Other Help Topics :: aol and modem support

Hi there,

I have recently installed dsl on my partners laptop because her copy of win98 died. Originally I just wanted to fix the windows problem with the help of dsl, but it seems that she is would be quite happy to keep dsl installed as she only really uses the laptop for web browsing, and she has experience of firefox. However their are 2 major problems which I have never really understood how to solve in linux (im a complete newbie) Firstly her isp is AOL broadband, and i am led to believe that it is not possible to connect in a conventional way to aol. Secondly the modem in use is a usb BT voyager type.

Any help with these problems would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance

p.s are there any distros which support aol/usb modems out of the box?

not possible under linux as far as I'm aware she will probably be better served switching ISP's. The modem should be configurable but you wont get access if you do AOL do not allow it

BTW welcome to the forums, if anyone knows a hack that does work please feel free to correct this post

If the net connection comes via a cat5 cable and goes into a router, it should work okay.

If she doesn't have a router, I would recommend the excellent (especially for the price) Netgear MR814.

This time of year, you should be able to catch it on sale at Fry's or Compusa for less than $20.

It was $9.99 last week, with a $10 mail in rebate.

You can't beat free.

-J.P.

If you are using a broadband connection, it should work fine.

You don't need the AOL software in order to do ordinary web browsing on the Internet.

If you need access to AOL-specific content, you may be able to log into the AOL web site by visiting aol.com

However, if you need to use the AOL instant messaging service, you can install one of the Instant Messenger programs from the myDSL repository like GAIM. Just make sure to read the *.info file for that extension as it will include some installation instructions.

hi again

thanks for all of your replies. However I do not think i have made myself clear enough. the laptop connects to the internet directly through a USB modem (bt voyager) I think it is a conexant type. As far as I am aware these modems require a driver of some sorts. With regards to AOL, i was given the impression that this isp is different because you do not sign on in a conventional way (proprietary browser).

thanks again

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