Technical Modem Question

Factual Questions
1

I live with Dial-Up service. Now here’s the (other) problem:

Every so often (whether ISP or phone carrier problem, I dunno), my connection to the server breaks. That is, there’s no response from the far end of the line. I can pick up a house phone and hear silence.

The problem is, my modem is still connected, and refuses to disconnect for waaaaayyyy too long. Even If I tell it to disconnect, even if I unplug the phone line, it’s still waiting for some sort of handshake to indicate that the connection is over. At times, the phone line has even lapsed into that repeated “your call can not be completed as dialed” message, and my modem will still be trying to get a response.

All of which means I can’t try to reconnect and I my phone line stays tied up, and it’s a big pain in the ass.

I stubbornly think that if I tell my damn modem to disconnect, it better by god disconnect. It seems to think differently.

Is there a setting I can change or something I can do to alter this behavior? It’s an internal 56k v.90 modem card, but who made it I don’t know. I’ve tried searching some tech help, but I don’t really know what I’m looking for, even. It’s not like the old days when there were DIP switches everywhere.

Doh. Stupid progress.

Any help (other then telling me to get broadband) would be appreciated.

2

Here are two possible solutions that I can think of:

(1)Go to START --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Modems --> Highlight the Modem you use and click PROPERTIES --> then click CONNECTION --> then check the box next to “Disconnect the Modem if Idle for more than” and set the value to a number that you can live with.

(2)Get a terminal emulator (you can find one here) and send the string “ATH0” (that’s a zero, not an o) to your modem. This will force it to disconnect.

3

Thanks, Starbury. The first solution doesn’t work (I tried) because the modem still thinks it is connected.

But the second is a great idea. I’ve got a terminal emulator. Hadn’t thought of it. I’ll give it a try.

4

I’ve seen this happen in Windows where the modem “driver” wasn’t quite the right one for the modem being used, or was a generic type driver. In some cases, the modem doesn’t communicate properly with Windows when in command mode, so Windows doesn’t know the carrier is gone, and keeps the modem off hook.

Make sure the modem listed in the Control Panel under Modems is in fact the exact model of modem you have. Even if it is, download a new driver from the manufacture’s web site. Remove the current modem from the list, reboot, and install the modem using the new driver when Windows starts back up. Then check your Dial-Up settings to make sure it’s using the new modem definition.

In some cases, I’ve seen this process clean up exactly the problem you describe. Good luck!

Ugly

5

I agree with RJKUgly that you should look for a driver update first. You should be able to find out what chipset your modem uses by querying it. Use Start|Settings|Control Panel|Modems|Diagnostics tab|More Info in Win9x. The lines beginning with ATI3 and ATI4 should have a brand or model you can search on. Typing ATI3 and ATI4 into a terminal emulator will give the same information.

There are several other causes for frequent disconnects. Do you have caller ID? Any splitters or surge protectors on your phone cord? Do any cordless phones share the same line?

If not then the culprit is probably a cheap winmodem. Almost all PCI 56k modems are low-quality “controllerless” models that hog resources and do not cope well with line noise. You should consider spending $50-$90 for a quality modem. It will save you a lot of time and frustration in the long run. Check the box to make sure that it’s compatible with DOS or Linux. Winmodems never are.