Help! (Modem-ISP Connection)

Dialling an automatic-response number

• Open a Terminal program
• Enter the following at an "OK" prompt (<Enter> means press that key; replace atdt below with atdp if the telephone exchange that you use will not accept tones.):

  at&f<Enter>
  

  This puts it into factory preset mode - you can leave this one out if you wish to test the initialisation string which the system gives to the modem, or put in your own.
  
  atdt123<Enter>
  
  This tells it to tone-dial the speaking clock. Pick up your telephone & find out if the nice man is talking to you. Enter any character & the "OK" should be returned.
  
  ath<Enter>
  
  This tells it to hang up.

Dialling an ISP

• Use the same Terminal program as step 1
• Enter the following at an "OK" prompt (<Enter> means press that key; replace atdt below with atdp if the telephone exchange that you use will not accept tones.):

  atdt0845 0796699<Enter>
  

  A screen shot of a successful result is above. The important result of this one is the words CONNECT (the precise result may differ).

  The line beginning "CONNECT" is returned from the modem. The lines below (upto login:) come from the Freeserve server and are a definitive confirmation of a successful connection:
  • the computer's modem has dialled out to the server
  • the two have shaken hands
  • during this they have agreed upon mutually-acceptable communication protocols
  • the server has sent a message to you down the telephone line (which you can read) and is patiently waiting for your reply

  For now, your Telco's meter is ticking, and the Freeserve server is drumming it's fingers on the cabinet-top - both are very bad form.

  +++ [wait a short while, then] ath<Enter>
  

  The first is to get the modem's attention once again - it is in intimate conversation with the Freeserve server and has forgotten you - and the second hangs up the phone. Good, you can close down the Terminal program now.

A successful conclusion

If the modem can dial & connect with an ISP through a terminal program as above but not through a browser, then either:

• computer connection facilities are corrupted
• browser settings are wrong
• (V.90/V.92 only) may be a poor driver which connects but shortly after drops the line - see here.

Whoops - Won't Dial - No Dial Tone

• Socket dead you did test it in section 1, didn't you?
• Too many telephones the telephone line is capable of driving only so many devices at once, and the modem may be the one too many.

  It may be a question of the dial tone being too faint for the modem to hear. Remember, we may be able to hear it, but it may not. I talk to a lot of people on the phone, & most of them have very quiet phones.

  Disconnect ALL devices - telephones, fax machines, answerphones - & try again.
  

• Extension lead too long their resistance is often very high. This may also be the case for extension wiring done on an amateur basis to provide another telephone socket. Try again in the master socket.
  
• Exchange-based answerphone this reports messages-waiting by breaking up the dial tone, & will give the above message
  
• Wrong country this is a strong candidate if the modem has been used abroad. Try here.
  
• Automatic Gain Control [AGC] "gain" is telecom-engineer-speak for "volume". Obviously, houses which are a long way from the exchange will suffer more resistance in the wire than those which are close to the exchange, so in Britain BT normally subjects the line to AGC, which automatically compensates for this. This is good for voice calls, but poor for modem calls. Asking for the gain to be turned up (if too faint) or down (if too loud) can sometimes fix this problem and, as it switches off AGC, will often also improve modem communication speed.

  BT has had so many people asking for this to be done that they now refuse to do it. If you can get through to an engineer they will usually help.

Whoops - Won't Dial - No Dial Tone (part 2)

• All OS's
  add "ATX3" (no quotes) as the final command before dialling - this goes into the Extra Settings box in Windows^®
• win95/98/ME
  open My Computer
  open Control Panel
  open Modems
  press Properties button
  press Connection tab
  clear the 'Wait for dial tone before dialing' check box (see here).
• Twin-socket Internal Modems
  It's not unknown for manufacturers to either wire or label these 2 phone sockets wrongly (one says "Line" - to be connected to the phone socket - and the other says "Phone" - intended to plug a telephone into). Try swopping them over.

  Alternatively, if a phone-splitter is used instead, try connecting without it.

Whoops - Just Will Not Dial Out

If the modem is set for the correct country so this is getting a touch serious,  it will be best to do a local analogue loopback test which, in the words of my modem read.me file, tests the hardware up to the isolation transformer.

This is done in a Terminal program with the modem disconnected from the telephone line. At any 'OK' message enter at&t1 (with my specific model ats46=23 needs to be entered first - check your manuals) and after a short wait type some letters. If the hardware is functioning correctly these will appear on the keyboard. Enter +++ then at&t0 will terminate the test. Certain Conexant/Rockwell chipsets perform a self-test with at&t8 - again, consult the manual.

Whoops - Dials But Won't Connect

If you have worked through this troubleshooter step-by-step from the beginning, this is the situation now:

• the modem hardware receives a dial tone from the phone socket
• the computer is able to talk to the modem.
• the modem is able to dial an ISP with a terminal program
• it is not able to establish a connection with the ISP

• the modem hardware is OK
• the com port & driver are OK
• some settings may be wrong, and/or
• there may be problems with the modem drivers, and/or
• there may be V.90/V.92 connection difficulties, and/or
• there may be problems with the computer

Fixing Non-Connection

With Windows^® the advice on modem settings is - don't touch. As long as the modem was installed correctly it should work first time. If you cannot resist fiddling, more info is here.

With Windows^® this is more than likely the problem, and the modem will need uninstalling/reinstalling then re-checking to find out.

This was a very common problem with early V.90 (and latterly with V.92) drivers. Fortunately it is very easily checked, so try here.

This is a particular issue if the modem is a Soft modem, as these depend upon the computer system to be able to work, so system-errors will lead to modem errors - see also next section.

Problems with win95/98/Me connection facilities are dealt with here - sorry, but I don't know enough about other computer systems to be able to assist.