WASHINGTON — The sound that defined the early days of the internet is about to go silent forever. 

AOL is set to shut down its dial-up internet service, ending more than three decades of the iconic symphony of beeps, screeches and static that once signaled your gateway to the World Wide Web.

The company, once considered the pioneer of internet connectivity, issued a statement on its webpage announcing the end of the service by September 30, 2025. 

“AOL routinely evaluates its products and services and has decided to discontinue Dial-up Internet. This service will no longer be available in AOL plans. As a result, on September 30, 2025, this service and the associated software, the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections, will be discontinued,” the company said.

Though the sluggish internet service may seem like a relic of the 1990s and early 2000s, nearly 160,000 people connect to the internet through their landline telephone service, according to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.  In comparison, more than 100 million people are connected via broadband such as cable, fiber optic or DSL. 

The internet service, known for its hallmark “You’ve got mail” greeting and CD trials, provided a connection through a dial-up modem connected to a landline. At its peak, the internet connection could provide up to 56 kilobits per second under ideal conditions, according to Apple Insider. Today’s internet connections are measured in megabits and gigabits per second. 

AOL, formerly known as America Online, infamously merged with Time Warner in 2000. The acquisition, valued at $350 billion, was considered one of the biggest media mergers in history and came at the height of the “Internet bubble.”

The merger failed miserably due to cultural clashes between the companies and the decline of AOL’s business model, leading to record losses for both companies.

AOL was acquired by Verizon in 2015 and subsequently sold to private equity firm Apollo Global Management, which also owns Yahoo, for $5 billion in 2021, according to CNBC.