rec.autos.simulators

I need to keep AOL for my wife and daughters, I'm already having trouble
explaining the frequent computer upgrades without taking away their AOL ;-)
Anyone have any experience with Netzero and online racing?  Any other free
ISP's in the US?  I really want to try online racing, but other than a test
or two, have stayed away due to my AOL.  Thanks, in advance.

        Why do you need to keep AOL?  If it's just to keep the email addresses,
you could just send a message to everyone telling them the new address.
If it's for the buddy chat thingy, you can use that with any ISP and get
all your friends as if you were still on AOL.  You can do everything
(and more) using an ISP that's not AOL and still use everything that is
AOL with another ISP.  The only differences between AOL and any other
ISP is who you pay, Not what you get.  Or, you could just use your AOL
account for online racing.

        There is something that screws with your connection when you use AOL
for online racing. I can't remember what it was though.

Mike

--
=========================================
Mike Barlow of Barlow Racing?
=========================================
Racing online with the help of......

Race Communications Association
http://members.xoom.com/RCA/toc.html
Holodyne Engineering

Mystic Music

(have Your !!Name/Address!! placed here)

I believe that AOL has a reduced-cost service option that allows you to
keep your AOL account, but access it from another ISP.  Your total cost
might be higher than having just AOL, and access to AOL content might
be a bit slower, but I suspect that access to most other parts of the
Internet would be better (assuming you find a good ISP).

Randy

Randy,

Its called bring your own access.  I have that option for AOL.  My wife and
I use a few AOL proprietary items and use our ISP (Earthlink) to connect to
AOL.  Its $9.99 a month for unlimited time.  Another side benefit is not
having AOL disconnects and/or busy signals.

AOL as a primary "ISP" is NOT an option. Even for everyday broswing its
annoying as hell. <G>

Scott
PA-Scott

--
Scott B. Husted
ICQ# 4395450

Michael, I kept aol after switching to a "real" isp a few months ago for a
number of reasons. There are a few auto racing message boards, to my
knowledge unavailable from outside aol, that I've invested a couple of years
in now. The F1 and CART boards are especially notable for having a fun group
of knowledgable and friendly people...most of the time anyway<g>...including
one gentleman whose resume lists ex-drag racer, automotive designer, ad-man
and Formula 1 team owner.

Except for r.a.s., I've not run into a more helpful and interesting group of
people on the net. It's worth the 10 bucks a month to remain part of that
community IMO. Of course, if someone can tell me how to access the
Grandstand message boards from outside aol, I'd drop them like a hot
rock<G>.

BTW, I raced GPL successfully for months on aol, the ping times are higher
so there are not as many good connections to choose from, but it can be
done. I must say however, that being able to customise my dun settings for
GPL has resulted in a much better and more stable connection.

don

[|]-(_)-[|]

Thanks guys, I wasn't aware of the option to access AOL from another ISP.
That's a very good compromise for my family.  I can customize DUN settings
and my girls get to keep what they're used to.  BTW, Michael, you're being
much too logical, you have to remember I live in a house full of women ;-)
If there are any girls reading, go ahead and flame me!

It's a good solution, and not significantly more expensive than AOL-only
(about $4/mo. for me).  I use it myself as AOL has some proprietary features
that are useful, AND it serves as a good backup if my ISP's acting up.  You
can still connect directly through AOL using this option (at a low
per-minute rate) even if you're setup for BYOA.

Cheers,

Steve B.