Connected at 12Kbps (what's wrong)?

[rantrim]

I am fairly new to comp. and have a question. I live in a rural section of the county, and only have one local access number (thru my community web)I am connected at 12Kbps and have only rarely been as high as 14.4k. I have seen it as high as around 18k about a year ago, but that didn't last long. I wonder if this is because of my ISP being so overloaded, or is it my modem, or a combination of both? Also, don't know if this is related, but I get a high number of disconnects (about 7 trying to get here). Any help or suggestions are very much appreciated. Thank you in advance for your input!!

[BigBlue66]

Hey Rantrim,

A couple of things can cause the problems you're having. I would suspect the most likely culprit to be your phone lines, since you state that you are in the country. An overloaded ISP doesn't help either.

You don't mention what kind of modem you have. Internal or external? Hardware or software modem? What speed?

Is it possible you have, say, a 28.8 modem that is a WIN modem? You can tell by the product's model number. Usually, an HCF or HSF will signify that you have a WIN modem. This uses your CPU resources and is also known to be problem prone.

I would suggest that you have the phone company check your lines for an abnormally high amount of noise and maybe purchase a nice hardware modem, at least a 56k with V90 technology.

Post back a few more details about your system. One of us can point you in the right direction.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66

[rantrim]

Big Blue; I found a modem init. string at the Emachine site today. After entering the code, it showed to be connected at 57k. It now shows to be 115k. What is going on? I can tell it is MUCH faster, but what is it showing these numbers for? Thanks a lot for your help!

[mjc]

The 115k number IS NOT the speed you are connected to the internet at it is the speed between your modem and your copmuter. The 57k seems to also be bogus because here in the US the FCC has limited how fast a 56k modem can connect at (some say 53k and others say 54.67k).

Please post the string and maybe I will be able to decipher exactly what it does do.

What modem do you have (if you have an eMachines it is almost assuredly a 'winmodem' and probably a Conexant\Rockwell)?

Go to Control panel -> System Properties -> Modem and see what is listed there.

[BigBlue66]

Rantrim,

It's absolutely a winmodem. MJC is right. The 115k is the port speed, not the speed of your connection. I had the same thing going on with a winmodem my son gave me. At first I thought, WOW. Then reality set in and I found out it was the port speed setting. Somewhere in your modem properties, I'll bet you have it set to 115,200bps. Right?

Do yourself a favor, and save yourself from pulling out your hair. Buy a hardware modem. U.S. Robotics is one of the best names in the business. Since I switched to one, I have had not one problem. Also, no disconnects.
None, nadda.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66

P.S. My advice about having the phone company check your line still holds.

[This message has been edited by BigBlue66 (edited 12-18-2000).]

[Paleo Pete]

Start\Settings\Control Panel\Modems\Properties In the box at bottom is Maximum Speed Click the down arrow and set it to 57,600. That's above 56K and make sure the Always connect at this speed line is NOT checked. Then you should get a true reading of your connect speed.

mjc and Blue are both correct. It is almost certainly a winmodem, I seriously doubt that emachines would spend the extra $20 for a real modem, and the reading you're seeing is the speed at which the modem communicates with the computer, not the internet.

Blue is also correct about the of the winmodem's manner of functioning and the advisability of investing in a hardware modem.

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