Question - Need help.

Whatever · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2001 6:14 pm Post subject:

I recently upgraded to AOL 7.0, and since then, I have not been able to play TFC for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Before I went to 7.0, sometimes the game would freeze up for a little bit, and I would get the message about bad connection. I would need to close the game and come back into it and it would work fine again.

Now, in 7.0, when that happens, and I get the bad connection message, AOL locks up completely and I have to end task on it. Plus, I have to restart my computer...

Now, does anybody else have AOL 7.0? And do you have this problem?

I am thinking it is an AOL problem, as my ping is now averaging about 500 to 600 compared to 300 when I was using 6.0.

At any rate, I am going to Roadrunner this Saturday or at least that is the plan. That should solve my problem, as I had no problem playing with 6.0.

I was just curious if I am the only one having this problem...

Thanks for reading...and for any responses.

ice · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2001 6:17 pm Post subject:

aol allows the THE VERY MINUMAL amount of bandwith to allow users to "chat" online

then:

when you try to launch a online game wich requires more bandwith

it="no no"

ultimately=aol sucs

ROOFCUTTER · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2001 6:45 pm Post subject:

Assuming that your download of AOL 7.0 was free of any corruption, then if you don't go to Road Runner broadband service this weekend you might want to eyeball your Network Adapters. (Right-click on network places, properties, view the adapters that are listed.)

AOL 7.0 adds adapters to enhance a user's broadband experience. If you aren't using broadband yet, you might consider removing the WAN Miniport (ATW) and Dial-up Adapter #2 (VPN Support) that are added during your upgrade to AOL 7.0 and then re-check your connectivity.

Remember, if you're using a PC Video camera, you might need to keep that VPN support adapter.

Before you give up on AOL 7.0, upgrade again using an AOL 7.0 CDROM or try the download again during a non-peak Internet hour of the day.

Good luck

KillerRoofcutter · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2001 8:49 pm Post subject:

Here is something "Get Rid Of Aol 7.0 And You Should Be Ok For Now On!"

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Whatever · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 6:09 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the suggestion Roof. I tried removing the adapters, but AOL just reinstalled them after I tried to fire it back up. Said the installation was not complete without them and would not run.

Oh well, I will try out Roadrunner for a while...see how it works. The price is not that much more for me, only around $18 more, as I live in Austin and can get it for $40 (then there is tax). AOL was up to $24, so it is time to move on...

See you all online...

FingerDemon · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 6:23 pm Post subject:

Whatever,

Last I had AOL they had a feature that would log you out if you didn't have any activity in 30 minutes. Full screen apps don't seem to count to their system as "activity". And since TFC takes over whole screen, it is impossible to know if they are sending you a little "Do you want to stay online?" popup. There may be a way to disable this or just try within the thirty minutes to exit the game and go into aol and pull up something aoley to satisfy their inactivator.

They may not have this feature anymore, but they sure used to. By the way, you will love RR if they aren't too overloaded in your area. It was great when I first got it, but it has had slow times off and on since. But make sure you get some security for your system cause "always on" can translate to "always vulnerable" if you aren't careful.

Cya out there,

FingerDemon

YourPowersAreWeakOldMan · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 7:18 pm Post subject:

AOL?! THou hast spoken the vile name. AOL has got to be the worst ISP for gaming or anything other than chatting and e-mailing. Just get yourself one of the free ISP's such as Juno or NetZero or FreeDSL. ALl 3 of them are pretty good, well FreeDSL is the better, but they're free. Otherwise, Mindspring aka Earthlink used to be what Blizzard ran Battle Net off of, and it's also my old ISP that was very good. I have cable now, but MindSpring/Earthlink never had connection problems and I got maximum speed connection for my 56K.

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Whatever · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 8:08 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the suggestion FD and YPAWOM. AOL does not do the 30 minute thing anymore, or at least I haven't had that problem.

I will go with RR for a while, and I am sure I will like it. Too many friends of mine have it and enjoy it...

Thanks again.

Thom Yorke Obliterator · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 8:21 pm Post subject:

Hopefully your cable modem experiences are better than mine. My connection was good for a 60-80 ping for many months, but now it's up in the 800-1000 range and I'm basically dead in the water. At this point, I'm wondering if I'll ever play TFC again. It's not the cable provider's fault at heart . . . if I run a traceroute, the slow routers are a good 10 hops in. [sigh]

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ROOFCUTTER · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 9:06 pm Post subject:

Thom,
Are there any way to complain to whoever runs them. I was having the same problem for a several weeks with my DSL. I did not at the time know about tracer. I was very upset and ready to go cable when suddenly it cleared up and my pings went back down. So if they know about it they may fix it. If you have noticed so then have a lot of different people. They may not know how to find out either.
How about it you network guys. how do they maintain the equipment? Do they have charts or something to keep track of performance?

Whatever,
Just like the other posts you can't go wrong dumping AOL. One thing though if you send large files you may need something other than a free service. I send Cad files all the time and they won't go using hotmail. I keep AOL just for that reason. We use the BYOA (bring your own access) for 9.95 a month.
Sorry for the bad advice on the network adapters, it worked in 6.0.

. haven't had to in 7.0. I should of checked first before telling you about it.

Thom Yorke Obliterator · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 9:22 pm Post subject:

Well, I can't complain to their tech support, because it's centralized, and doesn't have any say over what is happening to me locally. I have fired off some e-mails to the local brach, but they don't respond.

Here's my only two cents on the network side of things: I worked for an ISP for a bit, but was more involved in the "turning a profit" side of things than the "making the net run smoothly" side. But the sysgod there was obsessive about keeping things moving, and did something to route around bottlenecks. Dunno what. Best dial-up I ever had, though. Whereas my cable connection always follows the same route, no matter how slow. (In fact, I may stick a modem back in my box and give the old ISP a try again. They never deactivated my account when I left to work elsewhere, I think becuase the owner secretly wanted me to smack her with my spanner. Did I just say that?!?!?

)

Roof, when did you hit 500 posts? That's mighty impressive. How many more until you get a fourth star?
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[ This Message was edited by: thom yorke obliterator on 2001-11-01 21:26 ]

ROOFCUTTER · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2001 9:48 pm Post subject:

Last week. I think I need a 12 step recovery program or something.

Pornstar · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 2:19 am Post subject:

Thom I don't know why the ISP that is having trouble has not fix it, yet. I have been working for ISP/System Intergraters for a few years now and if you are having problems then there is probably a 100 or 1,000 more people having the same problem. It must be a major problem.

FingerDemon · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 7:51 am Post subject:

TYO,

I would complain, I did that with RR in my area and it did get fixed a while later. They never admitted to me what the problem was, but I figure it was either a user in my neighborhood abusing the connection with an FTP server or inadequate overloaded routers. I recommend going to http://www.speedguide.net or http://www.dslreports.com for info on this stuff. Both of those sites have great forums with very knowledgeable folks.

Good luck,

FingerDemon

Thom Yorke Obliterator · Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2001 8:10 pm Post subject:

Well, my old low ping came back tonight. Just as I'm packing for a week-long business trip, too. Grrr. Let's hope it stays like that. Maybe all those e-mails did me some good after all!

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