Is there a way (setting) to keep the dial-up program for timing out a connection due to inactivity? I just have a 56k modem so downloading almost any software or update takes a while. The thing tries to time me out every 7 minutes or so. Is there a way to set it so it doesn't do that. It's a pain in the butt to have to sit there & monitor the computer while it's downloading for 30 minutes. Thanks.

Open internet connect and edit the settings.

You didn't say what ISP you're using, but AOL is well known for disconnecting people after some idle period, and there's no way to turn that off unless you use something like AlwaysOnLine. If you're not using AOL and your ISP doesn't disconnect you on their end, make sure your PPP settings aren't set to time out after a specified idle period. It sounds to me, though, like an idle timeout isn't the problem here. If you're getting booted in the middle of a download, your connection isn't idle at the time of the disconnection. Might be a problem with the fone lines, the modem, the ISP, the modem script...could be just about anything, really. p

No, it's the iMac doing it. I've been logged in for hours at a time with my work laptop on the same connection, so it's not my isp. A little window pops up and asks if I want to stay connected, and if I'm not there to tell it otherwise it disconnects me after a 30 seconds or so. I'll look for the PPP settings. I looked all around in internet connect, but I'll look again. I'm not stupid enough to have AOL (All Outta Luck?).