Modem Drops From Isp Server

[Vieux Richard]

Lately, I have been having major problems "keeping it up" for more than 5 mins. That is my modem link to my ISP. They have given me severa suggestions to modify the properties of the modem - dial at 56K, no error or flux control etc. etc. but can never complete downloads etc. Have tried to different number to the ISP with same result.

[EzyStvy]

Have you had the phone company check you phone line for static?

Have you replaced the phone cord from the modem to the wall?

Do you disable Call Waiting if you have it?

[pc-destroyer]

If EzyStvy's suggestions don't help you might try looking around and seeing if you could find some new drivers for your modem.I had the same problem with a modem that I used to have in my system and installed some new drivers and it worked fine after that.

[glc]

What model is the modem - and what is your indicated connect speed?

[Vieux Richard]

I'll try EzyStvy's other suggestions & contact France Télécom - that should be fun! But I don't have Call Waiting. My modem is a Kortex Melvox 56000 (French)& the indicated connection speed is 44000 bps.

The explantion of this appears to be a problem with the quality of the line - I was assuming that because my ISP had given me a new number to dial that this may have been the cause. Is this likely?

Most of us living in the French countryside, probably don't have very good quality telephone lines but up to very recently I have had no problems at all.
We've no chance of getting ADSL (restricted to 5-10kms around majoor towns), France Télécom do offer an ISDN service - is this worth a go perhaps? I have been hoping for a good satellite connection service but the technology at the bottom level still relies on an RTC upward link which is not the answer either. Why have a fast download when the connection is getting dropped?

PCD- the first thing I did was ask the modem manufacturer for some new drivers as I am hoping this will fix it. Still waiting for their reply.

[reboot]

Seems like it takes a standard AT command (probably Rockwell/Conexant chipset) and it's external hard modem, so this should be easy.
In the Extra Settings box of Advanced modem properties put: S202=32S95=1S11=50
Let us know if that helps.

[Vieux Richard]

Reboot, putting that extra command line in has not changed anything other than to reduce the Connection Speed. I'm still being dropped regularly.

[reboot]

When you say "reduced connection speed", what is it now?
Try a few more, one at a time:
+MS=K56,0;S10=50S11=50
+MS=V90,1,,,,44000;S11=50

[Vieux Richard]

Well, I checked with France Telecom & according to them the line is fine.

Reboot, thanks for your post, unfortunately I could not get any of the 2 other command sets to work with the modem, so have reverted back to my standard connection.

[reboot]

Find out what chipset is in that modem. I can probably figure out an init for you then. It's obviously not a standard Rockwell...

[glc]

Run modem diagnostics, and paste the ATI responses here - that would help a lot.

[Vieux Richard]

Reboot, I am not sure of the chipset - have asked the Tech Support at Kortex. In the meantime, I don't know if this info. on their website is useful:

www.kortex.com/html/index3-a.htm

Last night I connected at 36Kbps without any parameters in Extra Settings & stayed connected for 33 minutes.

glc, sorry can't figure out how to paset in to this post. I created a WordPad file of the Modem Diagnostics but can't seem to copy it in to this page.

[AndyG61]

Try this...I had a lot of problems one time getting disconnected, I added this in my extra settings and it helped a lot.

AT&F+MS=V34


Hope it works for you...

[reboot]

All that init string does is reset the modem to factory, then knock it down to 33.6 max. Basically useless, unless you have a really hard time playing online games.
Richard, just take a look at the ATi3 and ATi6 responses, and post them here please.

[Vieux Richard]

Reboot, did that link help? I have just had it confirmed from Kortex that the chipset is LUCENT.

The modem responses you asked for are:
ATI3 = ATI3
ATI6 = Venus V.90 kfav163Serials71798V

Hope this helps. Is it worth me sending the modem back to Kortex?

I have just had an email reponse from the ISP saying that they are looking into it further (?).

[reboot]

Don't send it back, the Lucent Venus chipset is a really good one!

This init: S109=0S38=7

[Vieux Richard]

I put S109=0S38=7 in the Extra Settings box (I assume these are zeros not characters)- no noticable difference as I'm still getting dropped. Am using my ISA 28800 modem now (connected at 33600 bps)and it seems pretty solid.

Can you tell me what string to use (in Extra Settings?)so that I can get the best performance from the Kortex without having to redial all the time?

All this info has been very useful, is there a website I can look at to better understand the use of these commands?

Many thanks Redboot, for all your help.

[reboot]

The best resource for Lucent is at www.808hi.com on his 56k=unreliable site.
He doensn't have much in the way of init strings though.
The default (inside the modem driver .inf file) is usually the best, but not necessarily with all phone systems.
Try a search at www.google.com for "Lucent modem commands", and see if you can find a better resource.
If you're getting better results using a 33.6, then you should probably stay with it. Seems like your phone lines won't support 56k (or won't support V.90 anyhow), so to solve the modem problem, you'd have to drop the 56k modem down to 33.6 anyhow.

[glc]

Yeah - the only modems that I have seen that will maintain a 36K or so connection reliably are USR hardmodems - that sounds like a very impaired phone line - just like mine.

I have a Sportster 5687 here that connects at 37333 or 38666 most of the time and is rock stable. My notebook has an Actiontec PC Card modem with a Lucent Venus - when it does connect at "V.90" speeds its usually 30666 or so - and is flaky as all heck. When it retrains back (50% of the time) it connects at 26400 and seems to be stable, but slow of course. I tried a Supra Express before I put the Sportster in and it didn't work well at all (even with S202=32S95=1, Jim). I sold the Supra to a friend and he loves it - solid 50667 every time on *his* phone line.

So - from my experience - if you have a decent phone line, there is nothing that beats a Supra Express. A Lucent Venus can come very close if it's a decent one. If you have a lousy line, a USR seems to work best. If you have a digitally split line or one that will not support any form of V.90, it really doesnt't matter what you have - it's gonna be stuck at 28.8 or so, so go cheap as long as it's not a "winmodem". Grab an old Rockwell or USR 28.8 or 33.6 hardmodem dirt cheap and it doesn't really get any better than that. Just stay away from winmodems (unless you have a powerful machine and don't intend on doing any online gaming) and any modem with a Cirrus/Ambient/Intel or ESS chipset. If you must get a winmodem, the Lucent seems to work best in most cases.

[reboot]

It seems the Supra has the best overall track record, but (as you mentioned) on really bad phone lines, a USR/3com will probably be as good as it gets. They seem to tolerate noise, and at least stay connected well, under the worst of conditions. My only problem is the price, especially when the Supra is only $19 right now. I just got 5 of them in (flashed them all), and sold them all in one day, replacing everything from Cirrus/Ambient, ESS, to a USR 33.6 external. Set them all up with S202=32S95=1 (on 5 completely different computers) and they all connect better than any previous modem.
Oldest/slowest system is a P133 with 48meg, TXpro (no-name) mobo, win98.
Newest is P4 1.4gig with 256meg, Asus, Win2k/XP/Mandrake8/Beos multi-boot.
Slowest connect is now 49,333 with the highest at 53,333. (No cap at 52k in Canada )
Let's just say the Quake nut is really happy. Pings dropped from 240+ down to 117, with lowest at 98, highest at 184. This is the system I pulled the USR external off of.

[gerrygrit]

In the "EXTRA SETTINGS BOX".....try

ATS15=128 &K3 S32=34 S12=0

If that doesnt help try the same except S34=32

Hope that helps.