AOL isn't as bad a service as everybody thinks. It's "cool" to hate AOL.
I use my university's DS3 for a connection, but my family also has an AOL account, which I use for email.
The only reason I like AOL at all, is because of it's mail configurations. With an inbox limit of over 20,000 per user, and a maximum file attachment size of 16MB, it's much more generous then most other mail systems.
Also, one good reason (in the past) to use AOL, was it's connection.
AOL's dialup connections were on the average, a little slower then their competitors--but in my experience, they sacrificed speed for stability. You got a constant stream of slow data, basically. Which was good for not de-synchronizing from games like EverQuest, whereas I could get a better speed with earthlink/prodigy internet, but I'd get kicked off all the time, and "hiccups" in the line, where data would just spontaneously stop happened all the time.
With the 'Broadband Age' being as it is, there isn't a real reason to use AOL, unless you want the mail client features, which can be purchased rather cheaply.
AOL has a price for Dialup access which is like 21.95$, a total rip-off, but using the "Bring your own access" plan (i.e., if you have university connections, or work/government connections, etc) you only have to pay less than five dollars per month, which is what my family does.
Overall, if you want broadband, don't get AOL DSL unless it's the only thing. Get cable. Get real DSL. AOL isn't good, but I'm not an Anti-AOL zealot like some.