unreliable and poor connections


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no aol flaming ok?

right, for a while now, like the past 3-20 weeks my connections (56k dial up) have been terrible.

- dial up, get connected at 49333bps (usual connection speed) and then it works for 5-20 secs and then hangs and doesnt pick up and it will hang for about 10 mins before disconnecting itself. anyone who uses aol will know, you then cant sign off so you have ctrl+alt+del and kill it. this will happen between 2-15 times during any time period.

- dial up. -- all numbers are busy (thats understandable)

- dial up, connects at some stupidly low speed and then hangs and as the same as the first thing i posted

- dial up, connect at 48000 or 49333 and it will work ok but it will hang for a time period around 5 secs to a few mins and then pick up again, this usually get worse till it hangs for good and you ctrl+alt+del and restart aol.

my questions are

1) is it my modem? (some conexant hcf 56k v.90 modem) and would i be better of buying a name branded 56k v.92 modem? (i cant get broadband, bt wont upgrade my exchange, we have no trigger level and wont be getting it untill earliest in mid 2004 and thats being optimistic)

2) is it just aol giving me crappy connections and been busy? if so, can someone in the UK recommend a decent 56k supplier that doesnt have 2 hour cut offs and if possible, no browser (everyone else i know on aol never has problems)

3) could it be my phone lines, are they poor quality? (they have been cut 10+ times in the last 3 years due to new housing)

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Could be your lines. Could be your modem.

Try going into the modem screen and change the port speed to 57000 instead of the 115000 or what ever it is, some times slowing down the port speed works when there is a crappy connection

Also do you have voice mail or anything on the line that might cause alterations of the dial tone? For example voice mail creats a stuttered dial tone that cause's problems.

A big problem with AOL and I am not bashing it, is that it locks you out from editing anything in the dialer it makes.

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thanks for your reply. well ive looked at a creative modem blaster. might get one of them, only ?27:))

i will try lowering the port speed also (it only has 57600) not the 57000 you said so i set it to that, see if this helps.

yeh my parents sometimes have call diverts on? to divert to their pager when the line is busy (sounds like a engaged tone) and also a all calls divert to the pager, but when aol does connect, it doesnt matter if these are on or not.

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I dont use AOL but doesnt their new software have features for all the new tones generated on todays lines? If your service has always been like this then it could be your lines or hardware but if it hasnt always been like that, it is more than likely on their end... Line quality doenst degrade over time unless its cut or what have you. Call them and let them know, tell them you are ****ed and get a few more free months added on... :D

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grr, its really fu****g me off now! keeps hanging all the time! im gunna buy a new modem on monday (creative labs modem blaster - http://uk.europe.creative.com/products/pro...ct.asp?prod=287 , comments?)

im a beta tester for aol 9 (uk) im thinking maybe its that... but i cant be arsed to go back to aol8 and then download 58mb for aol 9 beta :( grrr.

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Don't get that modem! Creative Modem Blasters are good but they have terrible XP support. I bought it and couldn't use it at all. Look for a modem that uses the Intel modem chipset. Very good modems and very inexpensive.

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anyone who uses aol will know, you then cant sign off so you have ctrl+alt+del and kill it. this will happen between 2-15 times during any time period.

If you are using windows XP you can do this :

Uninstall the AOL client cr@py software.

Create a DUN connection to number 147008089944001

username is screenname@aol.com (not literaly) password is your password

and you will be able to connect.

Note this only works (for me so far) on XP + SP1

I have tried on 98 and on 2000 and both fail, but my xp machine does it fine on isdn or 56k dialup :D

if you can do this let us know if u get the same problem.

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Also try this (localrate non AOL) number 0845 665 3000 with any username and password, this way you will be able to determin if your strugging to connect to AOL. or just struggling to connect in general

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If you are using windows XP you can do this :

Uninstall the AOL client cr@py software.

Create a DUN connection to number 147008089944001

username is screenname@aol.com (not literaly) password is your password

and you will be able to connect.

Note this only works (for me so far) on XP + SP1

I have tried on 98 and on 2000 and both fail, but my xp machine does it fine on isdn or 56k dialup :D

if you can do this let us know if u get the same problem.

yeh im on windowx xp.

how do i create a 'dun' connection? are you sure it will work in the UK? will i get charged for it?

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Don't get that modem! Creative Modem Blasters are good but they have terrible XP support. I bought it and couldn't use it at all. Look for a modem that uses the Intel modem chipset. Very good modems and very inexpensive.

hmmm... suggest one thats good?

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Go to your local computer store and ask for a modem using the Intel v.92 chipset. The yonly cost about $15 US so they should be too much there and they are the bets modems I have ever used. I'm on cable now though, but I don't want to make you feel as bad as I did when people told me they had broadband lol.

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Create the new connection via My Network Places > View Network Connections > Create a new connection ....

Follow the instructions Inertia gave & all should be well :) ....

Radish?

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didnt work, i did myscreenname@aol.com and entered the password and after about 6 times dialing and getting busy it got through and then verified the username and password and said they was wrong (like before when i tried it without aol software) hmmmm did i do it wrong?

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didnt work, i did myscreenname@aol.com and entered the password and after about 6 times dialing and getting busy it got through and then verified the username and password and said they was wrong (like before when i tried it without aol software) hmmmm did i do it wrong?

very strange, its working for me right now, and no there is no charge, it is an 0808 number (free on BT lines)

Double check your password is all I can suggest.

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ok, so lets make sure i did it right.

Start>Connect To>Show All Connections>Create New Connection>Next>Click 'Connect To The Internet' - Next>Setup My Connection Manually>Connect Using a Dial-up Modem>Isp name = aol>phone number = 147008089944001>username - my screen name @aol.com password - my password?

is th number correct? wouldnt it be like 44008089944001?

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the number is correct. You seem to be doing everything correct.

the 1470 just makes sure you are revealing your CLE (caller line identifier) to AOL , if you are not then they will reject your connection.

you could try it as just 08089944001 if you wanted, if you are sure there is no CLI blocking on your line.

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I can vouch for te Creative Modem Blaster and Windows Xp combination being crappy.

Make sure you have nothing else plugged in to your phone line and you aren't using any kind of splitter or unuual cords.

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well, can you suggest a decent modem?

nothing else is plugged in, besides the actually telephone cable and the one from my modem into the phone socket.

its bad phone cables, aol being constantly shi**y or my modem.

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yeh aol detected all that, ive being through everything on aol that can (its pain, it limits it all) it knows my home number and dialing location, its knows its uk +44. its has 4 of the access codes to dial. it decteced my modem...

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You never stated what version of AOL you use regularly. I have a relative who used AOL 9 Optimized and had lots of trouble with very similar things<you stated that you beta test it> I did some poking around on her pc, and I am at the conclusion that 9 is just too plain buggy. I had her reinstall the 8 plus and all the problems went away...About the modem situation, I am on earthlink, I have a v.92 modem, however my speeds were crappy until I rolled back the driver so that it was a V.90 again. Don't know why it worked, but I get full connect speed on 56k which is about 53kbps, where I was getting only 33.2 with V.92.

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