Keeping existing aol account (UK) when in France

[Happy Expat]

We are moving to 24 in early March and wish to use AOL (yes, we've heard all the amusing commants, ta vary much!) as there is a considerable number of things we use linked with aol, personal email addresses, bookmarks etc and wonder if there is a way of still accessing these via aol.fr. Any advice welcome ....

[Philmco]

When we moved out 2 years ago, I plugged in, switched on, clicked on the AOL icon, and then followed the menus to tell AOL that I was now logging in from France, and clicked on the "Tout Compris" option, and had full access to my account. I have now signed up with AOL.fr for broadband, but kept my UK dial-up subscription, and can use AOL.co.uk via broadband without any difficulty (but it's an expensive way to do it! £13.99 + €27.90). Hope this is helpful.

[Mazan]

 there is a considerable number of things we use linked with aol, personal email addresses, bookmarks etc

Bookmarks are a feature of IE and have been for years. AOL copied them. Personal email addresses are available from most ISPs these days. AOL has many disadvantages and few advantages.

[Happy Expat]

Thanks Phil for a very short and helpful answer, seems to solve my query

 

Mazan - I know that personal email addresses are available form all and sundry but I wish to keep my existing ones and existing bookmarks held in AOL, that's why I wish to remain with them As for your perceived diasdvatges I ahve been with AOL for six years now and see no reason to ditch what is to me a satisfactory service - apart from from the 0800 Helpdesk which is now in the Indian subcontinent.

Bob & Jane

[Mazan]

I know that personal email addresses are available form all and sundry but I wish to keep my existing ones and existing bookmarks held in AOL, that's why I wish to remain with them

The AOL bookmarks can be exported and used in IE.

 

As for your perceived diasdvatges

Not perceived: fact. AOL uses nonstandard email that results in many messages to and from AOL simply not getting through. This is especially so in France. This also prevents you from using most email clients other than the AOL one. AOL uses nonstandard internet protocol that results in many webpages being unavailable to AOL users. AOL uses nonstandard dial-up procedures that prevent many modems (especially modem/routers) from working. AOL is always slower than a regular internet connection for non-AOL use. The list goes on. AOL9 has taken some small steps towards reducing these incompatibilities and about time too.

 

I ahve been with AOL for six years now and see no reason to ditch what is to me a satisfactory service

I'm glad you like AOL and of course it is entirely up to you whether you use them or not, but this makes no difference to the facts.

I should also add that the "tout compris" connection procedure described above does not work for everyone. It seems to be OK for about 50% of users, or less. The others get a supplementary bill. I've never managed to work out what the difference is between those for whom it works and the others.

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Hear Hear!

I agree totally with Mazan. In my opinion the only possible reason to retain AOL is because they have dial up connectivity in so many countries for those that jet-set - and there are other ways round that too. For all other reasons I wouldn't touch them with a barge-pole.

[Normandie_Bou]

"I agree totally with Mazan. In my opinion the only possible reason to retain AOL is because they have dial up connectivity in so many countries for those that jet-set - and there are other ways round that too. For all other reasons I wouldn't touch them with a barge-pole."

For all you great techno boffs out there is there any other ISP I could switch to that has the dial up connectivity abroad that AOL has? I'm based in the UK but am often in France and have to use my laptop to keep an eye on the business. I really want to get rid of AOL as their latest wheeze is to block the sending or receiving of domain email accounts (ie, third party email) that use Outlook Express. Talk about being a pain in the **** !!

Thanks,

Jac

[Autismuk]

[quote]We are moving to 24 in early March and wish to use AOL (yes, we've heard all the amusing commants, ta vary much!) as there is a considerable number of things we use linked with aol, personal email add...[/quote]

I'm not taking the mickey ; why don't you ask AOL ?

Why not just abandon AOL ? Most of the perceived *advantages* are nothing special. The only real difficulty is the email address

[Mazan]

 is there any other ISP I could switch to that has the dial up connectivity abroad that AOL has? I'm based in the UK but am often in France and have to use my laptop to keep an eye on the business.

If you only need connectivity in the UK and France then all you have to do is open a regular UK dial-up account with whichever ISP you like and open another one with whichever French ISP you like.

You will only pay the cost of the local calls (no monthly fee) and you can send and receive email using OE on either dial-up service.

http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-techcorner/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=435

If you want access in other countries as well, especially if you just tend to go to odd places on a one-off basis, then you should stick with AOL as the only other options are expensive.

[Maddie]

I've used AOL for donkeys years and have used AOL in France using both a UK account and a French AOL account on a regular dial up modem with no problem whatsoever.  In fact, dial up in france seems to be much faster than in the UK!  Mr MDW even uses it to connect to his office PC in London every day with no problems either.

I both send and receive emails with no problems and very rarely use AOL features.  I rarely get spam and what I do get goes in to a separate folder and it's up to me whether I mark it as spam or accept it. I am no techo geek and I think many people just want to stick with what they are familiar with and there's nothing wrong at all with that.  Better the devil you know.  If you have a UK account you can have unlimited access for a fixed price which is excellent value compared to the "pay as you go" and "limited tariffs" of many French ISPs. 

 

[Isobel]

exchairman2,

I've been with aol for years and everybody always tells me to leave them. When I first tried to connect in France with my laptop it wouldn't work and I got quite frustrated with the aol helpline telling me the old favourite line 'it should work'. However, the next time I went and tried again it worked, and has been fine ever since. In fact, as someone else mentioned, connection seems to be quicker. We're in 24 also. Where are you moving to?

Isobel