AOL Broadband and Mac OSX Solution

[Furby]

THIS IS AN UPDATE TO THE PREVIOUS SUGGESTIONS, AS I HAVE NOW MANAGED TO GET THE AOL SOFTWARE TO WORK WITH OSX.

There are three ways to connect to AOL broadband via OSX:

1. WITHOUT SOFTWARE AND BROADBAND MODEM ROUTER

Firstly, if you decide to ditch the BT voyager modem, it is easier to set up with an ADSL modem router (which has an ADSL modem built in) such as THIS ONE, American users are better asking what routers others use with AOL as the service is liikely to be cabled over there.


Once you have purchased your router, connect it via ethernet on the Mac. Launch Safari and type in the default gateway http://10.0.0.2 OR http://192.168.1.1 (or whatever gateway your manual suggests) and then type the admin name and password which will be in your router booklet. If you have any problems with Safari, launch IE and use that for configuration (I would not recommend this for main browser though).

Type in your AOL username@aol.com and password (make sure password is less than 8 characters and in lower case) and save/reboot router. Type in 10.0.0.2 OR 192.168.1.1 default gateway address (or the one you used previous as suggested by your manual) again and click to connect to AOL broadband.

Then change the MTU and MRU to 1400, save settings and reboot. Configure any security settings you want, such as changing the router access username and password (not AOL's), DMZ host etc and save again.

Click on Safari and you should connect. All in all, setting up the router on the Mac is no different to setting it to work with a PC. If you have any questions you can either contact me via email, or, althernatively, register here and use this thread.

Several email clients work with AOL, and you can also use AOL communicator for the Mac to access certain content as well as your email. You can use Apples own Mail client if you wish, details of how to set up with Mail are HERE
_________________________________________

2. WITHOUT SOFTWARE AND WITH BT VOYAGER

If you really must use the BT voyager modem, then here is how:

Firstly, download the appropriate drivers from here;

BT VOYAGER 100 DRIVERS

BT VOYAGER 105 DRIVERS

Install the modem drivers and plug in your USB modem when prompted.

Go to system preferences > Network. Your USB modem should be in the network status screen with a green light next to it. (If there is no green light, highlight the Apple internal 56k modem and disable it, as this sometimes can interfere with the set-up). See below how to disable.

If there is still no green light, then click on the drop down menu (next to show) and choose network port configurations. Make sure your USB modem is showing in there and is TICKED. You can untick the Apple internal modem here to disable it.

Highlight your modem and click the configure button at the bottom of the network status screen. Now click on PPOE tab. Details of where to find PPOE tab are HERE

Tick the connect by PPOE box ( IMPORTANT! )
In the service provider box, type AOL or whatever you want to use
In the Account name type in small letters, username@aol.com (substituting username for your own username).
In the password box, type your AOL password in small letters, remembering it has to be eight characters or less.
Tick save password
Tick show PPOE status in menu bar
Click on the little padlock in the corner to prevent changes

Now fire up the browser of your choice (try using Safari first) and it should work. I cannot test this since I no longer have my modem as I use a router, but I have set up one Mac in this way and it did work.

Please email me if there are any alterations or you have problems connecting. Please also email me to verify this works at Sarah@net4nowt.com

__________________________________

3. CONNECTING TO AOL WITH THE SOFTWARE VIA OSX USING BROADBAND MODEM ROUTER OR BT USB VOYAGER MODEM (100 AND 105)


If you are using the BT voyager modem, download the drivers as shown above, and install. Make sure the connection is active via Network in system preferences (you do not need to filll the PPOE details in). Then carry on below.


If you are using a broadband modem router then once your router is set up, carry on below:

Firstly, download AOL
HERE

Install the software. Note: This comes with an installer and you will need to use your OSX password (not AOL) for the install to go ahead.

When the first screen appears, choose automatic setup
On the next screen you will see three connection options:

Apple internal 56k modem
Airport directly connected to AOL
Internet Service Provider or LAN TCP/IP

If you have Apple AIRPORT, then simply dot that connection and carry on and you will be connected, after putting in your username and password.

If you are using a standard broadband means to connect (either USB modem or ethernet) choose the third option - Internet Service Provider or LAN TCP/IP.

On the next screen confirm your TCP/IP connection, you MUST click on the Advanced options button. One the next screen where it says AOL TCP connection, you can change this to whatever name you want.

Where it says connection script and TCP in the box, you need to change this . Click on the small arrows of the TCP dropdown box and choose DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and then click OK.

Next choose if it is a new account, or old account, and
type your username and password in the familiar box (do not put @aol.com here after username!) and sign on!

Again this has only been tested once with the USB modem but it did work, and no problems were encountered. No problems via broadband modem/router either.

Email me if you have problems at Sarah@net4nowt.com. Also, BT modem users please email me if you are successful or if anything needs changing.

I will leave this a sticky because I know this does get a lot of views judging by my emails. I have not been able to reply to emails recently due to the amount I am receiving, and do apologise.

[Furby]

I apologise to any users this week who are waiting for a response from me, please bear with me, I am trying to get through email as fast as I can

[abirdriba]

I found Furby's post after the (unsurprising) unhelpful runaround over AOL's helpline.
I've gone to the AOL Beta site but seem to go round in circles once there: how do I get to the USA site for the mac/broadband download. I also tried AOL USA but ended up with a screen in Japanese!

[John]

all AOL mac stuff can be had here http://downloads.channel.aol.com/macproducts

[Furby]

PLEASE NOTE: My original post has been updated in a bid to cut down on the amount of emails regarding the set up via BT voyager modems. Also, I have got the AOL software working again with OSX.

[darranpearce25]

Hi I wondered if any of you guys could help me heres the situation:

I have a MAC and a standard BT phone line and am a customer of AOL currently on dial up. AOL site says Broadband is not available for mac. I don't want to switch ISP. I would like to just from AOL dial-up to broadband with no major changes to the set up of the phone line. Is this possible? and How much will it cost??

[Furby]

Hi DarranP, and welcome to the forums.

AOL say that Broadband is not available for mac - but I think this is because they do not want to invest in the resources to deal with any technical issues people may have, since it is a Windows market.

However, I can confirm that it does work, you just need to get yourself a broadband modem router (make sure it has a modem built in). You can use the USB modem they give you, but it is much easier/better to use a router.

If you don't want to change ISPs, just oder broadband from them, but if they ask, tell them you are running XP. Setting up a router on the Mac is no different to setting it up on XP. Technical support is out of the window though, (unless you have a windows machine around somewhere), but I have been using AOL for 7 years now with little issue.

However, there are other ISPs who fully support the Mac, such as DEMON and VIRGIN for example.

Others include BT, Pipex, Madasafish, Toucan and Telewest. By "fully supporting the Mac" it simply means that the modem they supply is provided with Mac drivers and they will deal with any technical issues you may have.

I would imagine any consumer broadband ISP would work with Mac and a router really, so the choice is yours. If you want support, I would suggest that you sign up with one of the "Mac supported" providers above.

What Mac do you have and what version of the OS are you running? I recently helped a guy set his AOL broadband connection with a version as early as 9.2 using the USB modem.

A couple of hiccups experienced, (USB) but we got there in less than a week as it was done via email. I am not sure what the outcome will be with any earlier version than that using a USB modem, but if you are running the later versions you should not have any problems.

[darranpearce25]

Cheers that helps me a great deal !!

I have a Powerbook G4 the model before the one out now.(12") OSX 10 so relatively new mac. Can use either ethernet or USB 2.0 connection.

Question is with using the router do you have exactly the same benfits of broadband. Such as download speed and ability to use the telephone at the same time ??

[Gina]

A router gives you the same benefits and is much easier to set up whatever computer/OS you're using I don't have a Mac but a router was a delight after trying to set up a USB ADSL modem. I'll leave Mac specific questions to Furby I'm using AOL broadband BTW.

[darranpearce25]

Much obliged Gina!

[Furby]

Originally Posted by darranpearce25

Cheers that helps me a great deal !!

I have a Powerbook G4 the model before the one out now.(12") OSX 10 so relatively new mac. Can use either ethernet or USB 2.0 connection.

Question is with using the router do you have exactly the same benfits of broadband. Such as download speed and ability to use the telephone at the same time ??

With the G4 you have, you should not experience any difficulties. I presume you are running Panther perhaps? Do you regularily run software update?

As Gina says, a router has no limitations, infact it has added benefits over an ADSL modem such as an inbuilt "hardware" firewall for inbound traffic, although the OSX firewall can take care of the rest easily enough.

You can connect/network other computers via the router much easier than setting up a dedicated standard network, and you do not need to keep a system running for other systems to access the internet.

Also, you have more central control over your connection via the router settings, such as port forwarding for example.

I am assuming your G4 has airport - 11b or g? You could get a combined wireless router with ethernet ports to connect wired devices and run your G4 wirelessly.

I have a similar set up with a Mac connected via airport, a pc wirelessly, and the kids are wired - works flawlessly and means I have no wires to contend with when in bed using the Mac.

[Gina]

One thought... Although you can use any browser for general use you need the AOL software to access your account or set up extra screen names etc. I presume there's AOL software for the Mac. I'm using AOL 7 (which is from well before broadband came in) for the special account access on my laptop but mainly use Firefox for everything else. When using a router it's just a matter of choosing LAN rather than your modem in the connection setup. The router is (usually) set up from a browser (any browser) and many recent ones have an AOL setup option which makes things even easier.

[Furby]

Good point Gina There is AOL software for the Mac which I finally managed to get working with broadband a few months ago and posted the link in original post of set-up instructions, but here it is again

http://www.aol.co.uk/download/aol_macosx.html

Follow set up instructions in first post in this thread.

[Neil]

Hi Furby,this has all been really helpful to me as I am seting up a g3 power book for my neice who has aol broadband on a pc running xp but wants to use her g3 on the same aol account, she is using a bt voyager 105 modem so i have followed your instructions and installed the drivers and the aol for mac software, now i need to take the g3 250 miles to where she is and complete the setup....my question is can i just unplug the modem from her windows machine (which is usb) and plug into the power book and continue setup... or is it possible to just connect the machines and then setup, will that work and if so what is the best way of connecting the machines? or will it be simpler to just to do the latter?
Best Regards
Neil

[Furby]

Hi Neil,

Glad you found this helpful!

To be perfectly honest, the best way to connect the two machines is with a broadband modem router (ones with the ADSL modem built in). It is much easier and means that either machine can acces the net without any networking as such.

You can however, unplug the BT voyager, and then set up the G3 with that and then just unplug and replug into the machine your cousin is using for the internet at the time.

A modem router would be much easier though, and they are very cheap now. I would imagine the G3/Win XP machines each have ethernet port? If so, buy something like THIS MODEM ROUTER but basically any modem router will do providing it has at least two ethernet ports (RJ45) and has a built in broadband modem.

If you do get the broadband modem router, just set up as per instructions in the box, and then follow instructions above for router, and do not bother with AOL software unless it is really required - although the Mac software is better than version 9 for Windows.

If you must use the software on both machines, then use version 8 on the Windows machine, and the above one on the Mac. However, if you do get the router, you would be much better setting up without the software first - you only need to set up on one machine, no matter how many machines are plugged into it

Any problems give me a shout. I will reply to your email later if you do not see this message.