linux and AOL Broadband
March 24, 2004 5:42 PM   Subscribe

LINUX QUESTION: Due to my current financial situation, I have been forced into using AOL Broadband as my ISP. It ain't pretty but it works. Sort of.... (Here's where the question comes in.)

I really, really want to load Linux on my system but there's a bit of a snag. AOL does not automatically connect me to the Internet; I need to open their software and connect through it. I am wondering if it is at all possible to find a Linux version of the AOL software (the AOL homepage and internal sites have been no help, if the information is there it is very well hidden from my searching skills), or if there is another method of allowing my to connect to the Internet via my AOL broadband connection using Linux.
posted by Dark Messiah to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)
 
I think there are routers that will login to AOL automatically and then do NAT for your network.
posted by reverendX at 6:38 PM on March 24, 2004


So are you really locked into AOL or are you just locked into dial-up?
posted by bshort at 6:42 PM on March 24, 2004


Google is your friend.
posted by fvw at 6:45 PM on March 24, 2004


Um, AOL Broadand is not an ISP. It's just software that sits on top of your cable or dsl connection.

AOL sez: "*Plans do not include high-speed connection. You must provide a separate high-speed cable or DSL connection from your local cable or telephone provider."

Are you sure you're getting what you think you're getting? If you can get AOL broadband, then, well, you can just ditch AOL and keep whatever broadband connection you would have used with it. Obviously cheaper than broadband + AOL, and Linux has no trouble with it.
posted by whatnotever at 6:54 PM on March 24, 2004


Except that nowhere did Dark Messiah say anything about dialup. AOL Broadband isn't dialup. In fact, the term "broadband" is most frequently used to mean just about any consumer WAN connection that isn't dialup.

It's probably just PPPoE, or "PPP over Ethernet".
posted by majick at 6:55 PM on March 24, 2004


Oops, my bad. In that case, what whatnotever said, it looks like AOL has ditched the access provider gig entirely for broadband and is moving into service and content. Check out your bills and see who else you're actually paying for the connection.
posted by fvw at 7:25 PM on March 24, 2004


Doing a very quick search via google, it looks like you can connect using roaring penguin.
posted by dotComrade at 7:26 AM on March 25, 2004


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