HELP!! Computer question...

[Guest]

These fucking overpriced, glorified paperweights........

Anyway, I get logged off the internet (dial up service, local number) after anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. It's driving me nuts!!! My ISP provider is trying to balme the phone lines..... The computer's new, so it's not that....

Have any of you experienced this? The Phone lines?? WTF?? They say the phone co can check for background noise, but then what? Gut the house of the old lines? At whose expense?? Is that realistic??
Any insight would be appreciated.......

 

[Guest]

 

[La Huesera]

I had that problem also. Would talk to the ISP and he would say that its the phone companys problem(bad lines) A new ISP came into the area..signed up with them and now do not have that problem. Sounds like someone is passing the buck.

 

[AzureAngel]

I'd definitely recommend looking for updated modem drivers. Beyond THAT... well. Bleh.

I doubt it's phone lines unless you really live in the sticks, though.

 

[sabbathstorm]

It could be numerous things from auto-disconnect (although this is usually set at 30 mins), bad phone lines, or an interrupted line. I know when I was on dial up, I had shut off my call forwarding in order to avoid that problem. Again, as mentioned by Emerald_eyed and AzureAngel, modem drivers could be a problem.

 

[Ishmael]

These fucking overpriced, glorified paperweights........

Anyway, I get logged off the internet (dial up service, local number) after anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. It's driving me nuts!!! My ISP provider is trying to balme the phone lines..... The computer's new, so it's not that....

Have any of you experienced this? The Phone lines?? WTF?? They say the phone co can check for background noise, but then what? Gut the house of the old lines? At whose expense?? Is that realistic??
Any insight would be appreciated.......

Emerald eyes is right. Probably a weak modem. It happens. Have the vendor replace the modem. Bitch until they do.

Ishmael

 

[Guest]

It kinda sounded like passing the buck to me, too.

I'll check the driver first - but how do I do that?? It says it's a MDP7800-U - where do I begin to look??

 

[BOB38]

If you have call waiting and do not disable it first then everytime someone calls it will disconnect you. You have to put *70 in front of the dial up phone number. Good Luck

 

[sabbathstorm]

You might want to try this site:

http://www.driverguide.com/

Another option is to use the info you have in a search. Believe it or not, I found my motherboard specs that way.

 

[Shockdoctor]

It kinda sounded like passing the buck to me, too.

I'll check the driver first - but how do I do that?? It says it's a MDP7800-U - where do I begin to look??

Well, that's the chipset. I know that Aztec labs, Lucent Technologies, and Rockwell all made modems using that chipset.

Did you get that number off of the card itself? Assuming you are running some version of Windows, if you go into the Control Panel and open up the Modem section what kind of modem does it say is installed?

 

[Guest]

Well, I thought I had it right..... no call waiting, BTW...

WDM_MODEM_AZTECH_WDM_DF is what I found, with a driver of comm.drv installed in 7/2000

 

[Shockdoctor]

Ok, so it's an Aztec modem using the MDP7800-U chipset. I would go to www.driverguide.com and see if you can find a newer driver than the one that is installed. If you don't want to register on www.driverguide.com PM me and I will give you a username and password you can use.

 

[Guest]

shockdoctor!!

You're AWESOME, man!! THANKS!!!!

I'll go there now and do it...

 

[Shockdoctor]

Re: shockdoctor!!

You're AWESOME, man!! THANKS!!!!

I'll go there now and do it...

I'm happy to help anytime.

 

[Dillinger]

Did that help?

It could be the modem... it could be the driver... it could be you need a new internet provider.

It can also, believe it or not, actually be your phone lines. They can be old. They can be overloaded. They can be poor quality. POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) was not built with the requirements of data in mind - it was built to carry the voice which is less demanding on the system.

When travelling I have stayed in hotels where I know I'm dialing into a high speed provider and still get a terrible connection. I can do down the road and dial in from another hotel to the exact same number and get a great connection. The only difference is the phone lines or the switch they're connected to.

 

[Guest]

Shit!

Well, I tried the driver (nice site, BTW) but my computer keeps telling me that the driver I have is newer and better.

That leaves the phone lines....

My house is not new, so that is a logical option, but what if the lines are bad?? What happens then?

I think a high speed cable connection may be the best answer....

I guess my first step is to call the phone company for a noise check.

 

[Dillinger]

See if the phone company can check your line. They might even be able to run a new one just for your modem.

But honestly - if you can get high speed cable or DSL then do it.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Shit!

I guess my first step is to call the phone company for a noise check.

Dial your own number, hang up, when the phone rings answer it and listen for any sounds at all. (most phone companies support "dial within" -- if yours doesn't, call their service number and ask them for the "call-back" number their technicians use.)

If you can hear noise on the line, then your phone company has to fix the problem up to your house -- the inside lines are the homeowners responsibility. Before you call in the problem, disconnect every telephone on the line except the one you're testing with -- five of the six problems I've had with phone lines turned out to be a phone or answering machine connected to the same line as the modem -- the sixth turned out to be water in the trunk line into the apartment complex.

 

[Cheyenne]

Re: Shit!

Originally posted by storm1969

I think a high speed cable connection may be the best answer....

Ha. I can get roadrunner here. As soon as I buy a new computer, first!

 

[Guest]

Yeah, we can get roadrunner here too, neighbor!

W. Harold - I almost titled the thread with your name. I'll try that suggestion, thank you very much.