AOL will end its dial-up service after 34 years of operation
By ForGeeks
In September 2025, one of the most recognizable chapters in the history of the internet will close – AOL will stop providing dial-up access to the web.
According to a post on AOL’s support site, “dial-up Internet service will be discontinued.” Beginning September 30, 2025, the company will discontinue not only the service itself, but also its accompanying software, AOL Dialer and the AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and modem connections.
The End of the Age of Slow Internet
The decision will particularly affect people in rural areas of the U.S., where broadband access is still lacking. According to the 2019 census, 265,331 people in the U.S. used dial-up exclusively.
“We are discontinuing the dial-up internet service component of some legacy AOL Advantage, CompuServe and Netscape Connect plans to meet today’s digital needs,” said a spokesperson for Yahoo! parent company AOL. – This change will not affect other products and services available under these plans and will not affect AOL’s free email accounts.”
promises to offer alternative connectivity options depending on the user’s location. Possible solutions include DSL, cable Internet, fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), wireless access (including 5G) and satellite technologies.
The ’90s symbol will be a thing of the past
The characteristic “cacophonous” sound of connecting via modem was one of the symbols of the dotcom boom of the 1990s. The service’s closure sparked discussion on Reddit, with some marveling that dial-up still existed, and others nostalgically recalling their first downloads on the web.
Some were surprised that dial-up still existed, while others were nostalgic.
A user on LSTNYER described how his parents switched to an unlimited plan when he “spent all night downloading the trailer for Batman & Robin (1997).”
Another participant, allursnakes, recalled that downloading a Rob Zombie music video took him eight hours.
A user with the nickname ahorseofborscht shared how he planned the download of a 60-megabyte demo of the game: starting late at night to keep the phone line free, and making sure the connection didn’t accidentally drop. “It took hours, but it worked, and I was thrilled,” he wrote.
The story AOL will end dial-up service after 34 years was first published on itzine.ru.
