It’s the end of an internet era that many thought had already passed. AOL dial-up internet shutdown
On September 30, 2025, AOL will officially shut down its dial-up internet service, closing the curtain on a technology that once defined how millions first experienced the World Wide Web.

For those who didn’t grow up in the pre-broadband world, dial-up internet was the original home connection method for going online in the 1990s and early 2000s. It used a household telephone line to transmit data, meaning you couldn’t make calls while surfing the web. Connecting required firing up software like AOL’s dialer, listening to a now-iconic sequence of beeps and static tones, and waiting—sometimes up to a minute—before being greeted by the cheerful, “You’ve got mail!” message. Speeds were glacial by today’s standards—56 kilobits per second at best—but for the time, it was a technological marvel, opening a portal to chat rooms, news, email, and a brand-new online culture.

From Gateway to Obsolescence

AOL launched its dial-up service in 1991, quickly becoming one of the most recognizable brands of the internet’s early years. Through aggressive marketing—particularly the endless free trial CDs mailed to households—the service attracted tens of millions of subscribers. By the late 1990s, AOL was a dominant force, peaking at over 20 million U.S. subscribers.

But as broadband internet began rolling out in the early 2000s, offering far faster and always-on connections, dial-up’s days were numbered. Usage plummeted, and what was once a cultural touchstone gradually became a niche service. By the 2010s, AOL’s dial-up subscribers had dropped to a tiny fraction of their peak numbers, consisting mostly of people in rural or underserved areas where broadband access remained unreliable or unaffordable.

The Final Sign-Off

In a statement posted on its support site, AOL said it “routinely evaluates its products and services” and had made the decision to discontinue dial-up after more than three decades. On September 30, 2025, the company will also retire the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser. AOL email and other digital services will remain unaffected.

The shutdown affects only a few thousand remaining customers, but for them, it marks a major change—and for internet historians, it closes the last active chapter of mainstream commercial dial-up in the U.S.

Why It Still Matters

While the shutdown won’t have a significant technical impact in 2025, its cultural significance is enormous. Dial-up represents:

• The birth of mass internet adoption — AOL helped introduce millions to email, instant messaging, and online communities.
• A cultural icon — From the modem’s screech to the “You’ve got mail” notification, dial-up is deeply embedded in internet nostalgia.
• A reminder of the digital divide — Even in 2025, some regions still struggle to access affordable, high-speed internet, making dial-up a last resort for a few households.

A Symbolic Farewell

For most people, September 30 will pass unnoticed. But for those who remember staying up late in chat rooms, waiting 30 seconds for a single image to load, or being booted offline when someone picked up the phone, it will be a bittersweet milestone.

The moment AOL disconnects its last dial-up user, it won’t just be shutting down a service—it will be signing off on a formative chapter in the story of the internet.