"Modem Boosters" and Connection Speed

[Pete]

Hi everyone,

I have an interesting problem. I have XPsp2 home edition. I always used to
connect (dial up) at 46.6 kbs and now I fluctuate between 28.8 and 46.6
(about half and half). AT&T (my ISP) can not help - after they run through
the various boiler plate back and forth conversations with you in the
network newsgroup, they end up telling you it could be a router problem, or
construction, da.da.da.da. - its a joke.

Anyway I was wondering if there is such a thing as a "modem booster" (I'm
not talking about the accelerator that compresses graphics and has its own
cache), that may enhance my modem and tweak the various windows settings
(these are words I read on searching), so that I may connect at 46.6 like I
always used to. I don't want to mess with anything that isn't 4 or 5 star
rated, if you know what I mean. Plus if I did download something to
"enhance" my modem, can it be uninstalled (for sure).

I am not a computer guru, but my limited knowledge and common sense tells me
that it may not be possible to increase your connection speed, by doing a
simple download. I am basically talking about the connection speed
(although I'm sure there may be other inherent performance improvements
associated with a "modem booster" also - which would enable you to surf
faster). By the way I have found that accelerators act erratically, can
cause conflicts, and do more harm than good (on both my old ME and my new
XPsp2) - so I do not use accelerators.

I have an Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem (driver 2.1.51.0 - dated 3/4/05), and
my XPsp2 is only 3 months old.

Please let me know if there may be a way of increasing my connection speed
(dial up is painstaking enough as it is), and stopping the fluctuations
(i.e. I used to always connect at 46.6 before the fluctuations started). If
you need more info, I will be happy to provide it. Thanks.

Pete

 

[Richard Urban [MVP]]

The determining factor in dialup connection speed is the condition of the
phone wires, both inside your home, and on the poles from your home to the
phone company. You can take care of the home wiring yourself. Get a long
phone wire and connect your computer directly to the terminal box on the
side of your home. If the problem goes away you know where the problem is.

An aside. I just went through having problems fixed with my DSL. When ever
it rained, or was very humid, my connection speeds would decrease by about
90%. The 6th technician finally was able to verify my problem as he was here
when it was raining. The cause? There was a yellow jacket nest in the
connection can on the pole. This nest was across my two phone terminals and
also to the inner case of the can. Whenever the nest "sucked moisture" my
signal was either partially shorted or grounded. The tech removed the nest
and I have been fine since.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from: George Ankner
"If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"

 

[Pete]

Thanks Richard...I believe you. There are other variables also (lets say
hardware related). I just don't understand why it happened all of a sudden.
I have no discernible noise in my phone lines (although that doesn't mean it
still couldn't be noise related, and I sent the hyperterminal test data to
AT&T and they said the S/N ratio was low (but they tell everybody that).
You ought to see all the other complaints in the AT&T newsgroup (from people
all over the country) about similar problems. I am still not convinced that
AT&T doesn't have some culpability, but I will never know. The only true
answer is a cable modem, which will cost me another $40/mo.and double my
cable TV bill - no way - I will have to live with it, and keep redialing
until I get 46.6 (when I want to download something or surf a lot). Take
care...Pete

 

[Fitz]

Well you can look at it like I did. Switched to cable modem and never
looked back. I would never go back to dial-up! Having gotten rid of my
$20.00 dial-up, I switched to VOIP, $25, and got rid of Bellsouth totally.
Now I call anywhere, anytime, local or long distance for $25 plus cable
internet speeds.

 

[Pete]

Fitz...what is VOIP. Please tell me a little about it. I'm sure I can't
get it. Where I live all we have is Verizon for the local phone company
(which doesn't provide DSL here) and one cable tv company (but that is $40
extra for the cable modem like I said). Hell my local phone bill is $36/mo.
Please describe the $25 you are talking about a little more. Thanks...Pete

 

[Fitz]

VOIP is Voice over Internet. It's available for cable connections or DSL
connections (high speed connections). Your telephone service is carried
over the internet. You use your regular phones by plugging the cable phone
line into your existing telephone or house wiring system. I can't tell the
difference in voice quality. Unlimited local and long distance to the US
and Canada. I've had it about 2 1/2 years now. My VOIP is through
www.vonage.comn.

 

[Pete]

Richard...I just wanted to let you know I ran the direct cable to my
phone box (all other equipment out of the circuit), and it had no effect on
my fluctuating connection speeds. So at least I know it is not noise coming
from within my house. I can do no more. I am not messing with a new modem
(I just bought my pc) and I don't know where I can get a test modem to use,
so I am done.

As an aside, during all this, I noticed I have lost my internal speaker
volume for the modem "handshake", and can not get it back (I shut it off
when I bought the pc - but it did used to work). I don't know where the
internal speaker is for the modem "handshake" (it could be on the
motherboard, or the modem itself, or someplace else). Anyway I have been to
every possible settings location and can not get the "handshake" sound back
(I have also uninstalled the drivers and let windows put them back in and
that didn't help - nor did it help my fluctuating connection speeds).

I believe there are two things involved here. One is a setting for the
modem volume, and the other is a switch somewhere in the registry to toggle
the sound on or off. Can you tell me where in the registry I can find this
switch. Changing the modem volume in the device manager has no effect (i.e.
it is disabled and I need to enable it). I have windows XPsp2 home edition.
Thanks...Pete

 

[johnf]

One thing that stands out is your phrase (I just bought my pc)
The first thing I'd do is go back to who supplied it and ask them.