Randy,
Have you noticed any difference the frequency of disconnects based
on weather? E.g., is it any worse after it rains compared to an
extended dry spell? What about time of day? Is it any worse during
the day compared to night time?
Do you use the same phone line for your regular voice phone
conversations? If so, have you ever noticed any static, hum or other
noise on the line? If so, you could get the phone co. to take a look at
the line because your voice service is degraded.
If you don't use this line as your regular phone line, have you tried
switching your data line and phone line to see if there's any
difference. Check for data errors / disconnects on your regular line
and listen for any audible problems on your data line.
Some modems track the number of transmission errors they receive, or
the number of re-trains they have to do (i.e. how many times did your
modem loose sync with the ISP's modem and have to re-establish the
connection). You could check your modem documentation and see if
any of this information is available with S regisiter queries.
I think there are some phone numbers you can dial and get a
relative quality and/or connection speed number, but I don't
know any specific numbers off hand.
There's various telephony test equipment made for testing phone
lines, measuring bandwidth, etc., but you don't really want to
buy that stuff for a one off test. What you need is a buddy that
works for a phone company or private installation company or test
equipment manufacturer that can help you test your line. As you
pointed out, the phone company is not obligated to provide you
high speed data service on a regular voice phone line. [In this
context high speed means > 9600 baud or so.]
-Bill Randle
Randy Kramer wrote:
> I know this is somewhat off topic, but do any of you have suggestions on
> how to test a modem / phone line? Please read the following before
> responding.
>
> My problem is that I get a lot of disconnects on my 33 kbps dial up
> line.
>
> Several months ago, my ISP adopted a new policy -- I won't try to repeat
> it exactly, but basically they reserve the right to disconnect me after
> 4 to 12 hours (even though I pay for an "unlimited" connection).
>
> I get a lot more disconnects than that might indicate, and some after
> short periods of time, like 1 to 60 minutes. The ISP insists they are
> not disconnecting me, the phone line / modem is the problem.
>
> I haven't really tackled the phone company very seriously yet, but I'm
> sure they will point out that their only obligation is to provide a
> voice grade line. Even if I insist that they test it (and possibly bill
> me!?!), if it tests out as adequate for voice communications, they will
> tell me to go pound sand.
>
> But, I really don't know where the problem lies -- I could have a
> substandard modem, I could have substandard lines, or the ISP could be
> intentionally disconnecting me before the 4 to 12 hours. (I say that
> because I don't recall nearly as many disconnections before they changed
> their policy and I gave them some static about it.)
>
> I'm looking for suggestions on how to tackle this.
>
> Anyone know of any sites that I can call using my modem and get some
> sort of report on the quality of my modem / telephone line?
>
> Other thoughts?
>
> Randy Kramer
>
> PS: I would consider switching to cable or DSL, but I'm beyond the
> 18,000 foot limit on distance from my central telephone exchange, and my
> cable company is only offering one way modems at this time (in my area),
> which means I'd still need the modem and phone line.
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