Never had either AOL or Earthlink. I have known people who had one or the other. The Earthlink crowd seemed much more pleased with their service than any of the AOL crowd. I have known folks to quit AOL for the same reasons your daughter speaks of. I have my service through the phone company (GTE) but am getting a bit annoyed at them. NOt because of their service, which to date has been wonderful, but they are now offering the same service to new subscribers for $15.00 a month and I am paying $19.95 for the same thing. The only thing I like is that the charge is included in my phone bill and I don't have a bunch of seperate bills each month.