suggestions?

[Fist and Faith]

OK, I was finally able to check for viruses, and none were found. I went to trend.com, which seems to be the same as pc-cillin.com, and Norton runs it.

I updated my modem drivers, as my ISP suggested. And I got the phone line checked by the phone company.

But my connection is still horrible. 12,000 bps as I type this. Often even less!! Never more than 24,000. And LOTS of disconnections.

Is it possible that the modem is slightly broken? Can a modem be broken at all, but still work as much as it does? btw, the modem is "Compaq 56K V.90 HSF Mini PCI Modem"

I even did scandisk and defrag.

[Reisheiruhime]

Hmm, I don't really know. Them again, I'm 12 and computer illiterate. I mean, I know I have a 56k modem, and it's usually connected at 41.2 or something like that. We at the house of rednecks , had to get a new phone-line put in just to get the damned thing to connect. Something about chewed wires. But if your phone-lines are ok, then I don't really know what you should do. ::shrug::

[[Syl]]

It's not very likely that your modem is partially broken, though a power surge, if you don't have a protector or have a poor one, possibly could cause degraded performance (your pc should have some kind of modem diagnostic). Now the jack into your pc or the wall, however... maybe. check to make sure they're both tight. You can try picking up a new phone cable (monster cable) and see if that helps (if not, just return it... Circuit City or Best Buy).

I remember when I was stationed at Ft. Gordon that I was lucky to get 17k, usually 14.4 or 12. It was just a problem with the base lines. I'd call your phone company and ask if any changes have been made to your... call routing center, or something like that. Doesn't really matter, though, because if they have, it's not like you can tell them to put it back.

Pony up for the cable, man.

[Vain]

Best way to test your phone line yourself is to pick it up, and dial a ZERO. Listen for any noise on the line. Most often, it's noise that slows things down and causes disconnects - even if your phone company says they tested it.

Is it a recent problem? Had any storms, rain, etc of late? Squirrels eating into your wiring?

[Fist and Faith]

I'd call your phone company and ask if any changes have been made to your... call routing center, or something like that. Doesn't really matter, though, because if they have, it's not like you can tell them to put it back.

Oh? You don't think an army of Haruchai coming out of the mountains would make them reconsider their customer-service policies? Or a redwood sprouting up in the middle of their building? Or if everything takes on a greenish glow, and starts to...

NO!! Can't give in to the urge!!!

Vain, all this started the same time all my clones started popping up at the Hangar, so it's been a while. But it got worse over time, and now doesn't seem to be fixable.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

[Damelon]

Do you have another number that you can dial up your ISP. Oftentimes I get a crappy connection on the number that's listed for my town. If I dial into the number listed for the next town, I can oftentimes get a faster connection speed.

[Fist and Faith]

Damelon, you da bomb!! At least I got a 44,000 bps connection this time! We'll see if I get disconnected every several minutes.

Those *&$%#@* help desks! I asked, and he says, "That's the only access number for your area." Idiot! So I went to the website, found the others, and tried one. Badda Bing! But couldn't he just tell me that??

[Damelon]

Glad to see that that helped. Hopefully it helps your connection problem as well.

I know at certain times of the day I have a hard time staying on when I'm dialed up to my local number. I think the problem, though they won't tell me this, is that they have too many subscribers for the amount of connections they have into town. The next town has about 5 times the people of mine, and I rarely have a problem staying connected there.

[Biff]

I had the exact same problem... DSL fixed it!