I am a AOL FAN although they are very slow at times. I currently order AOL PLUS (DSL) and will able to use it on April 1st , 2001. However, I would like some feedback on speeds. Have anyone used them? The AoL Tech Support Associates are BrainDEADs.

Speeds with DSL can vary tremendously. One of the big factors is the distance from your location to the switching office. Two friends of mine also have ADSL (as I do) with BellSouth, which has a maximum of 1.5 mbps downstream. They both get < 1mbps. I'm located less than 2000 feet from the switiching office for my location (and I know exactly where it is) and get 1.472 mbps. I also get 50,666, sometimes 49,333 (out of a maximum of 53kbps), on my dial up connection.

You're right about their support techs, at least the few I've spoken with. I've got a customer who has an ISDN line at home and uses AOL. A few years ago, when I did an upgrade for him, I called AOL asking how he could access them faster via ISDN. They said there was no way. Realizing that many companies put their low level support people on the phones, I had them check with more knowledgeable support people. They said there was no way.

I found a way. It was actually simple. I just set the connection type as LAN and he connected via ISDN.

i've checked with another company about my distance, I am approx 9500 feet away. Would it be the same distance for AOL as well?

It will vary depending on who the DSL provider is. While the lines may be leased from the local telephone company, the switching office and equipment may be their own.

Also, the DSL speeds offered vary greatly. I think it was on a CNET service for finding ISPs that DSL was broken down into categories, a few hundred kbps being listed as for home use, the higher end up to about 1.5 mbps listed as for business use. Ridiculous. I have nearly 1.5 mbps on a residential line.

I know some business uses that go up to about 4 mbps, and they do charge much more, especially for higher upstream speeds.

There are many permutations of DSL. Many call for distances of 3,000 feet or less to the switching center, others 5,000 or less (a bit under a mile). At 9500 feet, the service might be IDSL, which uses a form of ISDN. It can work over longer distances than ADSL and others, albeit at a lower speed.

A number of companies have on line capabilities for potential customers to check availability. Some even allow you to check the distance and speed from their nearest switch. You might want to see if your planned provider has that capability. You may also want to check cnet.com and see if you can locate other possibilities for your area.

****note to admin for some reason, the word on line (put it together in one word) was blanked out with asterisks, as in ****** You all have a better imagination than I do if you can make a dirty word out of that.