Modems

56K modem connections

Why phones don't support 56k connections

  1. Phone lines can't support it, give poor quality
  2. Test phone lines at USR 1-847-262-6000, log in as first name test, last name line and print report
  3. Phone lines are multiplexed. You can ask phone company to fix it
  4. Phones make more than one analogue to digital conversion for 56k
  5. Winmodem with processors slower than 166, can not support faster connections

cut-n-paste

Connect speeds.

http://www.teleport.com/~curt/modems.html#connect-speed

Frequent Disconnects

To trouble shoot frequent disconnects try the following

  1. have them unplug all phone jacks as a final troubleshoot to frequent disconnects.
  2. Check modem brand, If winmodem , cold boot
  3. check dialer properties for ip header compression and software compression settings.
  4. phone line conditions, settings.
  5. updated modem drivers
  6. Outlook express, disconnect imediately after retrieving mail setting.

Hyperterm to diagnose modem

http://808hi.com/56k/x2-hyperterm.htm has a nice outline of how to use hyperterminal to communicate with your modem while offline. It also has a link to a freeware program that will check your modem, called modemchk.exe.

Information 2/26/99

  1. The Center for 56K technology information.................... http://www.56k.com
  2. general information on 56K issues............... http://808hi.com/56k/index.htm 56K information on modem upgrades and information that is updated regularly.
  3. Contains a usegroup where you can post messages and receive responses......... http://808hi.com/56k
  4. How V.90 works.................. http://www.v90.com/whatis.htm
  5. About Lucent V.90............ http://www.lucent.com/micro/K56flex/about.html#q3
  6. Port Speeds/modem protocols Connect speed versus Port Speed.........  http://808hi.com/56k/x2-inf1.htm
  7. Information on the ITU of modem protocols............ http://www.v90.com
  8. Win Modems Excellent web page that talks about Win Modems................. http://www.56k.com/reports/winmodem.shtml

Last try Modem settings change

When all else fails, Last ditch for modem: older mother board, newer modem :

  1. add ATZ to modem settings
  2. drop the port speed to 57600 or even 28,8. And/OR
  3. dropped the FIFO buffers,

LT Winmodem updates: The earlier drivers(lessthen 5.24)for LT winmodems had an incompatibility with the 56k USR modem pools.

  1. Diagnosing a lt winmodem driver incompatibility
  1. Do NOT ASSume that if they have the ltwinmodem they need the upgrade.
  2. Check everything else before giving the upgrade.
  3. The symptoms indicating the lt winmodem upgrade are below

Connections deteriorated to 1 out of 5 or 10 and now was down to not connecting at all with a long modem sound waiting for communicating. This is the classic scenario for the lt winmodem. …….You can find the driver in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th line of the response column of the more info in modem diagnostics. The third line reports the modem chipset, usually the command ATI3. LT v.90 is the usual response., any driver less then 5.24 should be replaced with our 5.29 or more recent.

  1. Make sure the number they are dialing is 56k. If they connect to the 33,6 pop and not the 56k, it is a good indication forthe driver.
  2. Make sure they have an lt winmodem with driver less then (5.24).
  3. Keep the ltwinmodem update page from 808hi.com handy to check for manufacturer specific drivers. http://808hi.com/56k/x2-lucent.htm#firmware
  1. Sending the update Make a copy of the update as described below for noel to send to the customer.

  1. For the Hewlett Packard Lt winmodem, Create a floppy with this driver on it and tape the request to it for Noele. This file will self install. Additional support will be needed to change the modem in the dialup networking connection to use it.

  1. They have an Hewlett packard HP computer
  2. It has an LT winmodem installed
  3. The modem driver is confirmed to be less than version 5.24 
  4. You have eliminated EVERYTHING else as a connection issue
  5. They are connecting to a 56k pop, but can connect to a 33,6 pop
  6. The modem returns no errors in the diagnostics/more info.

  1. For Non-HP winmodems in the list below, create a disk with the file called modem532 from support/programs/ltwinmodem/ folder. This is a self extracting installing file and requires support to change the modem in the dialup networking connection. Please verify that they have one of these modems below before sending this driver.

Modem brands for which this file ONLY works:

  1. LT Win Modem
  2. Compaq Presario Internal Modem
  3. Compaq Armada 1500 Series 560CL
  4. Compaq Presario 56K-DF
  5. Compaq Presario 56K-DFi
  6. Compaq 56K-DF
  7. Compaq 56K-DFi
  8. Compaq Internal Modem
  9. Compaq 56K-DF ISA Modem
  10. Compaq 56K-DFi ISA Modem
  11. Compaq 56VL Global Internal Modem
  12. Toshiba Internal V.34 Modem
  13. Toshiba Internal V.90 Modem
  14. Telepath Internet 56K WinModem
  15. Compaq Armada 7500 and 7900 Internal V.90 Modem
  16. Compaq Presario 56K V.90 PCI DF Modem
  17. Compaq Presario 56K V.90 PCI DFi Modem
  18. Compaq Armada 56K (V.90) Modem
  1. All other brands check out the http://808hi.com/56k/ltwin.htm for best update.
  1. Installation of the 5.29 driver we sent out.We send out directions which tell them how to install the driver. We tried it on several computers and they work, with a little inference.
    1. Install winzip by double clicking the file inside the winzip disk.
    2. Double click the file inside the ltwinmodem sdisk, it will bring up winzip to open it with and click on extract.
    3. extract it to. The default is c:\lucent\ which is where we want it to be. When that is all done, close the winzip.
    4. Go to the run line and browse to c:\lucent. Click on setup file and follow the directions from there. This actually will REPLACE the modem driver, not update the current and will require that you
    5. go into the properties of the dialer to switch the modem in the "connect using" box. The title of the driver looks the same but it is not the same!
  2. NOTE: The Compaq-supplied modem with LT chipset:
    1. Compaq-supplied modems w/ the LT chipset (56DF & 56VSC) will only work in Compaq systems! Do not purchase a used 'Compaq' LT modem for use in another system! Compaq uses a custom implementation with the LT chipset; Compaq recently switched from Lucent-based modems to Rockwell HCF on many of its new Presario models - these would be V.90 modems without an upgrade. http://808hi.com/56k/ltwin.htm
    2. On some voice models, Compaq's PhoneCenter will no longer function if
      you upgrade with non compaq software.        http://808hi.com/56k/ltwin.htm

Modem Roast

What happens when there is electrical storms and no surge protector on the phone line to the modem.

Phone Line Info      

1. Information on Phone lines........ http://808hi.com/56k/index.htm
2. How to have the phone company test your lines......................
http://help.ibm.net/helplib/tlcoinfo.html

Phones dont support 56k when 56 k modems dont connect faster than 28,8 the following might exist.

Why phones don't support 56k connections

  1. Phone lines can't support it, give poor quality
  2. Test phone lines at USR 1-847-262-6000, log in as first name test, last name line and print report
  3. Phone lines are multiplexed. You can ask phone company to fix it
  4. Phones make more than one analogue to digital conversion for 56k
  5. Winmodem with processors slower than 166, can not support faster connections

cut-n-paste

Phone lines

  1. plug the phone line into line, NOT phone
  2. only analogue lines

USR Test Line

Test phone lines
  1. Open hyperterminal by clicking start/programs/accessories/hyperterminal/hyperterm
  2. Set up a new profile
  3. Use the phone number: 1-847-262-6000,
  4. log in as
    first name: test
    last name: line
  5. print report

cut-n-paste

Win 3.1

-- Does Win3.1 REALLY support Winmodems? Apparently it does, there are setup instructions on the web for setting up a USR Sportster 56k/v.90 Winmodem.

 

WINMODEMS- USR

Bruce found that USR supports their winmodems so people with problems with them can
call them at 1-847-262-5151

Winmodems

2 reason why Winmodems are bad:(as per adam)
1) Require drivers for the host OS. Many will not work with NT, Linux, or Win 2000. This means manufacturers must rewrite the driver when a new OS comes out, and is often not willing to do so to support non-commercially viable OS's, like Linux.
2) Eat up CPU time on the machine. Winmodems in general do all of the processing tasks for compression and transmission on the host PC. This translates into slowdowns on the host PC at high speeds, depending on the drivers. Lucent/Rockwell LT Winmodems are especially bad. I have 2 in my HP. They both suck.

software modem is subject to the same problems any program is when used. Any "event" while using the program could frag the program for driving this modem. Try this:

Things to do to improve software modem performance
  1. Scan disk and defrag
  2. Make sure this modem is v.90
  3. Make sure the modem properties is not checked to connect only at  57,6
  4. Make sure the max speed is 57,6, not 115...
  5. Reinstall the modem, or update the modem driver.

Beyond this, it is a functioning of his modem or windows programming itself.

Winmodems(and Gaming)

Winmodems and online-gaming: Periodically we get calls from people who want to play games on the net and are getting frustrated with their connection. The following may be a reason for game failures: winmodems don't support online gaming with dos games. They have to work in windows. quote from http://56k.com/reports/winmodem.shtml

" you may want to play modem-to-modem games like Doom that run in DOS. DOS games generally won't work with Winmodems, unless DOS drivers are provided. Major exception: Quake will still work, because Quake runs in a DOS shell under Window, and uses the Windows network drivers....
If you plan to only use Windows, and if gaming isn't your thing, a Winmodem can save you money, and it may offer more telephony features than a similarly-priced modem."

through 9-1-99