General Connection Problems

What you first need to establish is when the connection is dropping out?

If you find that your connection is dropping out while you are using your e-mail please first follow the tutorial at My modem hangs up when I check my e-mail

For all other circumstances please keep reading:-

There are a number of reason why your modem could be losing it's connection, anything from a  faulty modem to faulty phone lines, but following just a few simple steps can help minimize the likelihood of disconnections.

Check you computers settings, Windows may be disconnecting you

There is a setting in Windows that will tell your computer to disconnect from the Internet after a set period of Idle time (if it is not being used). You can check these setting by following the tutorial for each operating system below:-

Windows 95/98; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows 2000; Windows XP

Call Waiting

Make sure that you have call waiting disabled, the tone that you hear when there is a second call coming through will cause your modem to disconnect. You can disable call waiting by dialing #43# and you can re-enable it by dialing *43#.

Sharing phone lines 

If you are like most people and only have 1 phone line, you will have both your modem and phone plugged into the same line. This can cause you modem to hang up every 5 to 20 minutes, the explanation behind this is that some phones (mostly Telstra Phones) send a surge down the phone line every 5 to 20 minutes to recharge itself, this surge can cause your modem to disconnect. It is always best to unplug the phone when you are using the Internet and unplug the Modem when you are not using it (this will protect your modem from any lightning surges coming down the phone line and damaging your modem).

Using Double Adapters or Extention Cables

The sharing phone lines rule also applies to double adapters, it is best not to use them because if there was a surge being sent down the line it will go directly into the modem. Extention cables can also present a problem, the longer the cable the more chance of disconnection.

Problem phone line

This is a hard one, the best way to test for this is to pick up your phone and if you hear a constant humm or noise then you might have a problem. The easiest way to compensate for a poor phone line is to slow you modem down a little, after all your phone lines are only guaranteed at 28.8K not 56K.

Slow your modem down

These days 56K modems push the phone lines to their limit, and this can cause problems for people who may have problem phone lines or Internal Modems. 

The way to get around this is to limit the speed of which your modem works at. You can do this a number of ways:-

You can change the speed of you modem by either using a different dial-in number or adding an Init string in the modem settings

By Phone Number (this is by far the easiest and most effective method):-

You can slow you modem down using one of IDL Alternate Dial-In Numbers

Pre-Paid and Monthly Plans

To see how to change the phone number follow the tutorials here:-

Windows 95/98; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows 2000; Windows XP; Macintosh

Using Init Strings

If using an alternate phone number does not work, you may need to slow you modem down further by using init strings (It is best to use the ones in the manual that came with your modem, but if you cannot find your manual you can use the ones below)

  (Please Note - These Strings may not work will all modems, they may even cause your modem to stop responding, which may require a "cold boot")

For 56k flex modems try:

Forcing 44kbps: +ms=56,1,1200,44000
Forcing 42kbps: +ms=56,1,1200,42000
Forcing 40kbps: +ms=56,1,1200,40000

For 56k V90 modems try:

Forcing 44kbps: +ms=12,1,1200,44000
Forcing 42kbps: +ms=12,1,1200,42667
Forcing 38kbps: +ms=12,1,1200,38000

If your modem has problems accepting the above strings, try:

Forcing 44kbps: +ms=v90,1,1200,44000
Forcing 42kbps: +ms=v90,1,1200,42667
Forcing 38kbps: +ms=v90,1,1200,38000

And so forth, down to:

Forcing 33.6kbps: +ms=11,1,1200,33600

If your modem has problems accepting the above string, try:

Forcing 33.6kbps: +ms=v34,1,1200,33600

To see how to add these strings please select your Operating System:-

Windows95/98; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows 2000; Windows XP

Modem Problems

There are a couple of things that can be done to your modem to maintain connections. You can try re-setting your modem using an Init String, you can do this by following the tutorials for the various Operating Systems:-

Windows 95/98; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows 2000; Windows XP

Also make sure that there are no other phone lines coming out of the modem attached to phones, there should be only one phone line plugged into the line socket of the modem.

Where you put your modem on your desk can also affect it's performance, if you have an old monitor avoid placing the modem too close to it because the magnetic field given off by the modem will affect the way your modem works.

If all else fail please give our Helpdesk a call.