Computer not 'noticing' when it's been disconnected

Factual Questions
1

Over and over I lose connection while browsing. :frowning:

I don’t know who to blame this on – I’m pretty sure it’s not my computer/modem, since I had exactly the same thing happen with my previous computer. And I’ve updated my browser (IE) several times, and gone from Win95 to Win98 to WinXP, over the last couple of years, and the disconnections continue.

I’m not talking about after long periods of no action, or even after long sessions. If I manage to stay connected for long enough to read a screenful of messages on this board, it’s a Good Day.

Sometimes I suspect it’s the crappy old telephone wiring in my area.

Sometimes I suspect my ISP (Mindspring/Earthlink) just chooses to drop connection so people calling in won’t get busy signals.

Sometimes I blame MS. (Why not? All computer evil stems from them, according to some posters.)

Anyway, I can live with having to redial all the time. The real problem is that my computer does not seem to recognize that it has been disconnected. That stupid little two-computer icon stays in the tray, whether or not there’s a connection.

When my clicks stop eliciting reactions (I always check by trying to go to google, since that never seems to be down) I have to tell the computer to disconnect. And then it can take up to 2 1/2 minutes to follow through. My ignorant guess is that it’s trying to inform the computer on the other end that it’s breaking connection, and waiting for the other computer to say ‘fine.’ But since there no longer is anyone on the other end listening… I guess it has to wait until some time out period has passed.

All in all, this is very annoying. Does anyone have an idea of how I can cure it?

If not, guesses as to what the actual problem is? I’ve been with Mindspring for years, but if it is indeed their ‘fault’, I’ll go through the hassles of changing my addy.

2

WAG:

The line dropping sounds like the phone system.

HOWEVER,

With the failure to recognize that the line has dropped, I would look either to the modem or to the ISP software on your machine (or a combination of the two).

When you talk about the “two-computer icon,” are you talking about something displayed by Mindspring? Or by the modem management monitor?

I have never seen Mindspring in action, so I do not know what monitoring information they provide. If you are using a U.S. Robotics modem, it should be recognizing when the line drops. The Lucent modem I had previously did not provide any such monitor and I have not seen any of the other brands.

3

I’ve got Mindspring/Earthlink, too. What you’re describing does not happen to me. I rarely get spontaneous disconnects, and, when I do, the computer throws up a button so that I can reconnect.

Are you using the Earthlink software, or do you use regular Windows software (Dial-Up Networking, etc.) I’ve heard that the Earthlink software doesn’t work well at all. I’ve never used it–I’ve always used Dial-Up Networking. (I suspect that you do as well, since you talk about the “two computer” icon in the tray.)

When you are suddenly disconnected, does your computer start saying things like “This page cannot be found” when you click on links, or does it just hang there?

4

Mine did that cause I live near the pacific ocean & the ocean air makes a green crud on my phone jack. I got a new one, cost about $3.00

What I did was wire my computer modem directly to the phone box outside, thus, I knew what was causing it after I did that.

The phone guy cleaned my box lines outside once but even then I had to redo what he did 2 months later.

5

Thank you for the replies.

Tomndebb, Tamex has it right – the ‘two computer’ thingie is the dial-up networking icon, I couldn’t remember its name.

I’m actually not sure what kind of modem I have, it came as part of the Dell system I bought. Let’s see if I can find out…okay, the computer claims what is has is a “Conexant HCF 56k Data Fax PCI Modem”.

Tamex I did the required ‘upgrade’ to the new Mindspring connection program, but I never use it. As you guessed, I just use the dialup networking to get on line, then use IE to browse and Eudora for mail.

You say you aren’t seeing the dropped connections, so I’ll assume (for now) that Mindspring is blameless. And, as I said, I have changed the entire computer/modem/IE/Eudora complex during the past two years without changing the problem.

I guess that leaves the phone lines as the most likely culprit. Great. We all know how responsive the telephone co. is to complaints.

Yes, I just start getting “this page cannot be founds.” (Not freezes, another reason I don’t think the problem is IE.) And if then I double check by seeing if Eudora is able to access the mail servers, the answer is no. Which leads to the hassles of telling it to disconnect, since if I click on one of my dial-up network connections icons, it just tells me that the modem is already in use by another program.
<sigh> They keep sending me adds to sign up with DSL or a cable company. Maybe it’s time to.

6

There can be a hundred reasons and it is diffiult to diagnose with so little information. What you need is a rational approach. Determine first if the problem is on the line, the modem or the computer, then go from there.

The fact that the connection stops responding but the computer does not notice is strange. What modem is it? internal?Check this:

A modem has a port signal called “Data Carrier Detect” DCD which signals to the computer whether it is detecting carrier or not. Normally if carrier detecttion is lost for more than a fraction of a second the modem will disconnect. Sometimes the modem is configured so that this signal is always on and this is necessary in some instances and can cause problems in others.
In the modem initiation string &C1 would enable DCD and that is the default while &C0 will disable DCD and leave it always on. You might want to try initialising the computer with one or the other and see what it does. Maybe the modem is not telling the computer the carrier was lost.

7

I have found a work around remedy!

sailor, I set out on a quest to find out what the initiation string is, and where the heck it is, anyway. I used to know these things, back in the days of DOS…

Before I found that, though, I checked properties under ‘network connections’, and under ‘options’ there was an unchecked box labled ‘Redial if line is dropped.’

Aha! I cried, and checked the little bugger, and then set out on an hour-long surfing session. Result: five times during that hour I got flashed a couple of messages too fast to read any but the last which said ‘redialing’.

So. This doesn’t explain why computer didn’t seem to recognize the lost connection before (because it wouldn’t let me order it to redial when it happened) but at least the modem must know, and now that the lost connections are being reestablished I don’t run into that ‘no connection but can’t hang up’ dilemma.

I had a thought, don’t know if this is at all plausible: are their different ‘levels’ of being unconnected? As in, a supershort break being enough for my computer and the other one to lose synch or something, and be unable to usefully communicate with each other, but at the same time the, well, the whistling back and forth goes on?

8

My Dell with XP seems to have that same problem. I will obviously not be getting any response from the web, but the icon in my system tray will still be up. It shows the “send” signal and the browser cycles for awhile (this happens on Netscape AND IE) and them I get “this page can not be found.”

You have to remember that the computer doesn’t know that it ever even HAS a connection. Everything on the internet is just another resource address to your OS. All of your modem software, etc. is there to make the modem look like just another part of your machine, and to translate requests from the OS into signals the telcom system can deal with. Your OS doesn’t constantly check your phone connection any more than it spends time constantly checking to see if your hard drive is still connected.

9

I had the same problem with Earthlink.

Give the Tech Support over there a call. I did, they had me reinstall the modem software and configure it differently than the windows default and also gave me a new init string. It worked.

10

scotandrsn, I am very relieved to hear I am not alone – you are describing exactly what I go through, but more clearly.

And Billy had it too… Tell me, do you have a Dell, too?

I suppose I should call Earthlink Tech Support, but that ‘reinstall the modem software’ part scares me. All that stuff came preinstalled.

Maybe I’ll stick with my ‘Redial’ workaround for a while, unless it turns out to create new problems.

11

You should try finding the commands for your modem and configuring it correctly. The init string is in the modem - properties - connection - advanced - estra settings

One thing you should check is the value of register S10 which controls how long it takes to disconnect after loss of carrier. Increasing the number will hold the connection if you have glitches on the line. (To ask the obvious: you do not have call waiting, do you?) The default is 20 (tenths of a second = 0.2 sec) but you can set it to more or less. To increase it to 50 put this string in the init string: S10=50

This is generic information which will work on most modems but you should try to find the specific commends for your modem.