Dialup connection stops

[Francesco Abeni]

Windows 2000 SP4 with Office 2000 and little else.
I had a problem with my internet dialup connection stopping after a few
minutes. No error, no messages, only no more traffic sent and received, not
even a NSLOOKUP, not even a PING.

So i format it and reinstalled Windows 2000 SP 4 with Office 2000.
I installed ZoneAlarm and a software for infrared communication with Cell
Phone. I had the same problem, so i *uninstalled* both ZoneAlarm and this
infrared software. I even did a "Windows Update" with all latest patches.

But I still have to problem and i really don't know what to do.

It's not a browser issue. I tried with Mozilla Firebird, same problem. I
just connected to my ISP without opening IE at all, started pinging a site
and after some minutes it didn't answer anymore.

Any suggestions?
Thank you for your time.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Windows 2000 SP4 with Office 2000 and little else.
I had a problem with my internet dialup connection stopping after a few
minutes. No error, no messages, only no more traffic sent and received, not
even a NSLOOKUP, not even a PING.

So i format it and reinstalled Windows 2000 SP 4 with Office 2000.
I installed ZoneAlarm and a software for infrared communication with Cell
Phone. I had the same problem, so i *uninstalled* both ZoneAlarm and this
infrared software. I even did a "Windows Update" with all latest patches.

But I still have to problem and i really don't know what to do.

It's not a browser issue. I tried with Mozilla Firebird, same problem. I
just connected to my ISP without opening IE at all, started pinging a site
and after some minutes it didn't answer anymore.

Any suggestions?
Thank you for your time.

I would try an external modem. I would also enable the
modem task bar indicator so that I could see if ping
packets went out and if they were returned.

 

[Francesco Abeni]

I would try an external modem. I would also enable the
modem task bar indicator so that I could see if ping
packets went out and if they were returned.

Thank you, but it IS an external modem (3Com 56K Voice Faxmodem) and i
could see from its LED that there is NO activity (no Sent Data or Received
Data).
So the packets are not sent at all.

 

[Carl Fenley]

Thank you, but it IS an external modem (3Com 56K Voice Faxmodem) and i
could see from its LED that there is NO activity (no Sent Data or
Received Data).
So the packets are not sent at all.

This sounds surprisingly like the dreaded 'spiraling death' problem 3Com
Sportsters had during the early X2 days. Do you know for certain that you
have a V.90 capable modem or is this an 'older' modem that you're not sure
about?

Let me know whether or not you have a V.90 modem, and we'll try some things.

- carl

 

[Francesco Abeni]

This sounds surprisingly like the dreaded 'spiraling death' problem
3Com Sportsters had during the early X2 days. Do you know for certain
that you have a V.90 capable modem or is this an 'older' modem that
you're not sure about?

Let me know whether or not you have a V.90 modem, and we'll try some
things.

Well, i don't know if it is am X2 or a V.90 modem: it is a "3Com U.S.
Robotics 56K Voice Faxmodem", product code 135663-00, and on the USR site
this could be resolved to both "Sportster Flash X2" and "Sportster Flash
V.90".

Un upgrade to the latest modem driver doesn't resolve the issue. There is
no firmware upgrade available for my modem.

Any other suggestion?
Thank you for your time.

 

[Carl Fenley]

Well, i don't know if it is am X2 or a V.90 modem: it is a "3Com U.S.
Robotics 56K Voice Faxmodem", product code 135663-00, and on the USR
site this could be resolved to both "Sportster Flash X2" and
"Sportster Flash V.90".

Un upgrade to the latest modem driver doesn't resolve the issue.
There is no firmware upgrade available for my modem.

Any other suggestion?

I no longer have a computer with dial-up networking isntalled, so I am
trying to wing this from memory. If you right-click your dial-up
connectoid, you should be able to view properties. Somewhere is a place you
can enter additional modem commands in the Connect or Dial String. If you
find that, enter this:

S32=98

If you are a savvy Hyper Terminal user or you know which COM port your modem
is on, you can run use Hyper Terminal (from Accessories-Communications) and
type commands directly to the modem. Type the following and press Enter:

ATI7

A few lines down you see something called Options that list things like
V32bis, VFC, V34... look for X2 and V90 in that list.

There are a couple more things we can try if you can follow the first step
of entering additional dial string commands. Let me know.

- carl

 

[Francesco Abeni]

I no longer have a computer with dial-up networking isntalled, so I am
trying to wing this from memory. If you right-click your dial-up
connectoid, you should be able to view properties. Somewhere is a
place you can enter additional modem commands in the Connect or Dial
String. If you find that, enter this:

S32=98

Okay. That's in Control Panel -> Modem and Phone Options -> Modem Tab ->
Modem Properties -> Advanced Tab.
I put it there but the issue didn't went away. After some minutes the
traffic stops again.

If you are a savvy Hyper Terminal ...

It's easier than that. Control Panel -> Modem and Phone Options -> Modem
Tab -> Modem Properties -> Diagnostic Tab -> Query Modem. Several commands
are sent to the modem and the answers are showed.

My "options" row is V.32, V.34, X2, V.90

Thank you for your time.

 

[Carl Fenley]

It's easier than that. Control Panel -> Modem and Phone Options ->
Modem Tab -> Modem Properties -> Diagnostic Tab -> Query Modem.
Several commands are sent to the modem and the answers are showed.

My "options" row is V.32, V.34, X2, V.90

I am now convinced you have the dreaded "spiraling death" syndrome. Go back
to the Advanced tab of the Modem Properties and add S15=128 to the "Extra
Initialization Commands".

This will disable Error Correction on your modem. Your problem will go away
and you will have no problems, or you will begin having disconnect problems.

If you begin having disconnect problems, add S32=98 in addition to the
S15=128 to the Extra Initialization Commands.

This should do it for you.

- carl

 

[Francesco Abeni]

I am now convinced you have the dreaded "spiraling death" syndrome.
Go back to the Advanced tab of the Modem Properties and add S15=128 to
the "Extra Initialization Commands".

This will disable Error Correction on your modem. Your problem will
go away and you will have no problems, or you will begin having
disconnect problems.

If you begin having disconnect problems, add S32=98 in addition to the
S15=128 to the Extra Initialization Commands.

This should do it for you.

- carl

I really have to thank you for your suggestions... but i decided that it
was quicker to format and reinstall again, since it was a PC with a few
programs installed and a few documents to backup.
By now i have Windows 2000 SP4, Symantec Antivirus 8.1, and the Microsoft
driver for the modem. Apparently, the issue has gone.

So it must be one of the programs i installed later, probably ZoneAlarm,
that broke something even after being uninstalled.

Now i am going to make a Ghost Image of it, install the other programs and
see if and when does the issue appear. I will keep your post and test your
suggestions if it does.

Again, thank you very much for your time.

 

[Carl Fenley]

I really have to thank you for your suggestions... but i decided that
it was quicker to format and reinstall again, since it was a PC with
a few programs installed and a few documents to backup.
By now i have Windows 2000 SP4, Symantec Antivirus 8.1, and the
Microsoft driver for the modem. Apparently, the issue has gone.

So it must be one of the programs i installed later, probably
ZoneAlarm, that broke something even after being uninstalled.

Now i am going to make a Ghost Image of it, install the other
programs and see if and when does the issue appear. I will keep your
post and test your suggestions if it does.

Glad to hear it is working again. Should the problem return, feel free to
post another message or even email me directly. I spent 6 years testing
modems for 3Com, and I still find it interesting.

- carl

 

[Francesco Abeni]

... Should the problem return, feel free to post another message or even
email me directly. I spent 6 years testing modems for 3Com, and I still
find it interesting.

I was wrong. The issue has NOT gone. I even tried your suggestions, but
they didn't work. BTW, i even tried with a *completely different modem*
(ATLANTIS 1456VQE), so no 3Com involved, and had the same issue: after a
variable amount of minutes, no more traffic on the modem.

Well, i'll be very happy if you would like to help me to solve this one.

Thank you for your time.


P.S. i always think that it's better to post on the NG so that anyone can
benefit of this, now or in the future.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

P.S. i always think that it's better to post on the NG so that anyone can
benefit of this, now or in the future.

Indeed - I am following this thread with interest, and perhaps others are
too!

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I was wrong. The issue has NOT gone. I even tried your suggestions, but
they didn't work. BTW, i even tried with a *completely different modem*
(ATLANTIS 1456VQE), so no 3Com involved, and had the same issue: after a
variable amount of minutes, no more traffic on the modem.

Well, i'll be very happy if you would like to help me to solve this one.

Thank you for your time.


P.S. i always think that it's better to post on the NG so that anyone can
benefit of this, now or in the future.

A couple of afterthoughts:
- You mentioned in an earlier post that you watched the lights
on the modem, and since they did not flicker you concluded
that there was no traffic. I consider this an unreliable method.
I recommend that you enable the System Tray modem indicator
instead, then activate it and watch it while this command
executes:
ping www.google.com -t
The bytes counters should increase steadily . . . until they
stop because of your problem.
- When trouble-shooting, I attempt to eliminate all possible
causes, no matter how far fetched. One you don't seem to
have touched so far is your ISP. I would borrow a friend's
ISP to see if it makes a difference. If you haven't got any
friends with ISPs then you're welcome to use mine during
an agreed time window. Only problem is - I'm in Australia.
On the other hand, I call the U.S. for 6 Australian cents per
minute. A 10-minute call would cost me 60 cents!

 

[Francesco Abeni]

A couple of afterthoughts:
I recommend that you enable the System Tray modem indicator
instead, then activate it and watch it while this command
executes:
ping www.google.com -t
The bytes counters should increase steadily . . . until they
stop because of your problem.

Yes, i can do that. Good thought.

- When trouble-shooting, I attempt to eliminate all possible
causes, no matter how far fetched. One you don't seem to
have touched so far is your ISP.

Yes, i did. I didn't specify what my ISP was because i tried with two
different ISPs and got exactly the same problem.

Thank you for your time.

 

[Carl Fenley]

Yes, i can do that. Good thought.

I like this suggestion as well. Let's see if you're passing any data and
also get the error message returned. For example, is it a "Timeout Message"
or an "Unknown Host" message?

Good Luck,

- carl