Hey everyone. I have a BellSouth Alcatel SpeedTouch USB modem which serves me with a Fast Access DSL connection. It's been working fine until lately. Recently, especially after using the PC after emerging from Stand-By, I've been having to connect, disconnect, connect, disconnect, etc. several times before finally establishing a working connection to the Internet. Without performing these multiple trials, my AOL Instant Messenger will not work, and neither will Internet Explorer. IE gives the "Page cannot be displayed", and AIM doesn't detect an internet connection. I keep having to reconnect several times before these applications begin working. It's completely random...sometimes I won't have to constantly reconnect, while most of the time I do. I've tried resetting the hardware by unplugging and plugging the USB plug back in, reinstalling the modem and appropriate drivers, and creating a new login connection through Network Connections. Any ideas as to what may be the culprit here and how to repair this will be greatly appreciated. Christopher

I trust you'll bare with this explanation. I've seen this before and can attest to the reason I was given by a certified networking engineer. Unlike cable, DSL is not a constant flow of internet data that is "always connected". Unlike cable, DSL can actually increase in bandwith when more people in your 'intranet neighborhood' are not logged on, but significantly decrease in bandwith availability when no one in the neighborhood is logged on. And unlike cable, the further away you are from your DSL server, the lower your bandwith. So..........what this all means is that it's a normal aspect of DSL. Once a connection is broken (during standby) your telephone line has to re-establish it by pinging the network. It's quicker if there is activity on the network, and can take several attemts if there isn't activity. I'm just the messenger.

Hi Chris, you may want to have a yarn with your isp to see if they've made changes to their settings. I've seen similar problems occur and the fault lay with the isp. But didn't find that out till I had almost gone bald with frustration and called them.

Sorry, but hapeekrapee is talking about things he knows nothing about. DSL is a dedicated connection. It does not fluctuate. Granted cable can but it is rare to even see cable fluctuate in todays world of high speed. Check your line filters. DSL runs on the upper freq's of your phone line. The filters are needed. Yes, I am a tad tired but what hapeekrapee posted is 100% bulls---. KTTD WankerDrivers.Com

I'm just the messenger Kev...........it wasn't MY explanation and the story seemed to be logical considering that with DSL, the distance you are from the server is directly consequential of bandwith. I made no claim to know this for fact, just what someone who does this for a living told me. I don't do networking for a living so I certainly wouldn't have expected anything other than a truthful explanation from someone who does.

Hi Chris, I agree with what "justme" and "kevin" has told. You surely have to call Bellsouth helpdesk. They will ask to check ur phone line filters or replace it. If you have more than one computer, even that might give this problem. If ur home is located very far from the DSLAM, even that could be the problem. So pls call Bellsouth 1-888-321-2375. The helpdesk agent will do all that u want. If still nothing works,if u r a longtime customer, they might upgrade ur modem with new one. I know it would work, coz i had been working in Bellsouth's helpdesk. All the Best Tech