by Deborah Hardy

Created on: January 03, 2009

Oh, how I love AOL. Years ago, I had to pay for the service...you know, my Internet provider. But, today AOL has a free service. If you already have a Internet provider, you can open a free account. Like Yahoo, and Google. Go to www.aol.com and sign up for a free email account and voile you will have an AOL screen name and account. Of course, if you have no Internet provider then you can choose AOL for this service. The easiest way I know how to do this is to get the free CD software that AOL provides. You can get this CD just about anywhere...Walmart, Best Buy or anywhere computers are sold. Insert the CD, follow the instructions to install the software and choose the Internet plan that best suits your needs. AOL offers both dial up and broadband services.

Broadband was not available in my area so I used AOL dial up for years. It is affordable and provides excellent technical support. However, when I moved 3 years ago, to my excitement, broadband was available through my phone company. Since, I wanted broadband service instead of dial up, my phone company became my Internet provider. I was upset, at first, at the thought of losing AOL because I enjoyed it so much. And the only way to have AOL was to pay for it. Well, I wasn't about to pay for two Internet providers. So, just as I was about to cancel my AOL account, I found out about the free service. I can't remember exactly how I heard about it. I think it was advertised on T.V. or maybe the radio. I called AOL and asked about the free service and lo and behold it was true. The representative told me that the service would be free only if I had another way to connect to the Internet. If not, then I would have to continue to pay for the service. I assured her that I did indeed have another way to connect to the Internet through my phone company and I wanted a free account. And I got It. The only draw back is that with a free account you don't have any phone support for any technical issues. You can, however, get support on the website through AOL Help section. Which, can be very useful while learning about everything that AOL has to offer.

Even though, I have broadband and don't need AOL to connect to the Internet, I still use it as my connection to the Internet world. I've used it for so long...it's familiar...it's comfortable...it's an old friend. And I guess I not ready to let go. Besides, where else can you hear the words "You Got Mail".

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