 day free trial - <http://web.vfm-deals.com/runbox/>
USENET news service? <http://tinyurl.com/3rjw4> (plans from under US$5)