Using Dialup and Broadband Connections at the Same Time?

[Dwight Stewart]

Okay, there has to be a way to do this. I normally access the internet
with a broadband connection (provided by the extended stay hotel), but my
own ISP demands a dialup connection through their phone lines when accessing
newsgroups (newsgroups are not available through the hotel broadband
connection).

Sadly, when I'm accessing the newsgroups with that dialup connection and
need to quickly look something up on the web, IE automatically uses that
comparatively slow dialup connection instead of the broadband connection.

So, is there a way to force IE to only use the broadband connection even
when a dialup connection is present and active? Do remember that I still
want to use that dialup connection with the news reader at the same time.

Your help is appreciated.

Stewart

 

[Alias]

No, the dial up overrides the broadband.

Alias

 

[BBUNNY]

Dwight Stewart wrote:
| Okay, there has to be a way to do this. I normally access the
| internet with a broadband connection (provided by the extended stay
| hotel), but my own ISP demands a dialup connection through their
| phone lines when accessing newsgroups (newsgroups are not available
| through the hotel broadband connection).
|
| Sadly, when I'm accessing the newsgroups with that dialup connection
| and need to quickly look something up on the web, IE automatically
| uses that comparatively slow dialup connection instead of the
| broadband connection.
|
| So, is there a way to force IE to only use the broadband connection
| even when a dialup connection is present and active? Do remember that
| I still want to use that dialup connection with the news reader at
| the same time.
|
| Your help is appreciated.
|
| Stewart

You have your dialup connection misconfigured. Internet Options>
Connections>highlight your dialup and make the appropriate choices.
Your dialup should only work if you click the dialup shortcut.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Dwight.

My experience in this is limited and out of date, but it seems to me you
should be able to solve the problem in at least a few different ways.

(newsgroups are not available through the hotel broadband connection).

What happens if you click on this link:
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.wndowsxp.general

If they don't have it blocked in some way, that should start OE (if it's not
already running), create an account for this MS public news server (which is
free and does not require you to log on), and connect you to this NG. In
other words, it should bring you right back here, but "cut out the
middleman", which apparently is EarthLink in your case.

own ISP demands a dialup connection through their phone lines when
accessing newsgroups

Maybe this is the middleman that can be bypassed by using the MS news
server, rather than your ISP's news server.

Another way, of course, is to use the Web-based interface, which most
experienced NG users hate, but it works. Click here:
http://communities.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.asp

Then choose windowsxp.general to come right back here.

Are you sure you can't use broadband and dial-up at the same time? When I
first got ADSL about 5 years ago, my ISP left my dial-up account connected
for a few months, and I still had my dial-up modem installed alongside my
new ADSL modem. Using my single POTS phone line (with the splitter and
filter that came with the ADSL modem), I could be connected to both ADSL and
dial-up simultaneously, just as I can talk on that phone line while surfing
the 'net. I don't recall the details, but I remember that I did it several
times.

RC

 

[Kenny S]

sign up for an account here for newsgroups, it only costs about 4$ one time
setup fee, and then its free forever

www.teranews.com

this works with broadband

 

[Alias]

sign up for an account here for newsgroups, it only costs about 4$ one
time setup fee, and then its free forever

www.teranews.com

this works with broadband

Good tip. Being as news.individual.net is going to charge, this 50 mb deal
looks really good.

Alias

 

[Stan Brown]

Okay, there has to be a way to do this. I normally access the internet
with a broadband connection (provided by the extended stay hotel), but my
own ISP demands a dialup connection through their phone lines when accessing
newsgroups (newsgroups are not available through the hotel broadband
connection).

My (former) ISP was similarly clueless. I dumped them and went with
www.individual.net whence I'm now posting.

There will be a roughly $10/year charge starting April 1, but IMHO
it's worth it as long as you can live without binary groups.

 

[Dwight Stewart]

No, the dial up overrides the broadband.

Yep, I'm beginning to suspect that, Alias. Thanks anyway.

Stewart

 

[Dwight Stewart]

You have your dialup connection misconfigured.
Internet Options> Connections>highlight your
dialup and make the appropriate choices. Your
dialup should only work if you click the dialup
shortcut.

You missed the point. The dialup was selected - to access the newsgroups.
However, when both connections (dialup and broadband) are on (connected), IE
uses the dialup instead of the broadband. I was hoping for a way to force IE
to use the broadband connection even when the dialup connection is on. So
far, that doesn't look to be possible.

Stewart

 

[Dwight Stewart]

My experience in this is limited and out
of date, but it seems to me you should be
able to solve the problem in at least a
few different ways. (snip)

Well, your advice might work if I only wanted access to the microsoft
newsgroups. However, there are a few thousand other newsgroups out there I
was also hoping to have access to.

Stewart

 

[Dwight Stewart]

sign up for an account here for newsgroups, it
only costs about 4$ one time setup fee, and
then its free forever

www.teranews.com

this works with broadband

Well, you just had to include a web link in your message, didn't you,
Kenny? Did you forget my description of how slow IE was when using the
dialup connection used to access these newsgroups? Anyway, that (Tera News)
is certainly far better than the browser-based newsgroup provider I tried
last year. And the price is certainly right. Thanks for the suggestion. And,
by the way, I was just joking about the web link.

Stewart

 

[Dwight Stewart]

My (former) ISP was similarly clueless. I dumped
them and went with (snip) whence I'm now
posting. (snip)

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to try Kenny's suggestion about
Tera News first before trying other options.

Stewart

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Dwight.

However, there are a few thousand other newsgroups out there I was also
hoping to have access to.

Google for "free news server" and you should get a few thousand hits. I
don't know which is the best or even which ones are good. My ISP supplies
SuperNews and I follow only a half-dozen of the 100,000+ NGs available
there.

RC

 

[Paul Knudsen]

Okay, there has to be a way to do this. I normally access the internet
with a broadband connection (provided by the extended stay hotel), but my
own ISP demands a dialup connection through their phone lines when accessing
newsgroups (newsgroups are not available through the hotel broadband
connection).

Sadly, when I'm accessing the newsgroups with that dialup connection and
need to quickly look something up on the web, IE automatically uses that
comparatively slow dialup connection instead of the broadband connection.

So, is there a way to force IE to only use the broadband connection even
when a dialup connection is present and active? Do remember that I still
want to use that dialup connection with the news reader at the same time.

Your help is appreciated.

Stewart

I don't get it. Why can't you just download the newsgroup messages
you want, then close the connection and view them offline? (With
broadband active). If you want to post replies, sign back on. Agent
should handle this very well.

 

[Dwight Stewart]

I don't get it. Why can't you just download
the newsgroup messages you want, then close
the connection and view them offline? (snip)

Because, in my own case, that just doesn't seem to be an effective way to
handle the newsgroups. I glance over about two dozen newsgroups each day,
reading perhaps one message in a hundred, and responding to perhaps one
message in several hundred. Downloading the hundreds of message each day in
each of these two dozen newsgroups, just to glance over the headers and
ignore most of them, seems like a huge waste of time, especially when I can
just glance over those same headers online in much less time.

Stewart

 

[Rodney]

Because, in my own case, that just doesn't seem to be an effective way to
handle the newsgroups. I glance over about two dozen newsgroups each day,
reading perhaps one message in a hundred, and responding to perhaps one
message in several hundred. Downloading the hundreds of message each day in
each of these two dozen newsgroups, just to glance over the headers and
ignore most of them, seems like a huge waste of time, especially when I can
just glance over those same headers online in much less time.

Stewart

I think perhaps he means read the headers online and just download the
threads you want to follow for offline.

Referring to your original question, is there somewhere on the tools
menu where can you option IE to always use the broadband connection as
the default connection? I think this might not work if you use OE for a
newsreader because I think they share connection options, however it
might work if you use a different newsreader application and set it to
use dialup. I can't give you a definitive answer because I'm just
thinking of things I would try.
Rodney

 

[Dwight Stewart]

Referring to your original question, is
there somewhere on the tools menu
where can you option IE to always use
the broadband connection as the default
connection? (snip)

Yep, something similar under the "Connections" tab of Internet Properties,
including "never dial a connection," "dial whenever a network connection is
not present," and "always dial my default connection." Sadly, they only seem
to work when first connecting, not with active connections. If offered two
active connections, IE defaults to the dialup and ignores the broadband
until that dialup is no longer available. And I haven't found any setting,
anywhere, that will cause IE to change that behavior.

I think this might not work if you use OE
for a newsreader because I think they share
connection options, however it might work
if you use a different newsreader application
and set it to use dialup. (snip)

Well, I think this situation is going to be solved real shortly. Either
I'm going to switch to a web-based news provider or move. My employer is
paying for this place and, while it is nice (an executive suite), I'm tired
of staying here for months each year. As such, a move is real attractive at
this point. Of course, in a normal apartment, I'll have only one service
provider for both the internet and news groups, ending this nonsense.

I can't give you a definitive answer because
I'm just thinking of things I would try.

Hey, that's fine, Rodney. That, people thinking of things to try, is where
most answers will likely come from.

Stewart

 

[Rodney]

Yep, something similar under the "Connections" tab of Internet Properties,
including "never dial a connection," "dial whenever a network connection is
not present," and "always dial my default connection." Sadly, they only seem
to work when first connecting, not with active connections. If offered two
active connections, IE defaults to the dialup and ignores the broadband
until that dialup is no longer available. And I haven't found any setting,
anywhere, that will cause IE to change that behavior.

Okay then, back to the other idea. When I used OE as a newsreader on
dialup I would go online and get the headers, mark the threads I wanted
to read for "offline" (if you do that with the threads collapsed it will
mark all the messages in the thread), then from the menu "synchronize
newsgroup" and in the dialogue box that popped up I would check the box
for "Get messages marked for offline" and it would carry that out while
I went to the next newsgroup to see which threads I wanted from it and
marked them, etc. I used this as a method to limit the amount I was
online but it would probably work for you to have them available and the
dialup closed so your links would be followed by IE on the broadband
connection. I don't mean to imply that other posters suggestions of a
web based newsreader wouldn't be effective, I'm just thinking of a way
of working with what you already have.

Maybe this would fill in until you move to a normal apartment.

Well, I think this situation is going to be solved real shortly. Either
I'm going to switch to a web-based news provider or move. My employer is
paying for this place and, while it is nice (an executive suite), I'm tired
of staying here for months each year. As such, a move is real attractive at
this point. Of course, in a normal apartment, I'll have only one service
provider for both the internet and news groups, ending this nonsense.

I hear you, in the early 90's I spent 11 months in the same hotel (on
expenses, of course) but even a nice place gets old after that much time
if it isn't "home".

Rodney