On Monday 03 June 2002 02:31 pm, Randy Kramer wrote: > I know this is somewhat off topic, but do any of you have suggestions on > how to test a modem / phone line? Please read the following before > responding. > > My problem is that I get a lot of disconnects on my 33 kbps dial up > line. > > Several months ago, my ISP adopted a new policy -- I won't try to repeat > it exactly, but basically they reserve the right to disconnect me after > 4 to 12 hours (even though I pay for an "unlimited" connection). > > I get a lot more disconnects than that might indicate, and some after > short periods of time, like 1 to 60 minutes. The ISP insists they are > not disconnecting me, the phone line / modem is the problem. [...]
First, the obvious question...did your high disconnect problem start coincident with the new policy from your ISP? Though you pay for an "unlimited" connection, I could see the point of you being disconnected after X minutes of inactivity, so long as X isn't too short. All the suggestions provided were solid...but none would work for me. I had a similar problem to you but it was obvious that it was a line problem, not an ISP problem. Our phoneline would produce lots of static quite often. We noticed it was worse for a period during and after a rain. The phone company came out and, of course the first time, heard no static at all. Second time, they came out and heard the static. They replaced our old outdoor junction box which coincided with the termination (for a few days at least) of static. Finally, the static returned as strong as it always had been before and they came out again and located the problem...the connection from our house into their main line, ground level. The twisted pairs were old and the insulation had worn off in a few places. They fixed this and the static (and slow modem connection speeds and disconnects) went away. This brings to mind another test to suggest whether you have a line problem or an ISP problem...how are your connection speeds? When I was having the line problems, my 57kbps modem would often be connecting at sub-20kbps (sometimes even 9700). Even when it made a reasonably fast connection, the actual performance was much poorer than the speed would otherwise suggest. Even though I might get a 33kbps connection on occassion, the actual data transfer rate would be MUCH slower. Do you see any of this? If not, then it is not likely a line problem. praedor
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