AOL Is Pulling the Plug on This Iconic Service After Three Decades
AOL, a pioneer of the internet, announced it is eliminating the service that made it synonymous with the World Wide Web.
"AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet," a statement on the company’s website read. “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.”
AOL – formerly known as America Online – was arguably the most recognized name in the tech world at its peak. The company, at one point, hosted tens of millions of Americans on their dial-up service.
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By the mid-2000s, however, many households had switched to broadband internet. By 2015, when Verizon purchased AOL for $4.4 billion, only 2 million dial-up users remained.
The internet was shocked by the news of the end of dial-up, but not as shocked as the fact that the service still existed.
“Seriously though people are still on dial up?” one user wrote on X. “Wow ! I didn’t know still was going on,” another wrote. “The biggest surprise is that people are currently using it,” a third chimed in.
While it’s unclear how many AOL dial-up users remain (and will need to find a new service come Sept. 30), the nostalgia of the beep-boop-beeeeeep will live on.
So long as nobody is using the landline.