Step this way...
The troubleshooter was originally written for users of the Windows® 95/98 operating system, but this section is non-OS specific.
First, switch the computer off.
Now, this is the one that can save you hours of wasted effort.
Most modems have two American-style telephone sockets on the back, one labelled "Phone" & the other "Line". Non-American telephone jacks do not fit them. English readers now need:
- an American-to-BT converter, American male-jack at one end & a British BT-socket at the other - every decent-sized town has a shop selling one for a couple of pound sterling. Put the jack into the socket labelled "Phone" & plug a telephone into the other end of the converter (other countries will need to make the necessary adjustments with this one, & a big raspberry to you if you live in America or Canada).
- a modem-to-telephone lead. Plug the American end into the modem socket labelled "Line" & the other end into a live telephone socket.
Pick up the telephone & listen; is there a dial tone?
- yes - no problem, go to next section
- no - looks like you may have found the problem - either a dodgy modem lead, dead modem or dead telephone socket.
However, there's one thing to try first - swop the telephone jacks between the modem's two sockets. It's not unknown for a factory to produce a batch wired the wrong way round internally.
Do the obvious next, & check that there is a dial tone from the telephone socket directly with the telephone, & try twiddling the leads (loose wires), but suspect the modem lead first, then the modem.
All modem leads are not the same - some are wired differently to others (it depends on the modem). Even if the modem lead is brand new & provided with the modem this is not a guarantee that it works correctly and/or is correctly wired. One major British supplier, as an example, provided leads which caused every phone in the house to "screech" when the modem was used.
If you are sure that your modem lead is both the correct type for the modem and that it is not broken, then the modem is dead in the water & needs to be returned to the supplier, or thrown away. |
|
