Slow Modem

[Guest]

I've just upgraded from ME to XP. Now my modem went from 52K to 19K speed.
I've upgraded the modem driver but that did not help. This is extremely
frustrating.

Is there a solution to this problem?

Thanks much!

 

[Andre Da Costa]

Uninstall the modem from Device Manager (right click My Computer >
Properties > Hardware > Device Manager), uninstall the Modem and restart the
system, use the Add hardware wizard to add back the drivers.

Andre

 

[Guest]

Yes thanks. I did that already. Any other ideas?

 

[Public posting]

Are you sure you have a fast enough computer? XP takes a lot more cpu
cycles than WinME did, so if your computer is slow, it might not have enough
time to handle the modem processing. For XP and a software WinModem, I'd
say at least 500mhz. Possibly a little more. (Some WinModems need more
processing power than others.)

Also, try going into the modem's properties (somewhere) and see what
baudrate the port is set at. It might be set where the 'uart' serial port
is set at higher than 19200. It should be higher than your modem speed.
112k or higher.

Also make sure the hardware handshaking is turned on.

And that the uart fifo buffers are turned on. (Normal settings for a
typical fifo is 16 words deep. The output would be set at 16 and the input
would be set at 14 or maybe a little below. That gives the OS time to
respond to the input without losing incomming characters.)

If this is a software modem (ie: an internal "WinModem") then about the only
thing to go wrong is poor drivers.

If it's an external, then there's even less to go wrong.


(I assume you have completely uninstalled the drivers. Turned off the
computer. Turned on the computer. And installed a fresh copy of the
drivers. I myself might even go so far as to remove the modem entirely and
boot once without it. Just to encourage windows to forget about the old
hardware. That is a bit drastic though. Not something most computer users
should do.)

 

[Guest]

Again, thank for the response. My PC is 733Mhz - I have tweaked everything:
The FIFO and including different dial-up number from my ISP. This is driving
me nuts. 19.2k is all I can get. The only thing that I haven't tried is
physically removing the hardware.

Do I need a new modem? It is a Lucent Win modem and the driver is dated
7/1/2003 v8.30.0.0

MAN!

 

[Public posting]

Again, thank for the response. My PC is 733Mhz - I have tweaked
everything:

That should be enough. Just don't do any heavy processing while using it.
(ie: games, video editing, etc.)

The FIFO and including different dial-up number from my ISP. This is
driving
me nuts. 19.2k is all I can get. The only thing that I haven't tried is
physically removing the hardware.

Do I need a new modem? It is a Lucent Win modem and the driver is dated
7/1/2003 v8.30.0.0

I'm really at a loss now.... It was working fine before and not now...
That can be hard to debug.

If it was my machine, I'd go ahead and play with it a while. But it's hard
to debug windows via newsgroup.

You could go ahead and get a new modem. They aren't expensive. I'd
recommend a USRobotics modem. I've also had good luck with a few other
brands, even those priced as low as $5 on sale. I personally would avoid
Broadexent / Creative / ModemBlaster. (I've tried two and both were
terrible. Consistantly low connection speeds.) (I think my sister bought a
USRobotics cheapie for $20.) If it turns out not to help, you can probably
return it.

You could also check ebay etc. and see about an external modem. A real
modem that doesn't require any drivers but instead plugs into your serial
port. Just be careful buying there.... (You can get them in the stores, of
course, but they are more expensive than a WinModem.) (An external real
modem can be nice because then you can use Linux. Even if you don't want to
install Linux, that still lets you use things like Knoppix, which boots and
run's from a cd. Handy in an emergency when windows wont boot.)


You could also try some phone line filters. Maybe by coincidence it's now
picking up more noise on the phone lines and it just can't get a good
connection anymore. You could also try plugging it into a different phone
jack, just on the off chance it might help.

 

[Al Smith]

Again, thank for the response. My PC is 733Mhz - I have tweaked everything:

The FIFO and including different dial-up number from my ISP. This is driving
me nuts. 19.2k is all I can get. The only thing that I haven't tried is
physically removing the hardware.

Do I need a new modem? It is a Lucent Win modem and the driver is dated
7/1/2003 v8.30.0.0

MAN!

You don't need a new modem. If it was working before, it still
works. Either something changed a setting and slowed down your
maximum connection speed (should check this out, and make sure the
connection speed selected is the max), or something replaced your
good, working driver with a driver that doesn't work very well.
Maybe Windows doesn't know which modem you have.

Since you say you haven't tried physically removing the modem,
that's obviously the next thing to try.

I'd erase all references to the modem in Device Manager, and
physically take out the modem card (after unplugging my computer,
of course). Then reboot without the modem. Then turn off and
(after unplugging) reinstall the modem card. Then reboot and let
Windows go through the process of finding your modem driver. It
will probably connect on-line and download a driver.

 

[Public posting]

You don't need a new modem. If it was working before, it still works.
Either something changed a setting and slowed down your

That was pretty much my reply to him.

However, there is the possibility of driver problems.

Lucent isn't known for regular driver releases, so it's possible it doesn't
get along well with xp/sp2.

Since you say you haven't tried physically removing the modem, that's
obviously the next thing to try.

Yup...

 

[Bill James]

Good advice, Al. I would add one remark. Download the free Everest system information tool and see if that program will identify the specific modem model, then do an Internet search for modem drivers based on that information. Also, if the OP is going to remove the modem, etc., I would re-install it in a different slot if one is available. Oh, I guess that's 2 remarks...

http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en

--

Bill James
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User

Windows VBScript Utilities » www.billsway.com/vbspage/
Windows Tweaks & Tips » www.billsway.com/notes_public/

 

[Guest]

Okay guys, removed the modem, restarted, put modem back in, restarted. Still
only 19.2k. Get load of this: I also just put in 256k more memory for a
total of 320k figuring I'd get the biggest bang for the buck.... damnit
still only 19.2. What a dog.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Okay guys, removed the modem, restarted, put modem back in,
restarted. Still only 19.2k. Get load of this: I also just
put in
256k more memory for a total of 320k figuring I'd get the
biggest
bang for the buck.... damnit still only 19.2. What a dog.

I assume you mean you added 256MB, not 256K. If you had 64MB or
RAM and now have 320MB, you should see much better performance in
almost everything you do on the computer.

One place where you will *not* see better performance, however,
is in connect speeds. How much RAM you have is completely
unrelated to the speed you connect at.

 

[Guest]

Alright now. I found that the modem doesn't like the ethernet adapter. I
take out the adapter and I get the 50k connection.

Now what, since I need the adapter for home networking?

 

[Guest]

Okay boys.... updated the BIOS for XP. All is well now. Sure took long
enough. Thanks for all your input!

 

[Public posting]

Odd.

Try a different slot. It's possible they are fighting over resources.

If all else fails, you can always get a different adapter. They are cheap.
It's possible your adapter is just a little odd.

Or you could get one of those USB2 based ones.