AOL to discontinue dialup service in US and Canada in 2025

AOL will discontinue its dialup Internet service in the United States and Canada on September 30, 2025, ending a chapter in the history of consumer online access that began in the 1980s. The company said the shutdown will also retire the AOL Dialer software and the AOL Shield browser, which were designed to optimize connections for older systems and slower networks. The move comes as broadband, fiber, and mobile Internet have become the default for most households, leaving only a dwindling share of users reliant on dialup.

The decision to retire dialup reflects the long arc of Internet connectivity. AOL rose to prominence in the 1990s by offering an easy entry point to the Web—an era when many households accessed online content primarily through AOL’s own portals and services. For decades, dialup was the primary gateway for millions, delivering data over telephone lines at speeds up to 56 kilobits per second under ideal conditions. As broadband adoption expanded and speeds increased dramatically, the dialup model gradually faded from mainstream use, though a small rural and low-cost segment continued to rely on it for access.

AOL notes that the shutdown will not affect other...