ISP: MSN Internet Access (from the merger with Qwest).
Modem: Intel PRO/DSL 3200.
OS: Windows XP Home.
Problem: When I had regular Qwest access, my modem was a happy fellow. He would connect to the internet and generously transfer gigabytes of information over several days or weeks, only needing to be reconnected when I had to restart the computer.
Then the merger came about with MSN.
My modem thinks (rightly so) that MSN Internet is awful. However, it’s acting strangely about it. I can connect to the internet quite fine, and if I turn on my MSN Internet…THING (a pointy-hand icon that lets me get to my email), I WILL be disconnected after a few hours, be I active or not. If I don’t turn on the hand-icon, I can stay on until I’m idle for a few hours, and then shall be disconnected.
Yes, I have the “auto-disconnect” settings all turned off. I don’t get an idle message. And that’s not that much of a problem. The problem is that my modem will NOT re-connect to the internet properly again unless I restart my computer. I don’t know why. I thought perhaps it was getting too hot being connected, but it couldn’t be, since being on for weeks never affected it (and it’s cool down here in the basement where it lives). At the very least I’d want to be able to get back online immediately after my random disconnects.
Any diagnoses? I’d rather not contact MSN unless it’s necessary, I don’t want to deal with them again. Or Qwest. They’re terribly stupid at times too (ie. totally different answers on the same question I ask different techs).
Also, somewhat off-topic, I’m trying to make Mozilla Mail connect to the MSN POP, but it has no place to enter a password in. I don’t want to use Outlook anymore. It worked before for Qwest (I forget how, if it needed a password; I assume it did), but doesn’t now.
This all describes us to a “T” (kinda spooky, actually–I thought we were the only ones whose computer seemed to demon-possessed when it came to the Internet), up until August 16, when we gave MSN the boot and got AOL. Since we got AOL, getting connected and staying connected is no longer a problem, and I have permanently shelved plans to obtain the services of a priest to perform an exorcism.
So FWIW, it’s not your modem or browser’s fault–it’s MSN.
So, your theory is that it’s due to a merger with Qwest? Would that have been last spring some time? 'Cause MSN actually wasn’t that bad at first, but it seems like late last spring was when things started getting really sucky.
I’m female, actually. I won’t go the AOL route – been there, done that, got the t-shirt. And yes, I would presume it’s from the merger with Qwest. I had Qwest before that, not MSN, and it was after I switched, plus about a month, that I started getting DCd all the time. So yes, it was last spring I switched, and then a while after that it went kablooey.
However I’m glad I’m not the only one with these crazy problems too. And…and hey, wait, I stayed connected all night! :eek: I altered my registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER → Remote Access → Profile → MSN DSL) and changed the DisconnectIdleTime from h14 (20) to hFFFF (65535). Apparently that kept me online. Woo!
I assume that won’t hurt anything else, since that was all I changed, and everything’s working fine?
So I guess I don’t really have a problem now sans the Mozilla Mail, of which I thank y’all for letting me know that’s just a Microsoft thing, not some personal problem.
:smack:
Forgot my major beef, for when my internet does come undone. For some reason my Intel PRO/DSL 3200 modem does not know how to reconnect to the internet if it’s been disconnected unless I restart my whole computer (somewhat time-consuming; it doesn’t shut down well). It’ll say it’s reconnected, but mIRC/AIM/Mozilla say they’re not online. So what’s up with that? I don’t think there’s a real fix here…there’re no options for it I can see, I’m very hesitant about trying to go through Qwest to get an answer (it’s their modem). It didn’t do this before the MSN merger either IIRC…any knowledgable Doper with a semblance of a clue?
I won’t go the AOL route – been there, done that, got the t-shirt. And yes, I would presume it’s from the merger with Qwest. I had Qwest before that, not MSN, and it was after I switched, plus about a month, that I started getting DCd all the time. So yes, it was last spring I switched, and then a while after that it went kablooey.