For the past week, I have been having nothing but problems connecting to and staying connected to the internet. I use earthlink dialup internet. I do not use their software, but use IE 6.0 with SP1. I keep getting booted off, once I do get connected. I also am going extremely slow once I do get online. Earthlink had me type in AT+MS=v34 under my advanced modem properties, and it seems like I stay connected a little bit better, but it is not a substantial improvement. I do not know if the problem is in my phone lines, earthlink, or my modem. How can I tell which is the problem? I have an extended warranty on this computer, but HP has informed me that in order for them to send a tech, I have to reformat first, to make sure I don't have some kind of Windows problem. I don't particularly want to do that right now. It is very time consuming and I have so much I need to back up first, like quite a bit of music I downloaded that took me many hrs. to get. Does anyone know of any way I can test my system to see if it is my modem or what the problem is? I also have another dial up # with earthlink that is local for me, but it always gives me a busy signal, even though earthlink says it isn't busy. They also said no one is ever connected to that # at the time, and that is not right, but they haven't done anything to fix the busy signal. I don't have any other choice for an internet company, except hiwaay, as I live in a very rural area and there are no other local internet providers here. Can anyone help me? Thanks so much.

Dianna

Don't know if this will help Dianna but try this link PC Pitstop

It does a full diagnostic test of your system including your connection and can highlight any problems you may have and gives you tips on how to solve them

Kim xx

Hi Dianna. I talked with someone else that was having this same problem. Turns out it wasn't their computer but the phone lines and their system. For some reason since the blackout many people have been reporting this problem. It has to do with the signal not being strong enough, and the signal gets so weak that the modem does what it is supposed to do under those conditions, it disconnects. Some of the other people had to have splitters and phone lines updated and replaced. You can test your modem but I doubt it will be the cause. How many bps are you able to connect at? For a 56K it should be around 44,000 (if it's a strong signal).

I have only been connecting at around 14,000 bps to 16,000 bps. Right now, I am at 24,000 bps, which is the fastest it's been in a week. I am in Alabama, do you think that power failure could have possibly done anything way down here? I normally connect at around 44,000 bps.

Dianna that is way to low! I don't think the black out effected anything in Alabama, but you might be going through a server or a connection that is further up north, and then it could be a different story. Most likely though I think your phone company is responsible. They have little power stations that boost your phone signal. The further you are away from the power station the low your signal will be. The power station that "used" to be your feed might have had problems and so now it's offline and they are routing your line a different direction, so that would explain the bad signal that you are getting. I think you guys had some really bad weather a while back too, which might have something to do with it.

Just to be safe I would move your computer to another phone outlet and test it from there. If it improves than you have a problem in a connection close by. If it doesn't improve than it's the phone company causing it. Of course when you call and you complain they will try to brush you off and say that everything is peachy fine, so you might have to involve the utilities commission to get results. When the phone company tries to push you around just remember who is paying your phone bill, and that it is not working right. Hope that helps. If you have any other questions just post and I'll check back later.

Thanks wet chicken. If I can ever disconnect this computer and take it somewhere in town, then I'll try that. I live in a very rural area. As a matter of fact, our phone was messed up a couple of weeks ago. I complained and they finally sent a tech out 3 days later. He couldn't find any problem, so they closed the ticket without doing anything. My phone was out all that one day, as was all of my neighbors. I bet it's the phone line. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if we loose our phone service in the next few weeks, because of that problem they never fixed. I have 2 neighbors with computers, but one of them rarely goes online, and when she does, she doesn't know anything about how fast it's going or anything else. The other one is hard to catch at home to ask. I will see how her computer has been doing. They both use other ISP's, but if it's the phone lines, it should be affecting both of them as well. Thanks for your help, and hopefully, I'll get this resolved soon.

Dianna

I believe it was here at this site that I copied and pasted this post someone put up when another was having a problem simular to yours ! Read on.....
A little easy trouble-shooting for you. Can you try your computer at someone else's house? If they have a computer, you only need to take your tower, not the monitor and keyboard. Or, can you borrow a different computer to try on your phone line ?
Another tip. Pick up your phone and dial 1 then listen. Can you hear a noticeable hum, buzz, or other noise?
Yes? You Have a bad line. Now take your phone outside to the box where the phone line connects to your house. Inside that box there should be a phone jack, probably with a little phone cord plugged in. Plug in your phone instead and dial 1 again. If there is still noise then the problem is OUTSIDE your house and the phone company will repair it for free. If the noise is gone then the problem is INSIDE your home and a repairman will cost money.
Go back inside and unplug all phones. Now, plug in one phone at a time and dial 1. If only one phone is noisy, remove it and the problem is solved.
If you don't hear any noise when dialling 1 indoors then test again by plugging a phone into the same phone jack you use for internet connection and listen for noise. Noise? It's that phone outlet. No noise? It must be either your computer or your ISP.
Two years ago we got DSL service. Disconnects and other problems were frequent. Six weeks of calls to Tech Support didn't cure the problem. I finally threw a tantrum and insisted they stop telling us the same old garbage and that they should check THEIR EQUIPMENT. Guess what? They replaced a plug-in board at their central office and all our problems were cured. But we had to literally yell at them to get any results

I hope this help's !
Good Luck,Nick