few modem problems - won't connect?

[Superman9534]

I have a customer whose computer I am going to go take a look at this afternoon, but I wanted to get your opinions on the issue first. Apparently they have a windows xp machine they purchased from office depot, and are using Juno $10 dial-up service. She tells me it takes 5-8 times to connect before it finally gets online, and randomly drops the connection after a few minutes. She says it does this on her desktop but not her laptop. What are your ideas on what could be the cause? Bad modem drivers? Settings? Bad modem? Thanks.

 

[Zelmo3]

If it's a 56K modem, the phone line may not be able to handle 56K. Especially if it's on a digital phone system or has more than one D/A switch between the modem and the telco. You can limit the modem's bandwidth in the control panel, but I've never had any luck with that personally.

 

[CTR]

It could be a noisy phone line. Since it sounds like you are dealing with a cheap PC with a cheap modem, you might need to look into updating the modem firmware or drivers. Check out modemsite.com for some good information about different types of modems and their drivers.

It could also be a problem on the ISP side, so feel free to call Juno and complain. People do it all the time. Juno/Netzero (United Online) does not run much of the equipment you dial into. It is very likely you are dialing into a wholesale modem port provider, and United Online leases service from them. If it is a problem with the ISP, United Online will see a pattern of failures and contact the ISP with that information. They also send out a weekly "Top 20" report with the worst performing cities/POP's to all of their modem providers. You could give it a week and see if the problem goes away.