Goodbye, Dial-Up: AOL Pulls the Plug on a 1990s Internet Icon

Fire up the nostalgia — and maybe that old landline modem — because AOL is finally killing off its dial-up internet service after more than three decades. Come September 30, the screeches, beeps, and “You’ve got mail” greetings will fade into history.

Once the king of getting America online, AOL — then called America Online — was the gateway to the web in the ’90s and early 2000s. It came with buddy lists, instant messaging, and a tsunami of free trial CDs that seemed to show up in every mailbox. If you’re old enough, you probably remember the ritual: plugging in your phone line, waiting through that high-pitched connection tone, and praying no one picked up the phone mid-download.

Now owned by Yahoo (itself owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management), AOL says it’s time to move on.

“We routinely evaluate our products and services and have decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet,” the company wrote.

The shutdown will also retire its AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, both relics from an era when connecting online meant tying up the family phone.

By 2021, the number of AOL dial-up subscribers was already down to the “low thousands.” Today, broadband and mobile internet have made dial-up all but extinct, though Census data still shows around 160,000 Americans connecting via landline.

The dial-up exit marks the end of an era in online history — one that saw AOL merge (disastrously) with Time Warner in 2000, spin back out in 2009, and get bought and sold multiple times since. AIM, its beloved instant messenger, shut down in 2017.

For the tiny group of users still clinging to their copper-wire connection, it’s the last call. For the rest of us, it’s a reminder of the internet’s awkward teenage years — when a “fast” connection meant maybe, just maybe, loading a single photo in under a minute.

With input from CNN, FOX Business, NBC News, and the Hill.