Diagnosing Slow Modem Connection

[Jenni]

I know some (most?) of the problem is a crappy phone line. Anyone see anything else here that might indicate something different? It is a 56K Lucent modem, not sure which as it is built in to my laptop. When I had it connected to a known good phone line (Supra Express in the other computer was consistently in the 49-53K range) it never got above 28.8, and it never has. I have tried it using the Fujitsu driver it came with, and the new Lucent driver, version 5.75. Could the probem be with AOL?

ATI11 reports the following:


ATI11

Description Status
--------------- ------------
Last Connection V.34
Initial Transmit Carrier Rate 28800
Initial Receive Carrier Rate 26400
Final Transmit Carrier Rate 31200
Final Receive Carrier Rate 26400
Data Compression Result V42bis
Estimated Noise Level 60040
Receive Signal Power Level (-dBm) 21
Transmit Signal Power Level (-dBm) 10
Round Trip Delay (msec) 4

Description Status
--------------- ------------
Near Echo Level (-dBm) 15
Far Echo Level (-dBm) 65
Transmit Frame Count 5470
Transmit Frame Error Count 0
Receive Frame Count 13510
Receive Frame Error Count 0
Retrain by Local Modem 1
Retrain by Remote Modem 1
Call Termination Cause 0
Robbed-Bit Signaling NA
Digital Loss (dB) NA
Remote Server ID NA

OK

[Xayd]

Probably yes, AOL doesn't play nice with Winmodems from my experiences with them.

There was only one retrain during that connection log, so that's not the issue. The issue was just a v34 connect. I know every AOL pop should support v90, and you seem to be getting quick speeds on the Supra from the same line, so force V90 on the lucent.

I'd go with reset first, so make it...

AT&F-V90=1

I *think* that's the string, but it's been awhile since I worked for an ISP, so you might wanna hop over to www.modemhelp.org and verify that string. Fredwest'll prolly know, he uses a Lucent. Listenin' Fred?

Xayd

[fredwest]

Hi Jenni,
Give this string a shot:

S38=1+MS=V90,0,300,33600,300,33600

This will force the Lucent to connect only at V28. If it is stable then try:

S38=1+MS=V90,0,300,33600,300,42000

This will force the modem to connect only at V34. Again if stable then try;

S38=1+MS=V90,0,300,33600,300,53000 (I THINK!)

Again this will force the modem to connect at 53,000 to your ISP.

I am not an init string guru but these are what I'd try. Having said that, though, I could be wrong.

These strings stop the modem from retraining (like yours is doing). It may lead to an 'all or nothing' scenario....ie: the modem will connect or refuse.

A safer option may be to use;

S38=X (Where X is 11,12,13 or 14). These give 50,52,54 & 56k d/l speeds respectively. Should you fail to connect then the modem will retrain back to V34......so you should at least connect anyway.

I hope this is useful but don't take it as Gospel. I love my Lucent but I don't know all its' little secrets .

Sometimes the latest drivers are not the greatest. Go here and d/l V5.54 and info. Go from there and see how the modem performs.


Yours

Declan (aka fredwest)

[Jenni]

Fred, tried your init strings. Connected with all three, but the AOL sign on screen still said "connecting at 28800" for all three. After the S38=1+MS=V90,0,300,33600,300,53000, I disconnected and did ATI11 in the Hyperterminal. This is what I got:


ATI11

Description Status
--------------- ------------
Last Connection V.34
Initial Transmit Carrier Rate 26400
Initial Receive Carrier Rate 28800
Final Transmit Carrier Rate 26400
Final Receive Carrier Rate 28800
Data Compression Result V42bis
Estimated Noise Level 54942
Receive Signal Power Level (-dBm) 20
Transmit Signal Power Level (-dBm) 10
Round Trip Delay (msec) 3
Description Status
--------------- ------------
Near Echo Level (-dBm) 15
Far Echo Level (-dBm) 66
Transmit Frame Count 500
Transmit Frame Error Count 0
Receive Frame Count 423
Receive Frame Error Count 0
Retrain by Local Modem 1
Retrain by Remote Modem 0
Call Termination Cause 0
Robbed-Bit Signaling NA
Digital Loss (dB) NA
Remote Server ID NA

OK

[glc]

Jenni - remember that AOL does not use the modem settings in Windows, but has its own definition within their proprietary dialer. If you edit the string, you have to start with AT and finish with ^M, and if you use +MS commands you need a semicolon after the last one if you have any items after it.

[fredwest]

Hi guys,
If this is how AOL works then I can't help. Most ISP's here in Ireland don't require ISP software. I guess they're DHCP ISP's.

This is with 'dial-up'. I'm not sure about cable etc.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help .


Yours

Declan (aka fredwest)

[Jenni]

When I edited the modem init string, it was withing AOL's program. Should I change it in both places? Also, I had no trouble with the init or sign on using fred's strings, they just didn't seem to make any difference.

[glc]

If you are not using the modem to connect with DUN or Hyperterminal, no need to change the Windows string.

[jmatt]

MODEM/LAN BUFFER SPEEDUP [+]

Is brought to you courtesy of Andrew Bourdon (PowerPenguin@techie.com): http://www.24link.net/ActiveWebMedia/

"Speed up your Windows 9x modem/LAN transfers via buffer increase:

A. Dial-Up modems:

1. Open Control Panel.
2. Open the Network applet.
3. Select Properties for Dial-Up Adapter.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Select Yes to "Enable Point to Point IP". Be sure to check with your
ISP first to see if they support this!
( Or My Computor\Dial-Up Networking\ right click on your providers
logo\Server Types & if you have PPP , it's OK )
6. Select Automatic for "IP Packet Size".
7. Select No for "Record a log file".
8. Select No for "Use IPX header compression".
9. Click "Enhanced mode [32 and 16 bit] NDIS driver".
10. Restart Windows.
11. Watch your modem fly!

[WJWheels]

From what I can see jmatt, all those are default settings EXCEPT #8... on my computer anyway. I only use a dial-up modem to connect my on-line banking and it's a USR 56K external which required no SW to install and I'm sure made no changes to the dial-up adapter.