Multi-using Broadband

I want to change to broadband I am with AOL, but they tell me if I want more than one computer to use broadband at the same time I will have to pay £24.99 a month not £17.99. Is this true or are they just tryiny to get more money from me?
Also what extra do I need to connect the Two computers or more?

Winston

Yes, BT say the same. To be honest, I'm not sure how they will know, because if you connect your PCs together using a router, then you only have one external IP address, and I can't see how the ISP will know how many individual PCs you have connected.

Anyway, that's the other answer - one way is to get yourself a broadband router and set up a network (cabled or wired) - it's really easy to do, and then connect the router to the phone line.

Martin

XP Home SP2, Athlon XP2000+, 512Mb, Loadsadisk, Nvidia Geforce FX5700LE 128Mb

Winston:

Just a few thoughts. These are only my own opinions of course - your views, and those of other readers may differ:-

* Suggest you also look at the option of going to other ISPs than AOL unless you have compelling reasons to stick with them. Despite their size, or perhaps because of it, they tend to have somewhat quirky attitudes to things like what you can and can't do with their feed. Most other vendors are not bothered, providing you don't misuse the connection (endless continuous maximum rate downloads)
* It's possible to get MUCH cheaper high-quality broadband connections from other vendors.
* Try to establish what maximum download speed suits what you want to do on the 'Net. Basically you get what you pays for - although it is possible these days to get 2 Mbps broadband for £14.99/month (Eclipse, capped at 1GB transfer per month, extra 1 GB £1.75). If you don't need such speeds, but will want to shift a lot of data (games, videos), then probably an unlimited option would be best.
* The speed you end up with depends on how far the wiring has to go back to your exchange. Providing your are within about 6 and a bit km, you should get 512 kbps. But to get 2 Mbps you need to be considerably closer with the present technology.
* Connecting to two computers rather than one is fairly straightforward, and most ISPs don't get in a strop over it. (Another reason for steering clear of those who do, IMO!)
* Instead of buying a simple ADSL modem (which takes telephone line in one side and provides a single USB or Ethernet network connection out the other (connecting to a single PC), you get an ADSL Modem Router (sometimes referred to as an ADSL Modem "switch"). This ADSL Modem Router typically will have four Ethernet outputs, one of which you simply plug to each PC with Ethernet CAT5 leads. These boxes generally come with "Wizards" these days to help you do the install.
* Going this way is reasonably cheap, providing your two PCs have Ethernet connections on them. Most modern PCs do. It's also excellent technically since the Router part of the box usually has competent hardware firewalling inside.
* Of course there is a whole range of different ISPs, connection options and modem hardware to choose from, but my suggestion would be to look at Eclipse's robust ISP offerings as a reference point, and similarly look at a product like the Netgear DG834 as your modem router. Even if you choose to go another way, these will give you solid points of comparison.

I've assumed in all this that you operate from the UK (since the prices look right in pounds)!

Hope this gets you started. - Mike -

My reason for AOL is. if i move I would have to change my e-mail address and this would cause me great deal of trouble for many months.
What about Tiscali my friends say they are great

Here is a suggestion...

Get some other broadband ISP that is more suitable for your needs, AND keep your AOL accout for a few months. Here's how...

In the USA, (and maybe elsewhere), AOL offers a service called BYOA - Bring Your Own Access - for about $15 per month. Go to AOL Keyword: BYOA to find out more.

With BYOA, you keep all of your AOL screen names and E-mail addresses, but you access the AOL service through some internet connection OTHER THAN the AOL network.

You must keep the AOL software installed on your computer, and you must use it to access the AOL service. At the AOL sign-on screen, you would configure and use your other ISP as your connection to AOL.

When you are not using the AOL service, then log off the AOL service, and exit the AOL program. You can use any web browser and any E-mail program with your other ISP to surf the net.

In the USA, AOL's BYOA service also includes a number of hours (I think 10 hours) each month of using the AOL network, too. This means that if your other ISP is down, or if you are away from your other ISP connection, then you can use the AOL network to connect to AOL, and then to the Internet.

Even if you use the AOL network as your internet connection, you can still use other web browsers and other E-mail programs after you sign on to AOL, then minimize the AOL window.

When I got my broadband connection, I switched my AOL account to BYOA, and kept AOL for about 6 months, long enough to notify anyone who sent E-mail to my AOL account of my new address.

Jim B. :> )

LASER technology is a wonderful thing. It can do everything from vaporize bulldozers to delicate eye surgery, provided that they remember to lower the power setting from vaporize bulldozers.

Looked at BYOA it as a surcharge which is very high, I might take the root to keep AOL for about 3-6 months with my new Broadband when I get it.
If I read what you say they can run side by side?

Just one small point that may concern you.

AOL UK doesn't care whether you share its cheaper ADSL connection at all, and you'll be able to use two or more computers at the same time on the internet, BUT.....

unless you cough up for the Gold or Platinum service, you can only sign on to AOL using one screen name, which is the same one the modem/router (if you use that method) will need to use, so you can only access one screen name. Internet access from other browsers is not affected.

The Gold and Platinum setup uses one (preferably spare) screen name for the modem/router to connect with, leaving you free to log on from each individual computer with any or all of the other six screen names.

Ken

>> If I read what you say they can run side by side? <<

I hesitate to say an unqualified "Yes", because there is always a catch somewhere, but, yes, AOL and any other ISP should be able to exist side by side on your computer.

Furzample...

I had AOL as a dial-up service at 56 Kb/s. AOL was beginning to offer Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) in various parts of the USA, but in my area, cablemodem was lower cost. So I signed up for cablemodem at T1 speed (about 1.2 Mb/s) at about $40 per month, and switched my AOL account from full member at about $25 per month to BYOA at about $10 per month (at that time, AOL included only two hours per month of "free" connect time on their dial-up network).

Since I also needed more than two hours per month of Internet access time when away from my office cablemodem, and unsure how reliable my new cablemodem service was going to be, I also signed up for a third ISP service called "SlingShot" - a prepaid dial-up ISP similar to a prepaid phone card.

The result was a cable from my cablemodem to my computer, and a phone line from the telephone wall connector to my computer. Since the cablemodem is an "always on" connection, all I had to do was start a web browser (Internet Explorer or Opera or Netscape), or E-mail program, or FTP client, or whatever, and I was on line.

If I wanted to use the AOL or Slingshot dial-up connections, I just started AOL or Slingshot's browser instead of a "real" web browser. With AOL, I could select to use my cablemodem or AOL's dial-up network at the AOL sigh-on screen. With Slingshot, it dialed the local Slingshot number automatically.

Three ISPs with one computer!

I have since dropped both AOL and SlingShot, as the cablemodem has been extremely reliable, and I no longer need Internet access away from my office.

Then, I got a 4-port router which connects to the modem in place of the computer, and the router connects to my two computers. Sometimes I simultaneously run my desktop and notebook computers over the cablemodem. Each computer is connected to the internet at about 1/2 of T1 speed, because the router distributes the available data speed between all the connected computers on an as needed basis.

With a broadband connection, getting even a 1-port router is an excellent idea, because the router has a hardware firewall called Network Address Translation (NAT) that does an excellent job of keeping port scanners, pings, and probes from getting to your computer. Think of the router as being similar to a fence around your home; it helps keep the bad guys at a distance.

But a hardware firewall does not stop a program in your computer (like a zombie or trojan horse) from connecting to the internet, and sending out data. You need a software firewall to stop outgoing data. Windows XP SP2 firewall does not stop outgoing data. ZoneLabs offers a free for personal use version of their software firewall. I paid for their combination of firewall with antivirus, about $25 per year for the program and a year of antivirus updates. Think of a software firewall as being like the lock on your front door.

Jim B. :> )

LASER technology is a wonderful thing. It can do everything from vaporize bulldozers to delicate eye surgery, provided that they remember to lower the power setting from vaporize bulldozers.

Winston,

The AOL BYOA charge is not a surcharge, it's ALL you pay AOL once you get your own ISP. Then of course you have your ISP's charges as well (so I guess you could look at AOL's charge as a "surcharge" on top of your ISP to keep your access to AOL :-)

For the last four years, I had been using my local phone company (Pacific Bell in northern California, now SBC)'s DSL service to connect to AOL using the BYOA option. For philosophical reasons, I took the decision a few months ago to drop AOL completely and start using my ISP e-mail address (I'd been hanging on for the same reason as you -- the hassle of switching addresses). The transition was actually fairly painless. SBC Yahoo has a free e-mail forwarding and transfer service available which I used to advantage (though I did much of the address change notification manually) and other ISPs may have similar. I know there are forwarding services available on the web that will work with any combination of ISPs and only cost a few bucks. All of these, of course, require that your AOL account stay active during the transition period so they can access it to forward your mail.

Bill Schuhle