Most people who use a modem to connect to the internet have at some stage experienced a call dropping out or going dead in the middle of their connection. This is not unusual, and when it occurs only occasionally, it is nothing to be concerned about. However, when it starts to happen frequently, it can become very frustrating and expensive. Fortunately, there is every chance that there is something that you can do to fix, or to at least improve, the situation.

Dropouts, and similar connection issues, can occur for a number of reasons and it is often a combination of factors contributing to the problem. Possible causes include a configuration error on your computer, noise or interference on your phone line, some degree of incompatibility between your modem and ours, outdated modem drivers or a problem at your telephone exchange, amongst other things. This guide is designed to allow you to work through the most common causes and solutions so that you can achieve a more trouble-free connection.

Note: Although the main focus of the guide is on dropout problems, it is also relevant to the related issues of dead connections, slow throughput and connection speed problems.

Some definitions:

• Dropout: when a connection is suddenly disconnected, even though you have not told it to
• Dead connection: similar to a dropout, but instead of disconnecting, the connection goes "dead" and stops sending or receiving anything
• Slow throughput: the connection works, but very slowly - eg. it takes a long time for pages to load
• Connection speed problems: this is where your initial connection speed is not as high as it could be - eg. you have a 56k modem but can only connect at 36k.
  Each of these problems are generally caused by the same kind of thing so where "dropouts" are mentioned throughout the guide, bear in mind it effectively covers all of these issues.

Before You Start:

This guide has been written with "user friendliness" in mind. It assumes little or no prior computer knowledge so you should find it easy to follow even if you have no experience with computers and modems at all. Despite this fact, the information contained will also be very beneficial to anyone who is more technically experienced.

It is divided into a number of sections. We would recommend that you begin with the section on The Basics as this material resolves about 90% of customer problems relating to dropouts and connection speed issues. If your particular problem persists, then work your way through the remaining sections, which cover Modem Configuration Issues, Line and Exchange Issues, and Advanced Modem Configuration until your problem is resolved.

Please note that this guide does NOT cover problems with establishing your initial connection to Linknet or configuration errors on your computer. For this you should check the Troubleshooting guides in our Online Help, or contact Support on (02) 6684 3345.

Finally, if you have a 56k modem but are only connecting at 33.6k, the v90 Connection Problems page will provide more appropriate advice for you.

Let’s proceed with The Basics.