Strange Problem

[lpc300]

Hi all,

I have a strange problem with a US Robotics external modem. It's one of the newer ones (56K v.92). I actually have two modems, this one and an internal Ambient. I use the external for Linux and sometimes use either (depending on speed) for Win2K. Here's my problem. In Windows, my internal modem will connect to the internet, but the external won't. I get error 678, no answer. Now the strange part. I alternate between two small, local, ISP's (would never use AOL). This problem only occurs with ONE of the ISP's...the external modem works fine with the other. Have tried a number of access numbers with consistent results: ISP #1 yes, ISP #2 no. The internal modem works fine with everything. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the external modem 3 times with no change. Only difference I've made to my system, recently, is when I installed TurboTax, IE 5.5 was added, though I had recently downloaded Service Pack 2 and thought it was there. Can't remember if things were working before that (though they have worked before, for a while). Left an email for my ISP's support center, and am waiting to hear from them.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[azscary]

Error 678: Modem failed to negotiate at a particular modulation protocol (V.32bis, V.34+, x2, or V.90). Our modems can't answer the handshake due to receiving garbage signals from a customers' modem

This is an exerpt from a tech support Knowledge Base. What I think is happening is that the ISP you try to use the external modem on does not support v.92. The other thing you can try is to disable error control in the modem properties.

As a last resort contact the modem manufacturer and get a modem INIT STRING to force the modem to v.90 instead of v.92.

Let me know if this helps.