AOL can't connect due to McAfee Firewall

I'm close but can't find the right setting and I dont' use AOL, so I'm not sure where I'm going on this.

My Mom uses AOL and likes to connect using the AOL software versus the AOL webpage. She uses a broadband connection.

She's been able to do it for years, now in the last two months, it won't let her connect. She clicks the sign on and the process starts but hangs. She's had a lot of folks tinkering with it to figure out why.

I've been able to remote in and turn off her McAfee firewall to test the connection and the computer went straight in. McAfee was provided by AOL, so you would think it would be configured. She's on AOL 9.0. I thought AOL was at 10 or something.

So, what should I be checking in the setting to allow her in? Is it a port or an IP Range? If it's an IP range, how do I determine which. I'm in Oregon and she's in Ohio, so it's not like I can drive over.

She didn't know where to type in a URL to go to AOL.com, so it's not likely she'll be able to do it.

Thanks in advance.

 

It may not be a firewall issue at all. Unless the problem occurred right after installing mcafee I don't see any reason to suspect a firewall issue.

What I think may be closer to the problem is the software itself. Try remoting in and uninstalling AOL and reinstalling. Some basic PC maintenance while you're at it may not be a bad idea.

 

just because the mcafee firewall was provided by aol, doesn't exactly mean it's configured correctly. my guess is that somebody changed a setting in the firewall. but not sure. what is her os? is she on a wired connection, or wireless? what is her brand modem (or router)?

i've used zone alarm firewall for several years (it was also provided by sbc, as a free d/l). anyway, i've had no problems whatsoever. well, 1 time i started having connectivity issues, and of course tech support started blaming zone alarm, also saying that i have a "hard" firewall built into the modem/router, and they were conflicting, blah, blah, blah. i think they just say that when they don't have a clue what's going on. i also heard them tell this to a friend of mine. anyway, i'm not trying to change the subject here.

if you disabled the firewall, and it connected, i would start there. have you or your mom contacted aol, to see if anything has changed on their end? if it's xp, are you sure the windows firewall is off (since you are using another firewall)? g/l, sos

 

Sorry for not responding back on this. My sister took the computer into a repair shop in Ohio and had them rebuild the whole thing so, I was never able to determine the root cause.