What are the essential settings for connecting to AOL? When setting up a router, you will be prompted to enter certain details that govern the type of connection you establish. Depending on the hardware you have, the way in which you enter these details may differ. However, you are likely to be prompted to enter them during the installation of your router and also a wireless adapter, should you choose to use a wireless setup.
Some router installation guides will automatically enter some of these details. Therefore, you may not be prompted for them all. In other cases, the options will be named differently. If you experience problems setting up your chosen home networking solution, you should refer to the documentation included with the device.
Required Details:
Connection Protocol: PPPoE
VPI: 0
VCI: 38
Note that sometimes you will be asked for both figures together (VPI/VCI). In that instance, you enter them separated by a comma: 0,38
Username: (e-mail address removed)
Password: youraolpassword
Please read these important guidelines about
Screen Names and
passwords used to configure a router to sign on to AOL.
MTU Setting: MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit) defines the largest data packet size you can transmit in one go across a network. The AOL network runs at an MTU of 1450. Many routers have inbuilt auto-configurations where the hardware identifies that the AOL traffic has an MTU of 1450 and dynamically adjusts. Alternatively you may have to manually change the MTU setting on the modem router.
If the router hardware does not have this facility, the MTU setting can manually be changed on the computer to 1450.
You can change the MTU setting on your computer by using DrTCP. This is a free software utility that is a shortcut to editing your registry. This is available at:
http://www.broadbandreports.com/drtcp.
MRU Setting: MRU (Maximum Routing Unit) is required by some modem routers and should be set to the same value as the MTU of 1450.
MSS Setting: MSS (Maximum Segment Size) is required by some modem routers and dynamically adjusts the packet size to fit the MTU. It should be set to 1410.
Wireless Settings:
When configuring a wireless router, you may also be prompted for the following:
SSID: This is the 'name' of the router that you are using and is used by wireless adapters when they attempt to establish a connection.
WEP Key: The WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key is the equivalent of a password on your router. Depending on your setup, it may be necessary to define one of these and ensure that any wireless adapters that connect to the router have the same key in their settings.
Network Type: There are a number of possible choices available here, but, if the option is available, you should choose
Base Station.