Modem Issues
	Your 56k modem has to operate with the phone company's traditional analog local loop which has been optimized for voice traffic. This optimization actually impedes data traffic, and your 56k modem must now be responsible for compensating for the telco's optimization for human speech voice calls. 56k modems must be intelligent enough to differentiate between the maximum signal levels (up to 255 discrete levels) of a 56K connection, synchronize with the local telco switch (which is set to 8000 samples per second), compensate for digital loss, determine if voice PADs are present, plus handle whatever noise is present on the phone line. Sounds like an easy job, eh? For all of these reasons, it is your 56K modem and the phone line quality that ultimately determines the maximum downstream connect speed. Because 56Kmodems operate asymmetrically, users will generally see a downstream speed of 42-52Kbps and various upstream speeds. The National average is 40k to 42k. Most 1USA subscribers are connecting to 1USA's POPs at speeds of 44k - 48k - 49,333 - 52k. So, 1USA is consistently better than the national average. 1USA's equipment can support throughputs up to 925k per second when the rest of the world is ready for it. Disconnects are caused when the modem cannot keep the connection. 1USA is NOT causing disconnects. Disconnects are due to the phone company lines... usually static on the lines, or dropout on the digital systems the phone companies now use. Your modem will renegotiate 3 times before a drop. Goto into the Dialup Settings screen and ensure that only 2 items are checked: - enable software compression - tcp/ip protocol If other protocols are active, they are causing a delay during negotiation, resulting in more kickoffs. The other protocols are NetBeui, X25 and other "protocols". We have some businesses that are online from Mon to Fri solid. Of course, they pay extra for a dedicated connection, but it shows the stability of the 1USA system. There are many variables involved. 1. The quality of your inside wiring. 2. The phone line quality from the house to the pole; and from the pole to your Phone Company. 3. Line quality of the T-3 line to our office. (ATM T-1 line backbones with B8ZS-ESF extended superframe technology with dynamic packet resizing capability; each line with 64k throughput; and additional 64k buffers (allowing pre-downloads of 128k chunks from whatever website or FTP host you are downloading from - then spooning it out to your modem as fast as your modem can handle it...) up to a max of 934K Per Second throughput if you're using VideoConferencing) ( other ISPs probably don't offer this...) 4. The modem's initialization string -- should be automatic when the correct modem software was installed. 5. Computer settings; Control Panel > Modem and also Control Panel > Internet Options and Control Panel > Network 1USA pays $350 to the local phone company to check the electrical resistance on our internal phone lines every few months with a Voltage-OhmMeter (the lines must balance out to Zero). I'd say start checking the other items, starting with #1 above. Rain gets into the phone lines. Pickup the phone (your modem line) and press a number, then listen to the phone line for a few minutes. If it's crackley, then you need to call Verizon (or whomever your local phone company is) and have them do an SS7 test. If necessary, the phone company should come to your place to Zero Out your phone line using a VOM - Voltage/OhmMeter.         Tell them it's for a FAX - do NOT mention the word COMPUTER or they will say "We only guarantee 2400 baud service" and try to sign you up for BellAtlantic.Net ISP - which does not fix your situation. The phone company should visit North Church Road, Wernersville PA. We have linemen on the pole regularly. The workmen admit that the wires are old and in need of replacement, but the company would rather send out a lineman to go thru the motions than spend the money for new wire. I personally had them replace my 1928 service a while back with a 4 line cable and all new hardware to the pole, but the people next door can't get a good modem connection most of the time. In Leesport,PA sometimes you can't even get a voice line on rainy days. Regards, Bob at RamCo The phone company should visit Bernville PA. The phone line box was hit by lightning a few years ago. There are crackles on the line while you're trying to hold a conversation, and connecting a modem higher than 26,400 is simply not possible. And they say it will be a Cold Day in Hades before Verizon will fix it. Donations anyone? Marc Sternberg Procedure to de-bug a problem Step #1: 1. How to isolate outside phone line problems from inside phone wiring problems: The wire coming into the building is terminated at a phone company Demark box. (Line of Demarkation). This is the RJ-11 plug provided by the phone company that you plug your internal phone wiring into. If your modem phone line has other phones, fax machine or other devices on the same line, do a test to determine if the inside wiring has anything to do with the problem. Temporarily move the computer to a table near the Demark box. Plug the modem directly into the phone company's Demark box. Log on. If you see faster modem speeds - then part of the problem was the Inside Wiring. To do another basic test to isolate the problem, take the computer to another house or business where they consistently connect for long periods at 45,333 or faster. This will isolate the problem to either (a) the computer or (b) the phone lines. 2. Make sure the internal phone wiring goes to a Surge Protector first - before going to the computer. Remove all other phones, fax machines, and other devices and test your internal phone wiring. Most phone lines exhibit: - static - over-voltage situations - under-voltage situations (degradation) - and even momentary outages. Make sure you have a Surge Protector installed that has a RJ-11 jack to protect the computer from phone line spikes and Lightning strikes, which can attack via the phone lines just as easy as through the electrical wiring. We've heard customer stories where modems and even whole computers were fried. 3. Then from the Surge Protector to the Computer. Always run the phone line to the computer first from the surge protector. 4. Then from the computer to the rest of the phone devices. Most internal & external modems have two RJ-11 jacks. LINE and PHONE. Plug in your fax machine or other phone devices AFTER the computer, not before the computer. 5. If your company has a digital phone system, you'll need to run a separate POTS Line (plain old telephone service) for the computers and the fax machines. Phone line comes into the building, goes into the Digital Phone System and is converted to digital signals. Signals get routed to the various phones, and converted back into voice analog. If you have a modem in there, the modem converts analog signals back into digital a 2nd time for the computer. If it even works, the speeds will be very slow - due to the 2nd conversion process! 6. If problems still exist, try dialing into various 1USA phone numbers. 1USA has 2 different systems to dial into. - System #1: The original system that has been functioning flawlessly since 1995 (with updates, of course) - System #2: The national network on 1,100 other numbers throughout the USA. You will need a Logon ID assigned for each system. Assignment to a system is determined by (a) which of the systems offers a local number in your dialing area (b) your usage needs (c) and your subscription pricing. We could have integrated all systems when newer technology was installed - but we chose to keep them separate systems so that testing can be done - in the interest of providing "excellent Tech Support" to our 1USA subscribers. This is a feature that no other ISP offers! If you cannot stay connected to System #2, then try system #1. If you cannot stay connected to either, then it's probably the phone line or the modem.         To narrow down the possibilities, take the computer to another place and dial in. If the problem still exists, replace the modem. In most cases the problem is the phone company's phone line that goes into your building. Some surge protectors are designed to take one large hit, then die. You may need to check and/or replace the surge protector also. Don't spend $120 for a US Robotics modem. Call 1USA and get a $25-$45 modem. USR was owned by 3COM since 1997, who sold USR in August 2000 to a "consortium" owned by Accton Technology of Malaysia and NatSteel Electronics of Singapore. At this writing, the new company is still using the name US Robotics! And there is another monkeywrench in the mix: If your local phone company, (called the RBOC) sells bandwidth to a competing phone company (called a CLEC) (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) then the quality of your connection is determined by how much bandwidth that the CLEC bought from the RBOC. An example: The RBOC for Wyomissing PA is Verizon. The CLEC, Commonwealth Phone Co, is selling a Business Services Package for $45 per month - not a bad price. But exactly what is being sold for that price? Situation: An ordained Minister in Wyomissing PA cancelled his 56k 1USA subscription (yes, we lost a customer) because the Commonwealth Phone Company offer included internet access. But his "great deal" with Commonwealth did not guarantee a 56k connection! He could only connect - at 28,800k - which, by the way, wasn't specified in the 1 year minimum contract. So now the Minister has to put up with slow speeds for the full year. No matter which ISP he chooses, the max speed will only be 28,8 - because that's all his "phone company of choice" delivers to his house. The bottom line: Make sure you know what you are buying! And get it in writing! We've found that Sales Reps make promises that the company can't back up. Sometimes during a voice call you may detect that the person on the other end gets interrupted momentarily or is "blocky". This is called DropOut. Dropout during a voice call isn't critical - but dropout during a digital modem connection will probably cause a disconnect.
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