AOL’s remaining dial-up internet customers will sign off for the last time as the company is permanently shutting down the service that brought the internet to millions in the US during the early 1980s and 90s.
After three decades of operations, AOL said it will be discontinuing its dial-up internet service on September 30 this year, as per a notice on its website. “AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet. This service will no longer be available in AOL plans,” the company said.
The AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimised for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections, will also be discontinued, according to the company.
AOL’s move marks the end of an era for millions in the US who once relied on dial-up internet to get online. For many, the characteristic sound of modems establishing an internet connection over landlines still serves as a reminder of the early internet era comprising glowing screens, chatrooms, emails, handheld computer mice, etc.
With this announcement, dial-up internet joins the ranks of bygone tech relics such as CDs, pagers, and landlines. “This change will not affect any other benefits in your AOL plan, which you can access any time on your AOL plan dashboard. To manage or cancel your account, visit MyAccount,” AOL said.
What is dial-up internet?
Dial-up internet is a form of accessing the internet. It uses a computer’s modem and a home telephone line or landline to connect to the internet at 56 kilobits per second or less, which are painfully slow internet speeds by today’s standards. Access to the web via dial-up internet was accompanied by characteristic beeps and digital screeches.
The origins of dial-up internet service is rooted in Usenet developed in 1979 by two graduate students at Duke University in the United States. It was a way of exchanging messages and files between computers using the UNIX-to-UNIX copy protocol (UUCP).
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CompuServe was among the first companies to begin “offering a dial-up online information service to consumers” in 1979. AOL’s dial-up internet service made its debut in 1991, as per a report by Gizmodo.
However, by 1995, dial-up internet was being left behind in favour of faster cable internet service that relied on existing cable TV infrastructure.
Unlike dial-up, broadband uses more advanced cables, fiber-optic lines, or existing telephone lines (DSL) to deliver a constant connection that delivers speeds ranging from 100 megabits per second to over a gigabit. With these speeds, it is easily possible to download huge files in seconds, play online games, stream 4K videos, etc.
Wifi routers are used to convert wired broadband into wireless signals for use in homes and offices. Wireless internet can also be delivered to a specific location using radio waves from radio towers. There is also a rise in satellite internet networks which provide internet connectivity without relying on cell towers and other terrestrial infrastructure. Instead, a blanket or constellation of satellites communicate with each other through optical satellite links.
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What is AOL?
AOL was originally founded as America Online back in 1985. The US-based company had over 23 million subscribers in the country during its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was considered to be the most popular internet service provider at the time, gaining a new user every six seconds.
In 1999, Time Warner sought to acquire AOL in a massive $165 billion all-stock deal. It has since been owned by several parent companies. In 2017, AOL shut down its popular internet messaging service AIM. The company is currently owned by Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm that also owns web services provider Yahoo Inc.