On Sun, 16 May 2004 01:36:50 GMT, "Caroline"
put finger to keyboard and
composed:

This Gateway 900c desktop as purchased in early September, 2001 has an
integrated modem. For a month I had terrible problems trying to get it to
connect to the internet. I spent dozens of hours working with Gateway and
America Online (my ISP then) to figure out why. They kept blaming each other for
the problem, of course. Finally a Gateway tech and I narrowed it down to the
strong possibility that the integrated modem was too sensitive to my older
home's phone line noise. Gateway said, "Too bad your house can't make use of our
superior modem." I said, "Not so fast. Your modem is not superior; my old
computer's external modem works fine and is the superior one. I'm sending your
computer back for a full refund, per the warranty." The tech turned me over to a
manager who agreed to pay for an external modem. I kept the computer.

I have used the external modem ever since.

I did a modem noise check of my phone lines (in my new home) several months ago.
It was somewhat high but then things settled down and I wasn't getting
disconnected. Now the problem has returned.

What I probably should do to troubleshoot further is graph disconnects per day
vs. weather trends. Also, maybe I'll try the internal modem.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions. I have ideas where to go with this. And as I
mentioned in the other thread here on power supplies, my computer is far from
crippled.

Most modems can produce a last call diagnostic report. This includes
data such as Tx/Rx signal levels, Tx/Rx error rates, S/N ratio,
numbers of speedshifts and retrains, etc.

http://www.modemsite.com/56k/x2-inf.asp
http://www.modemsite.com/56k/x2-hyperterm.asp
http://www.modemsite.com/56k/usehyper.asp
http://www.modemsite.com/56k/diag.asp
http://www.modemsite.com/56k/trouble.asp

My own Rockwell chipped modem produces the data below. Notice these
highly abbreviated data for a good session ...

TX/RX I-Frame count : 17654/21091
TX/RX I-Frame error count : 29/14
TX Rate (Last/Init/Min/Max) : 28800/26400/26400/28800
RX Rate (Last/Init/Min/Max) : 46667/46667/45333/46667
Modulation/Protocol/Compression : V.90/LAPM/V.42bis
Retrains (Issued/Granted/Fast) : 0/0/5
Renegs (Issued/Granted) : 2/0
Retrans per frame/Frames rejected : 1/14
Error control timeouts in TX : 16
Error control NAKs received : 29
Termination Cause : Dte Hangup Command

.... a not so good session ...

TX/RX I-Frame count : 10268/34101
TX/RX I-Frame error count : 15/47
TX Rate (Last/Init/Min/Max) : 28800/26400/26400/28800
RX Rate (Last/Init/Min/Max) : 38667/42667/38667/42667
Modulation/Protocol/Compression : V.90/LAPM/V.42bis
Retrains (Issued/Granted/Fast) : 0/0/0
Renegs (Issued/Granted) : 3/0
Retrans per frame/Frames rejected : 1/47
Error control timeouts in TX : 7
Error control NAKs received : 15
Termination Cause : Dte Hangup Command

.... and a bad session (water in the cable) ...

TX/RX I-Frame count : 784/4482
TX/RX I-Frame error count : 23/211
TX Rate (Last/Init/Min/Max) : 26400/26400/26400/28800
RX Rate (Last/Init/Min/Max) : 38667/44000/33333/44000
Modulation/Protocol/Compression : V.90/LAPM/V.42bis
Retrains (Issued/Granted/Fast) : 0/1/2
Renegs (Issued/Granted) : 12/0
Retrans per frame/Frames rejected : 8/211
Error control timeouts in TX : 16
Error control NAKs received : 23
Termination Cause : Retrain Failed


Notice that the initial CONNECT speed is not a reliable indicator of
modem performance, as modems will speedshift as line conditions
change. Notice also that the modem can tell you the reason for
disconnect. For example, a "Termination Cause" of "Disconnect Frame
Received" indicates that your ISP kicked you off.


- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 's' from my address when replying by email.