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Modems
- Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my modem
not getting a dial tone?
1. A common cause is
that you have not plugged your telephone line into your modem.
2. The second most common problem is plugging your telephone line
into the wrong jack on your modem. Many modems have two jacks,
one for the telephone line and one for a telephone handset. On
some of these modems (e.g., USRobotics), you won't be able to
get a dial tone or otherwise use the modem if you plug the telephone
line into the telephone handset jack.
3. Another common problem is that some other device on the same
telephone line (e.g.another telephone or a telephone answering
machine) is off-hook. Double check to make sure that all other
devices are hung up properly.
4. There may be a problem on your telephone line. Make sure that
you can get a dial tone on a telephone handset connected to and
through your modem when the modem (or computer in the case of
an internal modem) is turned off.
My modem dials and rings with
no answer.
First of all check to
make sure that you have dialed the correct phone number. The 56K
dial up number is 416-369-1522. It is also possible that all the
circuits to your ISP are in use. Hang up and try again in a few
minutes. (Many ISPs return a busy signal when there are no connections
available).
Modem connects, logs in, hangs
indefinitely.
This symptom could be caused
by any one of several possible problems. The first is the possibility
of a mistake in the setup of the software. To check this, go back
and double check that all installation, configuration, and connection
information has been correctly entered. Second, try lowering your
modem speed. However, there are occasional difficulties when a modem
tries to connect at a higher speed. To fix this, try lowering your
modem speed in steps (115200, 57600, 38400, 28800, 19200, 14400)
to see if this eliminates the connection problem. You should not
have to go any lower than your modem's rated speed (28800 or 38400).
Also, make sure that the value is one of those listed above - if
a modem tries to connect to another at a nonstandard speed, the
connection speed usually drops to 2400bps.
What exactly is a UART?
A UART (an acronym for
Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter) is simply an interface
chip. Your computer needs one to talk over a serial connection
to serial devices such as serial printers and modems. Each serial
device needs a UART chip to talk to your computer, even internal
modems (although some emulate the UART).
Why are things running so slow
when I’m browsing the WWW?
Many WWW documents are loaded
with images which require time to display. Additionally, many contain
links to other sites which have to be processed. Your best bet is
to purchase the fastest modem that your budget allows (56K if possible).
Other possibilities to check are the cache system that your browser
uses (where it stores viewed pages) and the amount of line noise
on your connection (sometimes re-connecting to another line helps).
How can I connect my modem to
a digital phone system?
Your modem won’t work
on the kind of digital phone that you typically find in businesses
and hotel rooms, and it can be hard to find a standard phone jack
when you need one. There are a number of devices available to
solve the problem. Typically you have to disconnect the handset
from a digital phone, plug the handset into the device, and then
plug the device into the handset jack on the phone. Then you connect
your modem to the device with a standard phone cord.
How do I set a speed greater than
19200 bps in Windows?
You can set a speed faster
than 19200 in the Windows Control Panel by simply typing it in.
However, there is almost never a need to do so -- almost all Windows
comm applications set their own serial port speed. The settings
in the Control Panel are primarily for devices attached to the serial
port; e.g., printers.
How do I keep my data/fax call
from being interrupted?
There is an easy way
to prevent this problem. Obtain a "Line Protector" for each extension
phone. When your modem is on-line, the Line Protector will automatically
prevent the attached phone from interrupting your connection.
A Line Protector is inexpensive, and readily available on the
Internet (e.g., Black Box) or from Radio Shack (which calls it
a "TeleProtector"). Some "Call Routers" will also provide this
kind of protection.
Why won't my Modem connect
at 56 K ?
Telephone Company facilities were
designed and built, largely, on specifications from over 40 years
ago. Telephone Companies have been in the business of providing
voice grade circuits to allow customers to talk to each other.
To do this, we provide a frequency range to you, the customer,
that passes ONLY A PORTION of the frequencies in your voice to
the other party on the line. This frequency range is generally
300HZ to 3400HZ. To put this in perspective, did you every wonder
why a song on a radio doesn't sound good over the telephone? It
is because we are only allowing the "middle" of the frequency
range to pass - you miss out on the highs and lows.
Modems are a similar situation. To achieve the maximum speed (33.6k
or 56k), they need to use a frequency range outside of what telephone
companies transmission facilities were designed to generally allow
to pass.
To understand this, it is important to gain a little background
on modems. Most modems today are manufactured to the V.90 standard.
Depending on which carrier frequency that the modem connects at,
the range of bandwidth frequency needed to support the Maximum
Bit Rate is 229-3674 Hz.
For Example, If you live over approximately 3 miles away from
the Telephone Company switching center, we have to condition your
line to allow voice frequencies to travel that distance. If we
did not, you would not be able to hear the people you are talking
to. This conditioning equipment cuts off the top frequency at
3470 Hz. As you can see the 3674 Hz potentially needed to achieve
top modem speed can be cut off by the conditioning of the line.
This is only one item effecting line condition. Many other conditions
such weather, environmental conditions, etc. all have an adverse
effect on the quality of a regular telephone line in relation
to modem traffic.
Future technologies such as xDSL may help with this situation.
Stay tuned for more information regarding this subject, or feel
free to contact us at Citizens Communications for more information.
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