AOL is ending its dial-up services on September 30th, 34 years after providing internet and being one of the most recognized brands on the web in North America.
The company published a notice on its support site, where it states, “AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet.” The company continues by saying, “This service will no longer be available in AOL plans. As a result, on September 30, 2025, this service and the associated software, the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections, will be discontinued.”
The company’s closure of dial-up internet includes the discontinuation of the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser. Both are opted for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections.
If you’re like me, you might be surprised that AOL is still being used in 2025. However, as noted by The Verge, a US census from 2019 estimates that 265,000 people in the US were still leveraging dial-up internet.
AOL is a Yahoo-owned business that began providing dial-up internet in 1991. The brand became synonymous with internet access and “You’ve got mail.” A younger audience may not have much of a touchstone for AOL, but millennials and older users will never forget the atrocious connection sound that came with AOL and dial-up internet.
Want to see more of our stories on Google?
P.S. Want to keep this site truly independent? Support us by buying us a beer, treating us to a coffee, or shopping through Amazon here. Links in this post are affiliate links, so we earn a tiny commission at no charge to you. Thanks for supporting independent Canadian media!
