OK heres the deal, I am having problems with one of my computer’s internet connections. It connects, but the load times are excrutiatingly long. ie: The Straight Dope homepage took about two minutes to load. Most other pages won’t load at all.
Now, I’m fairly sure the problem is not with my ISP, I have 2 computers and the one I am currently using connects and loads fine.
The problem does not seem to by spyware either, I’ve D/L and used SpyBot and Adaware, finding and fixing some problems, but still no improvement with the connection.
I found that one of the connection to walljack had corroded and I sprayed some contact cleaner on it, which cleared things up. Still no improvement.
So whats the deal? Has my modem crapped out and needs replacing? Have some settings got switched without my knowing it?
You’ll get much better answers if you tell us what OS you’re using, what kind of modem it is (dialup, DSL, cable), what brand, what ISP you use. You’re asking the equivalent of “Why won’t my car go?”
Although what QED makes sense, a simple thing to check is the lead between the modem and the wall - as you say you’ve two computers, you should be able to switch one for the other and hopefully it’ll work. Particularly as corrosion on the wallplate suggests corrosion also on the plug.
Yeah, I agree. I wrote down the information but in my haste I forgot to add it to the post. Rather stupid of me, sorry about that.
It’s a H5P56 MicroModem 56K Dial up, on Windows ME. ISP is Sprint, although as I said before ISP is probably not the problem.
The problem is bitrate. I get 900 bytes per second at best.
If theres anything else you need to know, I’ll be happy to provide it.
Noise on the phone line is a very common cause of slow connections. If your modem (and most do) has a second jack for an extension phone, plug one in while you’re offline and listen to the dial tone. If you can hear any crackling, hissing, popping, buzzing or similar sounds, this could be the culprit. The corrosion you mention could be a factor–check what GorillaMansuggests.
One further question: Is this a fairly new problem, or has it existed as long as you’ve had this setup?
I tried the phone, I was getting noticable background noise, but it was also a cheap phone so take that with a grain of salt.
This is a new problem, I’ve never had trouble with connection speed before. I had another computer in the same spot and the connection was the only thing that didn’t break down.
I replaced the cord and sprayed more contact cleaner on the walljack. Still no luck.