Slower dialup connection

[Judy]

Hi,

Just a curious question. I have a dialup connection issue. (stop laughing,
)) I don't have much choice in my area.) I have Windows XP Home SP2 IE 6
with a 56k modem. I am also using Earthlink’s Accelerator for dialup.

When it connects at 49.3Kbps, which is most of the time, web pages open
faster than when it connects at 50.6Kbps. Why is that? I would think it
would be faster.

Thanks.
Judy

 

[Paul]

Hi,

Just a curious question. I have a dialup connection issue. (stop laughing,
)) I don't have much choice in my area.) I have Windows XP Home SP2 IE 6
with a 56k modem. I am also using Earthlink’s Accelerator for dialup.

When it connects at 49.3Kbps, which is most of the time, web pages open
faster than when it connects at 50.6Kbps. Why is that? I would think it
would be faster.

Thanks.
Judy

The actual modem operating speed, can change from moment to moment. The
50.6 you're seeing, might not stay there too long, and it could be
settling down after a minute or two, to some lower rate.

And I don't remember enough about modems, to tell you how to get the
operating speed at this instant. (At the very least, it would involve
going into command mode, which is tricky.) If I knew your modem make and model
number, I'd have to plod through the AT command set manual, looking for
hints.

I do remember seeing the "spiral of death", back in the K56/X2 era, on
my modems. The connection would start optimistically high. And over
a period of five to ten minutes, the actual operating speed of the
modem would drop little by little, until eventually the connection
would drop. I think I fixed that, by being careful to use a K56 modem
with a K56 dialup front end at the ISP. And a USR X2 modem, with the
rest. So I used to keep two modems connected to the computer, using
one for work and one for personal use.

I think I tried something like this procedure once. This test dials up the ISP,
but doesn't give the username/password. You sit there for a minute,
allowing the modem to collect line statistics. Then, after you hang up the
call attempt, you issue commands and extract the data the modem has
to offer. The modem sorts voice frequencies (up to 4KHz) into bins, and
each bin is evaluated in terms of its ability to carry data. So the
numbers returned, are signal to noise or the like.

http://www.modemhelp.net/linenoise/usr/addausr.shtml

This page has more info on using ATY11 command, including
sample data from a real modem.

http://www.zianet.com/Sshow.idc?Record=750

"Spiral of death" got honorable mention here, but no explanation
of the actual mechanism.

http://www.modemhelp.net/quickref.shtml

The ATI6 command is demonstrated here. Now, the question would
be, is "Speed" the speed just before the session ended ?

http://www.modemhelp.net/linenoise/usr/usr.shtml

Speed 48000/28800
V.90 Peak Speed 49333

Another theory here on spiral of death. I don't recollect seeing
an official explanation. With modems, you always had to fixit
yourself And muddle along as best you could.

http://groups.google.ca/group/alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000/msg/cf5dd9fce4e75418?dmode=source

Paul

 

[Judy]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your most informative reply. Although it got too deep for me,
I generally get the idea. And in the one link it mentioned about OEM's and I
seem to remember when I very first got my computer Dell saying something
about changing something about the modem speed, but didn't knew zilch about
computers then to remember what they said....let alone meant. lol. I did at
one time try to research about speeding it up or why it was slow and remember
reading about some of what you explained. Thanks so much for your time.
That answers my question.

Judy

 

[Richard]

Hi "Judy",

Right click your system clock, click Task manager
Click Networking (tab) [while dialup is connected]
(That tab may say "No Active Network Adapters Found.")

In the bottom display, look for "Link Speed".
If that column is not present, click View, click Select Columns,
checkmark Link Speed.

FWIW. --Richard

Hi Paul,

Thank you for your most informative reply. Although it got too deep for
me, I generally get the idea. And in the one link it mentioned about
OEM's and I seem to remember when I very first got my computer Dell
saying something about changing something about the modem speed, but
didn't knew zilch about computers then to remember what they said....
let alone meant. lol. I did at one time try to research about
speeding it up or why it was slow and remember reading about some of
what you explained. Thanks so much for your time.
That answers my question.

Judy

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