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| Thread ID: 46507 | 2004-06-26 02:42:00 | Modem, House Wiring, or Gremlins | B.M. (505) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 247674 | 2004-06-26 02:42:00 | This little problem is driving me nuts so please bear with me. The neighbour asked me to look at his kids’ computer as it had just about slowed to a halt. The long and short of it was although it had NAV it was a couple of years old, had never been updated, and the subscription had expired after 12 months. Ad-aware and Spybot recognised 1500 keys, files whatever. Index.dat was several megs so I decided a reformat and start again might be the smart way to go. This done everything worked fine at my place but the modem will not connect to Xtra from the neighbours place. It dials, squeaks and squawks, but fails to connect. Now remember it works 100% from my place and floating the mouse pointer over the two little computers on the bottom task bar shows the connection speed a very respectable 56K. (That too is at my place) My own computer only registers 44K. By the way the neighbour lives 2 doors from the local telephone exchange and I live three so there should be no problem with line loss. Because everything works fine at my place I started to wonder about the house wiring at the neighbours. He has what I believe to be the redundant 3-wire system with 5 jack-points. That’s jack-points not phones. The bedroom phone was unplugged for the benefit of the testing. Closer inspection doesn’t reveal anything obviously wrong but I note that there is an object called a “Test Termination Unit” hung across the “A” & “B” legs in the termination box at the entrance to the house. Could somebody please explain to me this little black box? Ok, I then thought getting Telecom to test the line would be a good idea which I did and they claimed they could find nothing untoward. Darn, now if that wasn’t bad enough a young fellow turned up with his Acer Notebook and hooks straight onto Xtra at 44K. Can someone please suggest something as I’m fresh out of ideas? :( |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 247675 | 2004-06-26 02:59:00 | what OS? what modem and what drivers is it useing ? | tweak'e (174) | ||
| 247676 | 2004-06-26 03:28:00 | Sorry, OS win98se Modem Conexant HCF V90 Speakerphone PCI Modem Port Com 3 Comm.drv 5872 bytes date 4/23/1999 Identifier PCI\CXT1035 Driver file details Provider Conexant File Ver 2.1.2.156.012 Date 5/13/1999 |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 247677 | 2004-06-26 03:29:00 | I suspect the test termination unit should be removed. I think it pretends to be a phone so line testers give a normal response. Telecom's test will have checked that the line is fine for telephones. Wet string works for telephones. :D The three-wire system is "deprecated" these days. The third wire is fed through a capacitor in the first phone and drives the bells in other phones. It gives an imbalance which might affect the frequency and phase response, which both matter in modern modems. The other problem can be the often branched configuration. But the modem worked before. The only thing you have changed is the software. :D Check all the settings of the modem. For example, is it set up to work in NZ? ;-) |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 247678 | 2004-06-26 03:52:00 | If the same PC connects fine from BM's place, then it is hardly likely to be software. 1. Check the modem cable - are you using the same one? 2. Are you connecting through the main jackpoint (where the line enters the house) or an extension? The main jackpoint (for purposes of testing) is best. 3. Be sure all extraneous devices (phones, double-jackpoint plugs, etc) are removed and add each one back on after a successful connection. |
antmannz (28) | ||
| 247679 | 2004-06-26 04:21:00 | I'm probly way off track here but do you need to put any extra numbers in the dialup, eg for disabling caller waiting or anything like that? Just a thought . ;-) |
Fire-and-Ice (3910) | ||
| 247680 | 2004-06-26 04:29:00 | I don’t recall being asked where in the world I was during the modem set-up Graham . I’ll follow that up . But it doesn’t really explain why it goes like a rocket at my place but not next door does it? (Unless the world has been re-surveyed without my being advised) ?:| Your observation that it used to work ok at the neighbours is oh so correct, going by the garbage that it had downloaded over an extended period . :D I’m very tempted to take my side cutters to the wiring and remove the test termination and the third wire set-up . I know telecom insist you must replace the termination box to convert 3-wire to 2-wire but these are not the square cream boxes, they are flash stainless faced types I haven’t seen before . The insides look normal thou . I recon just cutting the leg of the capacitor connected to line and removing the ringer wire from pin 3 should do it?????? ]:) By the end of the weekend the neighbour may well have no computer or phones! :) Yes antmannz I made sure it wasn’t the cable between modem and connector box and yes the connection is on the main jack . The only thing going for this fault is that it is not intermittent if that can be considered a plus? :( |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 247681 | 2004-06-26 04:39:00 | Really, really, really, really, really stupid question: The modem cable is plugged into line and not phone? Personally, I'd snip the entire phone cable system off and re-connect it. If it works, great; if it doesn't, then re-join it to restore it to as new condition ;) . Of course you may need some joiners to do this properly. |
antmannz (28) | ||
| 247682 | 2004-06-26 04:56:00 | Yep antmannz, the modem cable is in the line socket, but I must admit in desperation I tried it in the telephone jack! :D These modern day dry joints scare hell out of me, especially when you get lots of salt air as we do in Mount Maunganui. |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 247683 | 2004-06-26 06:51:00 | Have you tried a phone in the socket you are using, if so, was the line clear? What about setting up a dial-up connection to a cellphone, or even your home number . That is the way I usually check that it is dialling out ok . If it is dialling out ok, ie, the cellphone or your home phone rings and when you answer it you get the screeching sound, then there may be a problem in the hand-shaking between the PC and Xtra . Ensure that 'log on to network' is not checked, and that the only protocol under dial up networking is tcp/ip . I'm in Tauranga, will be in the Mount tomorrow afternoon if ya want another set of eyes . J :D |
Jester (13) | ||
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