The Friendly Giant
Getting the best connection
Sudden disconnections from the Internet are not normal and should not be tolerated. If they occur to you when connected to The Friendly Giant, something is wrong. We do not disconnect our customers, and want you to stay on-line as long as you need.
If you are a customer of The Friendly Giant we invite you to bring your computer in to our office to have the settings on the computer checked and the modem tested to help isolate and remove the cause of any problems you are encountering. This service is free.
The main causes of Internet drop-outs are shown below. If you would like to work through this list you may be able to find and fix the cause of any trouble you are experiencing.
Call Waiting:
If Call Waiting is enabled on your telephone line and, while you are on the Internet, someone calls your telephone number, your Internet connection will be broken.
To disable Call Waiting, pick up the handset on your phone, dial #43# and then hang up.
To enable Call Waiting at any time, dial *43#.
Line Interruption:
Do not skip this step
Line interruption caused by telephones, fax machines, answering machines, cordless phones or home surveillance devices can break internet connections.
Some devices attached to telephone lines have the ability to grab the line from time to time. Older Telecom-branded touchphones do so regularly, often every ten minutes (to recharge their on-board memory). Home Security systems which are set to automatically dial-in to an external sureillance point cut into the line as well. In all of these examples the modem loses the connection long enough to interpret the connection as bad - and it will then hang-up.
To test if this is the cause of your 'drop-outs', unplug any other devices using the same line - even if the other device is in a different room in the house.
This is one of the main causes of disconnections. Do not neglect to try this solution before moving on to subsequent ones. If you neglect to try this step, there is no point going any further.
Line Interference: Do not skip this step
Line noise caused by telephones, fax machines, answering machines, extension cables, cordless phones, double-adaptors or home surveillance devices can cause modems to falter and/or drop a connection.
Telephone lines by legislation only need to be capable of carrying data at 19.2k. Thus, voice calls can tolerate a lot of interference. Modems transmitting data at 56k are much less tolerant of extranneous noise on the line - they read all noise as data, even clicks from electric fences. When line noise is heard, the modem registers it as an error, as the 'data' doesn't match the communication protocols the modem is using to turn noise into web pages, e-mail or data files. If an error is registered, the modem asks for a repeat of the last packet of information sent over the line. If more errors are found, the modem will eventually cancel the connection, giving up the connection as a bad one.
The first test you should try to determine if this is the cause of your 'drop-outs' is to unplug any other devices using the same line - even if the other device is in a different room in the house and connect the computer directly to the telephone outlet (moving it if necessary so that no extension chord is being used). If you can connect fine when other phone devices are unplugged, one of those devices is the cause of your problem. You may need to unplug it every time you go on-line.
The second test is to connect to The Friendly Giant using our secondary number, 5331 5411. If the computer was set up in our office, there should be an icon on the desktop named 'Friendly Giant 33.6k' which links to that number. Our secondary number is limited to 33.6k and this will cause the data flow reaching the modem to come more slowly, allowing the modem more chance to filter out interference. If you can connect fine on the secondary number but not on the first, it may be possible to re-configure the modem to work better on your line. Please e-mail us for advice.
Modem Settings:
If a modem is not configured properly, it may cause disconnections.
Some modems will not be able to tolerate fluctuations in speeed of data transfer caused by interference, other modems will be knocked off by noise on the line. Often there are revised software 'patches' or updated 'drivers' that can be installed to solve modem problems - some of these software revisions are a result of improvements in the modem technology, others are written because of faults found in the modems after they have been released.
Generally, cheaper modems have more trouble is this regard. There are several brands which ISPs warn their customers against - amongst them WebExcel, Maestro, ABC and some of the new internal micro-modems sold with new systems. Some of these junk modems cost as little as $17, and end up costing their purchasers more than the cost of a good modem in wasted phone calls. In the computers we sell, The Friendly Giant ensures the modem is high quality - some other vendors sell the $17 ones, to make the price of the total system look more appealing - but it is a very false economy. We have seen machines come in to be fixed that have had modems not made for the Australian phone system, indeed the use of these modems is illegal and the user can be held liable for any damage done to Telstra's telephone exchanges as a result of using them. Make sure any modem you buy has an AUSTEL accreditation sticker. The modems we sell are excellent and come with a five-year warranty - plus, we fully support everything we sell.
To test the modem settings, please try connecting using the 33.6k telephone line, 5331 5411. If the connection is stable on that line but not on the 56k line, 5327 0700, there is a possibility the modem is not capable of rock-solid 56k v.90 connections, and may need one of the above-mentioned software updates or the application of a 'string' to get it to work properly.
Tracking down the software to improve modem performance can be a daunting experience and if you are not confident with doing this yourself, please note we are happy to re-configure/fine tune your modem at no charge if you are a customer of The Friendly Giant.
Software Settings:
Certain programmes, the main culprit being Outlook Express, have settings within them to automatically hang-up after they have completed a task or when they ascertain the connection is no longer needed.
If you have Outlook Express running and checking your mail in the background, you may find your connection suddenly drops out. There are settings to adjust to stop this. Make note of which programmes are running when you have a disconnection. One of them could be the culprit. If you want advice, please do not hesitate to mail us with the full details of all programmes running if your internet connection is abruptly stopped.
These are the most common causes of call disconnection. If you
have attempted all of the above options, please let
us know. It may be best for you to make an appointment to bring the computer in for a free re-configuration and test.
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