Here are my notes.  I tried it on one email address first, then started doing this with other sub-accounts.   One glitch -- if you use an initial for the username, the password may not be be accepted.   Anyhow, I changed "A Person" to a made-up name.  The notes:

 AOL apparently accepts multiple aliases for the same sub-account, but you must select one to login.  So if you have:
qwrty55@verizon.net, with an alias of bigdog@verizon.net and an account name of prince66fan@verizon.net, you must select one of these as the logon address.   This selection is probably the "from" address on the aol.com web interface.   I'm not sure about whether it will accept an alias through an email client like PMail.

Under "options" "Account Information" will typically open a new browser tab or window.  When options under "Account Information" are selected and the sub-window is closed, it is necessary to logon again.   Entering "Account Information" (after initial signup) will always provoke your chosen challenge question.

Here are my "checklist" notes I use.  Only some of these are necessary, of course.  Some of these appear to only apply to webmail.   The selections are  taken from aol.com email options.
 

OPTIONS:

CUSTOMIZE:
- uncheck preview  (This is a security issue.)

GENERAL:
- check hide images, disable links
- uncheck show sender's names

COMPOSE:
- check CC and BCC
- uncheck automatically add (security issue for bug reporting to spammers, including fake "image" tags)
- uncheck rich text
- clear display name

SPAM SETTINGS:
email addresses:
(I block a few known spamhouses, and AOL itself)


AOLMemberInfo@email.aol.com
@in.constantcontact.com
@in.confirmedcc.com
@nutshellmail.com
@mail245.nutshellmail.com
@mailchimp.com

phrases:
(blocked phrases in email, still under "spam" options)
AOL Member Services  (not blocked for primary account, but that email address is blocked)

(This will be edited as new shit appears.)

Verizon will soon "no longer provide verizon.net email service".  They are offering an option to retain one's existing @verizon.net address by creating a new account with AOL, which is now owned by VZ.  I assume this means that VZ is consolidating redundancy by shutting down their existing server and migrating everyone to the AOL server.

I have not yet tried setting up an AOL account, but will need to do so very soon if that is what proves to makes sense, and I'm curious to know if this will be simple or complicated.  Is it reasonable to assume that one can connect with the AOL server via SMTP?  If so, how does one know what settings to use? Same as the current VZ settings?  This may or may not be transparent once I log in to AOL, but I'm asking here first in order to avoid falling into a can of worms.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

How about starting at AOL's help page? There are a couple of articles about your issue ...

The AOL help page is partly useful; thank you for suggesting it.  It appears that they aren't changing any of the settings (the server is still called "verizon.net"), but they don't say anything about TCP/IP ports.  I am currently using 995 for incoming and 465 for outgoing; these two settings have been the source of trouble in the past, and I'm just looking for comments from anyone who has already been through this with Verizon's shift to AOL.

[quote user="english in troy"]but they don't say anything about TCP/IP ports.[/quote]

Not true, at least in the IMAP section (e.g. for Thunderbird) they do. And I'm almost sure they do as well for POP3 somewhere, I would just do a thorough seach if it was my issue.

This is preliminary.  I checked it for one identity and hadn't converted the others.   It does send test messages to and receives messages from another (unconverted) verizon.net account.
Here is the data:

==========

POP3:

pop.verizon.net   SSL port 995 (default SSL), using "Via direct SSL connect"

Be sure checkmark for "Delete mail on server" is checked if desired.  Don't forget to select the desired "checking multiple identities" checkboxes

==========

SMTP:

I selected "use for all outgoing mail, regardless of address."  I am not sure what that means.

smtp.verizon.net  SSL port 465 (default SSL), using "Via direct SSL connect"

(The SMTP setting may need to change from "incoming.verizon.net" but most are already changed.)

under SMTP Authentication (part of the "security" tab):
select "Logon to the SMTP server using a POP3 username/password"  and select the verizon-aol POP3 definition for this identity.

My guess is that the "Logon to SMTP server using the following details" would also work.

==========

I believe the POP3 995 / SMTP 465 ports are what verizon.net was working.
Some of the information is found in aol.com instructions for Android (POP3 and SMTP) and for Apple Mail 9 (SMTP).  "Logon to SMTP server using POP3 username/password" by trial and error.

[quote user="idw"]How about starting at AOL's help page? There are a couple of articles about your issue ...
[/quote]

FAQ page: https://help.aol.com/articles/verizon-move-to-aol-mail-faq

KSQR