Aol

[The Underdog]

What an absolutely useless ISP. I never used to have a problem with them, but as time has gone on they have got worse and worse. The support isn't great (I phoned all week trying to sort out my download speed and get them to fix an issue) plus they have some stupid setting which completely screws the ping in some of my games - but not in others... apparently it's called "interleaving" and whatever it is they refuse to turn it off. Want to change ISP, but as I'm not the boss of the house and out of a job, now would be a bad time to try and change, especially when the minimum contract time is 18 months for most ISP. The interesting thing is this:

My SA:MP (http://sa-mp.com) Server Browser - I get my normal ping.
SA:MP In-Game: An absolutely useless ping at peak times, sometimes being as high as 800 compared to the usual 60 - 80.
UT2003: Ping is affected by peak times.
Call Of Duty 4: Ping completely unaffected...

Anyone got on ideas to what's actually up with that?

[TheTranquilEye]

Can't really offer much help, I'm afraid. AOL have always been pants, fine for your average user perhaps but useless for any internet savvy person.

When Windows 98 was launched, it came bundled with AOL connection software which, when installed, completely screwed the OS...:eek:

One option would be to get PAYG mobile broadband but I'm not sure that would be suitable for gaming.

TTE

[guardy06]

My in-laws had aol up until the end of last year and they'll never go back. They didn't realise how bad it was until i switched them over to o2 broadband and saw the improvement not just in browsing speed but just the speed of their pc in general. The Aol software was playing havoc with their system.

[Vic]

What an absolutely useless ISP.

Well, that's true - but they're not alone. A number of ISPs must currently be considered a waste of good oxygen. Don't jump ship only to find you've moved to someone just as bad...


they have some stupid setting which completely screws the ping in some of my games - but not in others... apparently it's called "interleaving" and whatever it is they refuse to turn it off.

Many connections will use interleaving - mine certainly does. Selectively turning it off would actually be quite difficult for them; I don't think it's unreasonable for them to refuse.


The interesting thing is this:

My SA:MP (http://sa-mp.com) Server Browser - I get my normal ping.
SA:MP In-Game: An absolutely useless ping at peak times, sometimes being as high as 800 compared to the usual 60 - 80.
UT2003: Ping is affected by peak times.
Call Of Duty 4: Ping completely unaffected...

OK - so interleaving is not your problem anyway. Interleaving will increase the *minimum* latency for any given block - so if it works at any time, the interleave delay is not excessive for your application.

If your traffic fails during peak time, you've probably got a problem with congestion or with packet loss - check your router logs to see if you're getting any particular errors. As for ping times - if these are real ICMP pings, you will tend to lose those during peak hours, because ICMP is requently just dropped as the network load rises. If they are UDP packets, their delivery isn't guaranteed either - that's why TCP exists, with all its overhead.

Vic.

[jonbanjo]

AOL have always been pants, fine for your average user perhaps but useless for any internet savvy person.

I've always stayed well clear for that sort of reason. It it least used to be "do everything our way" and very restrictive.

[The Underdog]

Guess I'll be trying to convince the old man for let me change ISP once I get a job, and just get stump up the excess (Eg on Virgin Media, you can get out the 12 month contract by paying up the rest which you havn't used, so up to £120).

Thx for your help ^^.

[Brad]

iv been with aol for a few years. Up until this time last year i was on the platinum package which gave me 8mb DL 24/7 with no fair usage policy and perfect ping in games at all times. About this time last year AOL was bought out by the carfonewarehouse and since then its been terrible. iv spent hours on the phone to them and just not got anywhere. They put the blame down to my line even though for 3 years it ran 8mbps all the time and only went bad when aol sold out. im stuck in a 24 month contract for another year but when i can get out i will. I would of recommended aol before but now its terrible. Ping in the game i play only gets half decent after 10pm at night.

[The Underdog]

Same problem as me ^ ^.

[Brad]

My mates on virgin DSL and that sucks just as bad. Other countries got it sorted and have decent net. Why are we so far behind the times?

[matthab]

Im currently now on AOL (Uk AOL now owned by carphone warehouse) and i havnt had any problems. I dont use there software, i dont use any of the equipment i just use it for the connection.

I would like to change but my dad pays the bills and we havnt got round to dealing with it lol

[The Underdog]

It's getting worse - 11:30 and ping still useless...

[Brad]

Restart your router around 10pm helps me.

[The Underdog]

Kwl, I'll try that :). It used to go normal ping at 9:43 every night, could set a watch by it...

[magichater]

my pet hates are both AOL and Tiscali at the moment

[Urrys Currys]

My mates on virgin DSL and that sucks just as bad. Other countries got it sorted and have decent net. Why are we so far behind the times?

because our stupid country has so many usless laws!. it really is stupid. :furious:

i recomend virgin media if you are in a fibre optics enabled area. i have VM's smallest package 0f 10Mbit on fibre and i get better ping than some servers.

if not in a fibre optics enabled area, then i would certantly recomend Be* unlimited. they are voted the UK's best ISP for gaming. with thier record ping at 13ms.

when you do play online or even do a speed test, turn off all other devices on the internet, because this will affect results and gameplay.

wade

[cpezzer]

Im also on AOL and had no ends of problems when I switched over to 8MB broadband from 2MB I did not get the upgraded speed! Eventually some techinical support person came back and gave me a new log in using my home phone number! Magically the 8MB connection started working and at full speed.

Since Carphone took over it seemed to get progressively worse but now that they have upgraded my local exchange it works a treat in the day! Evenings and weekends are a bit slow though! However as like the first post its a decision made by another person! Not sure what you can do, maybe complain about poor service and see what happens?

[The Underdog]

Im also on AOL and had no ends of problems when I switched over to 8MB broadband from 2MB I did not get the upgraded speed! Eventually some techinical support person came back and gave me a new log in using my home phone number! Magically the 8MB connection started working and at full speed.

Since Carphone took over it seemed to get progressively worse but now that they have upgraded my local exchange it works a treat in the day! Evenings and weekends are a bit slow though! However as like the first post its a decision made by another person! Not sure what you can do, maybe complain about poor service and see what happens?

I did, said either put up with it or change isp.

[Cnr]

Have the speeds improved on AOL? As they were rubbish when I was with them. Switching to O2 was the best thing I ever did, Now I get good speeds all day.

[cpezzer]

I did, said either put up with it or change isp.

Have a look at http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/internet/speed/ . It has some good advice on claiming and ofcom can advise on your legal rights.

Also check out http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/. They provide great advice on your legal rights as a consumer to almost anything, I have used them in the past and there advice has been very sound.

Good luck and let us all know how you get on!