: Troubleshooting Your Connection

Troubleshooting Your Connection

CONNECTION SPEED

We have v.90 and US Robotics 56k x2 modem support on 100% of our modems. Due to current FCC regulations on power output, the MAXIMUM connect speed possible with x2 and v.90 technology is 53,333bps.

Although we provide the equipment and software necessary for our customers to connect at the fastest possible speeds, customer connection speed can be adversely affected by many factors and is one of those few things over which we have very little control. The single most prevalent factor that could adversely effect your connection speed is the quality of the telco equipment (phone lines) that the call is routed through.

Alternatively, if the problem is simply that a particular web site seems to load slowly, this could be caused by a large volume of Internet traffic, or by problems with that particular site's web servers.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR PHONE LINES

Not all phone lines are capable of supporting connection speeds higher than 28.8 and bad line conditions can adversely affect your modem's connect speed. Your modem will always try to negotiate a connection at the fastest speed possible given the current phone line quality. To connect at optimum speeds, your local phone line must be in excellent condition with no static or signal loss. If there is any static, crosstalk, or signal loss over the telephone line, your modem will drop down in speed to compensate for the line noise in order to establish a connection speed that will be stable enough to use given these conditions. Keep in mind that line conditions fluctuate constantly. If for some reason the line conditions deteriorate drastically, the modem will no longer be able to maintain a connection and will simply give up and disconnect.

If you're not connecting to us as fast as you'd like, you might want to consider these troubleshooting techniques:

If there is a telephone, answering machine, etc., plugged into the back of the modem, unplug it from the back of the modem. The modem is supposed to ignore devices plugged into it when it is online, but that is not always the case.
Try disconnecting additional telephony devices (fax, phones, answering machines, alarm systems, etc.) from the phone line, even if they're in a different room.
Also try running the phone line directly from the back of the modem to the wall, without passing through surge suppressors, splitters, phone line extenders, etc.
Not all phone lines are capable of supporting connection speeds higher than 28.8 Multiple digital/analog conversions will prevent the use of 56K technology and limit your modem to V.34 speeds (a maximum of 33.6K). To test the capabilities of your phone line try using 3Com's line test. However, don't put all of your faith in it. It can tell you that your phone line supports 56K when in fact it doesn't, and vice versa. If you must use the test line, 3Com recommends calling it multiple times. On some calls it may say your line supports 56K and on other calls it may say the opposite. The fact that your modem can connect at 56K speeds to a long distance number is no guarantee that the same is true of local numbers, and vice versa. Long distance calls may be routed through telephone circuits which are significantly better or significantly worse than the local circuits used to connect to NETDOOR.
The least bit of static, line noise or cross talk affects the solidity and speed of the connection. If you believe this may be the case, you could get a phone company technician to come out and look at your lines and make sure they are clear of static. Although if you choose to do so, we would recommend not mentioning the Internet or modems to the technician as phone companies only guarantee a 9600 connection speed. Instead, describe your line problems using their lingo, such as "static" or "crosstalk" (hearing other voices on the line during your conversations). Hopefully this will convince them to do some troubleshooting on your line which may or may not lead to a higher, more stable connect speed for you.

NOTE: Reasonable connect rates are between 40-45K for an X2 or v.90 modem or 26.4-28.8K for a 28.8 modem.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR MODEM

As part of our ongoing effort to continually improve your Internet experience, NETDOOR maintains a policy of continual upgrades to our dial-up equipment. Therefore in order to get the best connection with NETDOOR it is always a good idea to keep your modem updated by visiting your modem manufacturer's web site to verify that you are using the latest firmware and/or drivers. You can also check out 56K.COM's Firmware page or visit the inits and drivers page to see if there is an init string or better yet a driver for your modem. If there is, download and install it. The inits and drivers page includes installation instructions. Even if the system is new that doesn't necessarily mean that you are using the latest software for your modem. Keep in mind that the software that was supplied with your modem was written to the CD or disk quite some time ago and updates are released quite frequently.If your modem supports interoperability (more than one 56K protocol), you may want to tell it which protocol (V.90, x2, or K56flex) it should use. The commands are listed on the interoperability page.

If you continue to experience difficulties after ensuring that the code on your modem is up-to-date, you may want to attempt to remove and reinstall the modem. If you need assistance in doing so, please contact a member of our technical support team and they will be glad to assist you in doing so as well as checking your system configuration to ensure optimum performance.

V.90

The new two-ping sound is an indication that you are connecting with a modem that supports the new international standard for 56K connections, v.90. There is nothing defined in the V.90 standard which will make V.90 modems perform any faster than the existing x2 or k56Flex modems, in fact a majority of users report a slight decrease in connection speed, however V.90 includes much improved line probing methods that allow for the connection rate to more accurately reflect the true throughput capacity of the line and therefore increases download speed and reliability.

WinModems

The trick to making a Winmodem work flawlessly is to keep your modem drivers updated regularly. Find out who your modem vendor is and look for their website to find out if you can upgrade your firmware/drivers online.If you have an LT WinModem you can find links to the latest drivers on 56k.com's Lucent LT Win Modem FAQ.

PCI MODEMS

From the experiences of the Tech Support here at Netdoor, we have concluded that PCI modems use a much different interface for negotiating the network protocols that are required to connect with our services. There are some issues that the manufacturers of these modems need to work out to make them more reliable. Most single-port PCI modems are software-based modems, meaning they use software to offload some or most of the work onto the computer. Among other things, this means that they tend to be operating-system dependent. Most will work with Windows 95/98. A few will work with Windows NT. Anything else is pretty much out of the question. In most cases, they also won't work with online games that run purely in DOS.

MPP

MultiLink PPP or "ShotGun" technology can use regular analog phone lines to achieve comparable download performance as ISDN without having to purchase expensive copper from the phone company. Many operating systems like Windows 98/NT, Linux and others can use standard modems as well as special dual channel modems to get you going with this alternative. Check out this informative report on 56k.com for more details.

This service is currently available in all our pops. The cost for an MPP account is only $35.00 a month.

Why is my computer reporting a bogus connection speed?

If you ever show a connect speed above 53,333 then your operating system is not reporting your true connect speed. (a true 56K connection can only be 53,333 kbps at best, due to limitations in the analog phone lines and FCC regulations imposed on power output). Instead what you are seeing are computer-to-modem speeds or port speeds that you set in your software. What you want to know is the modem-to-modem speed (your modem to NETDOOR's).How can I get my modem to report the true connect speed?

"No Answer" ERROR

This error is not due to busy lines (in addition, you'd also hear the busy signal through your modem). Whenever you call in and hear the modems make the loud screeching noises, that means that there is definitely an answer. If it then comes up with the "No Answer" message, then your modem simply cannot negotiate with our modem. It could also be trying to negotiate at speeds higher than your phone lines/modem driver will allow.

"I have to dial multiple times to get connected"

Several things could be causing this problem.

Your modem is installed improperly or needs an init string to connect properly.
A problem with your phone line is causing connection problems. This could also be the reason if your connect rates are lower than what you are expecting.
The configuration of your system may be incorrect and cause you to not successfully establish a connection. If you believe this to be the case, please give us a call at one of the numbers listed above and we will be happy to check your configuration.

LOG ON DELAY

Check that the "Log into Network" option in not selected. Double Click on MY COMPUTER, then on DIAL UP NETWORKING, click the NETDOOR icon once with your RIGHT HAND mouse button, chose PROPERTIES, click on SERVER TYPE, there will be a check box for Log onto Network. Make sure that there is no checkmark in the box. Only "enable software compression" and "tcp/ip" need to be checked in the SERVER TYPE settings window.

DISCONNECTIONS

There are only 2 circumstances under which our equipment will terminate ("drop") a connection.

There is 20 min or more of inactivity. Which means that no information is being sent either to or from your computer.
You have reached the maximum duration for your connection. (8 hours)

So long as data is actively passing over the connection, then it will not be reset.

Barring system maintenance on our end, all other disconnects are usually a problem one way or another on the client side. Be forewarned that file transfers can timeout (if the server you're downloading from is overloaded or experiencing network issues of its own) and if this happens, then 20 minutes later you'll be disconnected.

Other reasons for disconnection include:

Call Waiting

If you have call waiting on your phone its possible that someone has called and interrupted the connection with Netdoor.

To disable call waiting:

Double Click on MY COMPUTER,
Double Click on CONTROL PANEL
Double Click on MODEMS
Click on DIAL PROPERTIES
Check "To disable call waiting dial:" and in the drop down box select *70, for a phone that uses tone dialing and select 1170, for a phone that uses pulse dialing (be sure that the correct phone dialing method is selected)

NOTE: Having these settings incorrect have been known to cause false busy signals. Also, if you have call waiting disabled when you dial up, the person calling will only recieve a busy signal. If call waiting is not being disabled when dialing up, the chance they have in knocking you offline depends on the quality of your modem and phone line. There is no guarantee that you will be disconnected when a call comes through.