Hi Ric,
Chris emailed me and we have managed to sort it out and get it going, which I am glad because I wans't sure the USB modem setup would work with OS9
As for the software, if you are on AOL broadband, you do not need to use it. I have had AOL broadband set up for 3 years now via a router. Connected to the router are all the kids PCs, my Macs (1 PC wireless and 1 Mac wireless) and more recently the xbox 360 which my husband got for christmas.
I was anticipating problems with xbox online, but it set up like a breeze - took all of 5 minutes and he gets really good pings between 15 - 30 ms.