Table of Contents
=================
1.0 Where can I find out status information
for ISP?
1.1 Do you have any ISDN Lines?
1.2 What
connection standards (K56,v90,v34 etc) do you support?
1.3 DUN says
I've connected at 115,200 instead of the correct speed.
1.4 My modem is
connecting at 33,600 instead of 56k
1.5 ErrMsg: No Dial
Tone
1.6 My connection keeps getting dropped, why?
1.7 How to
check the K56 Flex ROM code version
1.8 Where can I get updates for my
modem from?
1.9 Do you support MultiLink (Win98)?
1.10 How to
identify an unknown modem.
1.11 How to force a slower / faster modem
connection
NOTE: Questions marked with a * indicate new or
updated questions
since the FAQ was last published.
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1.0 - Where can I find out status information
for ISP?
The latest status information will always be
available in the
following locations:
On the WEB
The Service Status secion of
Help on our homepage
=====================================================================
1.1 - Do you have any ISDN Lines?
Description
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital
Network) is a set of ITU standards
for digital transmission over ordinary
telephone copper wire as well
as other media. Users install ISDN 'adapters'
in place of their modems
to connect to the Internet.
Answer
ISP DOES support ISDN on the same
telephone number used to dial
in on a modem. The equipment at Freeserve's end
will answer the call
as either a modem or ISDN connection. The maximum
connection speed is
64k (PPP) or 128k (ML-PPP).
=====================================================================
1.2 - What connection standards (K56,v90,v34
etc) do you support?
Description
ITU (International Telecommunication
Union) is the governing body who
decide on the way modems 'talk' to each
other. On a connection to
ISP both modems (The users modem, and those
at ISP) have
to speak the same 'language' in order for them to
communicate to each
other.
Answer
Here are the ITU standards that ISP uses:-
Connection Standards /
Speeds
V.90 (56,600 Kbps) Supported
V.34+
(33,600 Kbps) Supported
V.34 (28,800 Kbps)
Supported
V.32bis (14,400 Kbps) Supported
V.22bis (2400 Kbps)
Supported
Data Compression Standards
V.24bis
Supported
MNP5 Supported
Error Correction Standards
V.42 LAPM
Supported
MNP2-4 Supported
NOTE: Freeserve does NOT support X2 or K56Flex
standards, if you are
using one of these modems, the maximum connection speed
you will get
is 33,600 Kbps (V.34+).
=====================================================================
1.3 - DUN says I've connected at 115,200
instead of the correct speed.
Symptoms
When you double click on the modem/dun
icon in the systray (next to
the clock in Windows 95/98) it says you are
connected at 115,200
instead of the real connection speed.
Cause
DUN is reporting the speed between the
modem and the computer (DTE /
Data Terminal Equipment), rather than the modem
-> modem speed (DCE).
Solution
The incorrect INF file is being used
for their modem. You
will need to get an updated INF file for their modem,
see question 1.8
for WWW address's of modem manufacturer's.
If you are using a modem based on the Rockwell
chipset, you may also
try the following:-
DoubleClick MY COMPUTER
DoubleClick DIAL-UP
NETWORKING
RightClick FREESERVE icon
Click PROPERTIES
Click CONFIGURE
button
Click CONNECTION tab
Click ADVANCED button
In the EXTRA SETTINGS box, type in W2 then click OK
three times to
return back to Windows.
If after doing the above, you get a error message
when trying to dial
into Freeserve, you will need to remove the W2 from
'Extra Settings'
and find a updated INF file for your modem.
=====================================================================
1.4 - My modem is connecting at 33,600 instead
of 56k
Symptoms
When connecting to ISP the
customer cannot connect at
higher than 33,600 (33k6) even though they have a
56k modem.
Cause
Freeserve only currently supports
V90
Solution
Getting the latest drivers for your
modem from the manufacturers website
may resolve the problem. However, as
previously detailed we do not
support either K56Flex or X2
=====================================================================
1.5 - ErrMsg: No Dial Tone
Symptoms
When trying to connect to ISP,
DUN tries to connect, then
returns the above error message.
Cause
The modem cannot pick up the line in order
for it to dial out to
ISP
Solution
Check the Modem is actually plugged
into the telephone socket and
into the modem
Check the Modem is switched on (if external), try
switching off/on
then try again.
Check if the customer is dialling from business
premises, most PABX
systems need you to dial 9 (or another number) before you
dial the
actual number you want to reach. If this is the case, follow
the
instructions below:-
Click on START button
Click on SETTINGS
Click
on CONTROL PANEL
DoubleClick on MODEMS
Click on DIALLING PROPERTIES
button
In the section called 'When Dialling from here' you
can enter in the
following:-
To access an outside line
For local calls, dial xx
For long distance
calls, dial xx
Enter 9 or whatever number is applicable in the box(s) for the
above
options.
Click OK
Click OK again then close the CONTROL
PANEL window.
You should now be able to connect to ISP
without getting the 'No
Dial Tone' error message.
=====================================================================
1.6 - My connection keeps getting dropped,
why?
Symptoms
After a period of time, the connection
to ISP drops (get
disconnected)..
Cause
There are various reasons this can happen,
see below.
Solution
Check line quality
If the customer has a 'noisy' phone line (i.e. when
talking to them,
you can hear crackles, pop's or any other kind of
interference on the
line) this can cause their modem to disconnect itself
from ISP.
The following are some suggestions for the customer to
try:-
Try plugging their modem into the 'main' telephone
socket (i.e. the
FIRST one that comes into the house), not into a extension
socket.
Contact their telephone provider (i.e. BT, Cable
company etc) and ask
them if they can do anything about the line
quality
Contact their telephone provider (i.e. BT, Cable
company etc) and ask
them to turn up the 'GAIN' on their line. They will need
to speak to
an engineer at the telephone company as the operators usually
don't
know what you mean when you ask that question.
Check for CALL WAITING
If the customer has call waiting on their telephone
line, it will need
to be disabled BEFORE connecting to ISP.
To DISABLE call waiting (majority of telephone
companies)
dial *43# on your voice telephone
To ENABLE call
waiting again after the call to ISP
dial #43# on your voice telephone
Check the
TIMEOUT settings
Click on the START button
Click on
SETTINGS
Click on CONTROL PANEL
Click on INTERNET
Click on
CONNECTION
Click on SETTINGS (in the Connection section)
At the bottom of the Window you will
see:-
Disconnect if idle for xx minutes
This will have a tick next to it
and it will default to 20 minutes.
Try either taking out the tick, or
increasing the minutes, then click
on all the OK buttons.
Check the MODEM settings
Click on the START button
Click on
SETTINGS
Click on CONTROL PANEL
DoubleClick on the MODEM
Click on
PROPERTIES button
Click on CONNECTION tab
In the CALL PREFERENCES section you will see:-
Disconnect a call if
idle for more than xx mins This will have a tick next to
it and it
will default to 20 minutes. Try either taking out the tick,
or
increasing the minutes, then click on all the OK buttons.
=====================================================================
1.7 - How to check the K56 Flex ROM code
version
Description
There have been several versions of
K56 ROM's (the actual board
code that the modem uses), the early one's have
been known not to
work correctly (buggy). Symptoms of this are:-
Not establishing a connection
Dropping a
connection after a few minutes online
Connecting then immediately
disconnecting
Very poor connection speeds
Answer
To check what version of the ROM code
the modem has:-
Click START button
Click SETTINGS
Click
CONTROL PANEL
DoubleClick MODEMS
Click DIAGNOSTICS tab
Highlight the
COMM PORT that the modem is on
Click MORE INFO button
At this point a dialog box will appear: "Please
wait.... Communicating
with modem, this may take a few minutes"
In the box at the bottom of the next screen, there
should be a list of
ATI results, starting at ATI1, ATI2, ATI3
etc
The figure next to (usually) ATI4 is the ROM
version code which will
look something like:-
ATI4 V1.200-K56_DLP
v0.xx versions are known to be buggy, if you have
one of these
versions, we suggest you contact your modem manufacturer
(see
question 1.8 for www sites for modem manufacturers) regarding
an upgrade to
either V.90 (recommended) or a later K56 Flex version.
v1.2 was the last K56
rom code by Rockwell. v2.x means you have
upgraded to V.90
=====================================================================
1.8 - Where can I get updates for my modem
from?
Description
From time to time modem
manufacturers will issue updates such as:-
INF files for Windows 95/98
Flash
Updates
Driver updates
Answer
Below you will find a list of over 125
modem manufacturers web sites
which may help the customer in finding updates
for their modem. They
are listed in alphabetical order.
=====================================================================
1.9 - Do you support MultiLink
(Win98)?
Description
Multilink enables the user to
connect to the Internet using multiple
lines at the same time, therefore
increasing their available
bandwidth.
Answer
Freeserve supports multilink under
Windows 98 and Windows NT for
normal analog modems.
System Requirements:
Windows 98 or Windows NT
2 or more separate
telephone lines
2 or more modems
To set up multilink under Windows 98
DoubleClick on My Computer
DoubleClick on Dial
Up Networking
RightClick on the Freeserve Dial Up Networking Icon
Select
Properties
Click on the MULTILINK tab
Click on the USE ADDITIONAL DEVICES
radio button
* Click on ADD
Select the additional modem from the list. The
phone number to
be dialled will be entered automatically (both modems dial
the
same
number).
Click on OK
The list of additional devices will
now contain the extra modem.
Repeat from * for adding additional modems (more
phone lines are
required).
Click on OK again to confirm the
settings
=====================================================================
1.10 - How to identify an unknown
modem.
Description
If you have a 'generic' modem which
you would like to update the flash
memory or find more information about,
follow the instructions below.
Answer
On the modem you should find a BABT
approval sticker. This will have a
six digit number (i.e. 608165 (Aztech)) on
it which is the OFTAL/BABT
approval number.
Once you have found this number you can enter it
into the search
engine at the following address:-
Click in the APPROVAL NUMBER field and enter the
number
Click on the drop-down box and select CONTAINS
Click on the SUBMIT
QUERY button
Click OK to the warning message
You should the see a result like the
following:-
Certificate Number NS/5397/3/Y/608165
Approval
Holder AZTECH SYSTEMS GMBH
Address Line 1 WORLD TRADE CENTRE
Address Line
2 BIRKENSTRASSE 15
Address Line 3
Town/City
State/County D-28195
BREMEN
Postcode
Country GERMANY
Product Name MDP3858P-E; 3858V-E;
3858E
Product Description MODEM
Approval Date 1998-03-18 00:00
Approval
Expiry Date
Date Approval Withdrawn
Variation Date 1998-05-18
00:00
Variation Number 2
PXML Name
PXML Issue Level 0.00
PXML Issue
Date
Using this information you can then see if the
manufacturer has a
website on the Internet. (See question 1.8)
=====================================================================
1.11 - How to force a slower / faster modem
connection
Description
Modems with the Rockwell chipsets
inside support certain commands to
force a connection slower or faster than
normal/standard.
Answer
The settings stated below are entered in
the following location:-
DoubleClick MY COMPUTER
DoubleClick DIAL-UP
NETWORKING
RightClick on the ISP icon
Click on CONFIGURE
button
Click on CONNECTION tab
Click on ADVANCED button
Type in one of
the following in the EXTRA SETTINGS box:-
Setting to enter Forced
connection
AT+MS=11 v34+ (33,600)
AT+MS=12 V.90
(56,600)
AT+MS=V90 V.90 (56,600)
Please note: not all modems will support the above
command(s). If your
modem fails to dial after entering the above command(s),
then to
reverse the process just remove the settings (as above) and
restart
the PC.
Once you have entered the settings, click on the OK
buttons, then
close the Dial-Up Networking window.
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