In a message dated 96-01-15 08:12:31 EST, [log in to unmask]
(Leonard S. Berkowitz) writes:
 
>We have AOL accounts at home.  Several times my flash sessons failed.  I
>tried to surf yesterday afternoon (Sunday) and the lines were busy.  Looks
>like insufficient capacity, AOL!
>
>Meanwhile, the news this morning is that IBM and Sears are trying to rid
>themselves of Prodigy.
>
>Any word from Compuserve?
>
>
 
Leonard,  here are a few tricks which you may want to investigate.
 
First,  AOL has several numbers in each city and they add more all the time.
 Use the guest feature and you will be given a series of numbers in your
city.  You may want to change your standard number to a new one.  Also, you
may want to look at using AOLNET, even if you are not at 28.8, it still works
fine.
 
Another trick I use is a little more complicated but it works great.  I
connect to my ISP via PPP and then I get into AOL and I switch it to TCP/IP.
 I then let fly a flash session and it happily connects over the Internet to
AOL.  My ISP is still new and I always get a connection.  If you have a link
to the Internet at work, you can do the same thing, and it is fast.
 
The worst time of the day on AOL is between 5:00PM and 8:00PM central time,
the entire system is sluggish and you may get many busy signals.
 
The last trick is the most fun:  I was experiencing multiple busy signals
some months back.  I sent a message to [log in to unmask] or simply SteveCase.
 He is the president of AOL.  In the message, I complained about the busy
signals and the slowdown in response.  I received an answer within 2 days.
 Of course, it was not from Steve Case (I understand he has 10 people
monitoring and answering his mail.  I wonder what his personal account is.)
 I followed up with more comments everytime I had problems.  About a month to
6 weeks later, the problem resolved itself and it is very rare that I get
busy signals in Houston.  Try this, it seems that the squeaky wheel does
indeed get the grease, or in this case the phone lines and additional server
support.  (Incidently, I have spoken with AOL personel at shows and they
validate my premises.)
 
Finally, why do I use AOL as opposed to using a mail package on my ISP?  Well
the main reason is access.  I fly around the continent and even to Europe
quite frequently.  Using AOL, when I arrive at the hotel, I can just plug my
notebook into the phone using a PC card modem, use the guest feature which
dials an 800 # and get a list of local numbers.  I am then able to get to my
mail.  AOL has recently introduced service all around the World using
AOLGlobalNet, and I will be testing this from Germany within 4 weeks.  They
have numbers for most countries, some of which I am unfamiliar with as they
were created by the breakup of the Soviet Union.
 
I doubt I will use it more than once or twice a day, as it carries a
$6.00/hour surcharge. Then again my flash sessions only last a minute or so.
 
Anyways, I hope this helps.
 
Kind regards,
 
Denys. . .