Hi Pail, Also never rule out a dodgy phone line - just because Telstra says it checks out OK doesn't mean it is OK!!
At my last house I had ongoing grief for 2 or three years - sometimes things would be OK, sometimes they would be really bad - several phone calls to Telstra but they just wanted me to change all my settings (which I did - several times!) they "checked" the line & said it looked OK. I also tried changing modem scripts (with a lot of assistance from Bob Howells). The trouble is when things alternate between very bad and just about acceptable anyway it can be very hard to know if your latest change has improved or made things worse or is unrelated to the change. Things finally changed when it suddenly got bad enough to show up in the Telstra checks - then we got a guy out who changed out some cable & bingo! Hugely improved and reliable performance. After a chat with the (really helpful) tech we had a look at the cable removed and found a spot where water had obviously got in the cable - loads of corrosion & barely a connection. We came to the conclusion that the performance was probably tied in with said corrosion drying out and getting wet - but that this took time so it was not immediately obvious as rain-related. If the problem had been diagnosed earlier, I would have been saved at least two years of intermittent grief! The other thing to know is that a bad line will effect your internet long before you notice any degradation in phone call quality. One way to rule out the line factor IF one of the neighbours has good dial-up (and is kind & friendly!) would be to take the whole shooting match (modem, computer, cables) round and compare the connection experience. I realise, however, that this may not be feasible/convenient. Hope that helps! Cheers Neil -- Neil R. Houghton Albany, Western Australia Tel: +61 8 9841 6063 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on 12/3/08 2:57 PM, Ronda Brown at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > On 10/03/2008, at 3:06 PM, Paul Doyle wrote: > >> Latching on to this thread. I have my Mother and Father in their 70s >> who live in Mandurah which is a long way from Melbourne where I now >> live. I'd love to get a quote from someone who could pop in and work >> out what is wrong with their dial up internet. They inherited my old >> 2004 eMac and are dialing into iinet. Dad says they keep getting >> knocked off and iinet have provided as much support and suggestions >> as they can from their end but the problem persists. I have also >> done what I can over the phone and I suspect that the problem is >> either with the modem or the phone line. I can't really be sure >> though. > > Hi Paul, > > What Operating System are your Parents using on the eMac? > > Dialup is a somewhat precarious mix of computer, modem, phone wiring, > cabling in the street and phone exchange - all of which have to be in > good order. > So there are numerous reasons why they could be getting disconnected. > > 1. Does iiNet disconnect Dialup Accounts after a certain time, or if > idle for a length of time? > > 2. They don't have Disconnect if idle for ? minutes enabled? > They may have set the computer to automatically disconnect from the > Internet after a period of inactivity. Check their PPP Options: > A). Open System Preferences. > B). Click Network. > C). From the Show menu, choose Internal Modem. > D). Click the PPP tab, then click PPP Options. > > 3. If their connection drops out just as someone is trying to call, > they may be having problems with call waiting on their phone line. > The call waiting beeps (the ones you hear on a call to let you know > there's another call waiting for you to answer) interfere with the > dialup signalling, causing it to disconnect. > > 4. If the telephone line is being shared with multiple devices (for > example, fax, alarm system, call number display etc) unplug the other > devices so the modem has sole use of the line. Similarly, if anyone > has lifted a connected telephone receiver (tried to make a call on the > same telephone line), this may cause the modem to disconnect. > > This website might be of assistance for them: > http://www.iapselfhelp.com/ > The Internet Assistance Program website part of a Commonwealth > Government initiative to ensure Australians have access to a minimum > of 19.2 kbps (or better!) dialup Internet. > > Cheers, > > Ronni > > > > > > > > > > -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- > Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> > Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> > Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/archives.shtml> Guidelines - <http://www.wamug.org.au/mailinglist/guidelines.shtml> Unsubscribe - <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
