Connection Trouble Shooting

 


What Is a Drop Out?                                                                          Back

A drop out is a term used to describe your modem disconnecting without you, your computer or our servers initiating the disconnect.

 What Causes A Drop Out                                                                  Back

Typically drop outs are caused by line noise or interference. This noise can be caused by all sorts of things.
Examples include: poor waterproofing or phone lines (you might notice more problems when it has been raining);loose wiring/jacks; old wiring; radio frequency interference(mobile phones in the same room are infamous). These are some of the more common causes of line noise and drop outs.

What Can I do About Drop Outs?                                                     Back

We have a number of suggestions that you might like to try to reduce these problems.

First ensure that you have disabled call waiting.
Call waiting is a service that allows some one to receive a phone call while they are already using the phone. When some one calls you and you are already on the phone and have call waiting, you will hear some pips. These pips are designed to tell you somone else is trying to reach you. These pips are also sufficient to disconnect your modem, To turn call waiting off dial #43#, before you use your modem. You should hear a voice confirming that call waiting has been disabled. To re-enable call waiting dial *43#.
For more details about call waiting see your Telstra White Pages.

You should try this even if you do not think you have call waiting, as many people have call waiting and are not aware of this.

 All new Telstra lines have call waiting, if your local exchange supports it, and this is enabled by default.

The next thing to do is ensure that you have no other equipment connected to the line that your modem is using. This includes telephones, answering machines, faxes and back to base security alarms. Many of these devices generate noise or draw power from phone lines, which once again is sufficient to interfere with a modem call.

Compression Technology                                       Back

Next you should turn off all compression.
Compression technology is designed to increase effective download speeds. When it works it does this and does it admirably.
The problem is it does not always work, for a variety of reasons, and when it doesn't work it can cause problems.
To turn compression off:
Go to your Modem Control Panel.
Click on your modem and click the Properties button.
This will bring up another window, with a button marked Advanced in the bottom right corner. Click this Advanced button.
At the top left of the resulting window is a checkbox Error Control, ensure this and all the other boxes below it (including Compress data) are unticked.
Also in the Extra Settings field enter the string %C0.
The last place to turn off compress data is in the Dial Up Networking connection.
Go to My Computer and open the Dial Up Networking folder.
There should be a connection, representing your Cafeoz.net connection.
If created using our normal reccomendations, this should be called Cafeoz.net . Using your right hand mouse button click on this and choose properties.
At the top of the resulting window should be a tab marked Server Types (on older version of Win95 it is a button on the bottom right corner).
Under the Advanced Options section is a tick box labelled Enable Software Compression.
Make sure this is unticked.
Ensure this is turned off (ie un-ticked).

You might also at this stage like to try a couple of modem initialisation strings.
For KTX or Auslinx modems:

AT&FM1L1Q0E1V1&C1&D2&P1&S1%M0%C0\N6\Q3&W&W1

For Rockwell Chipset based modems (i.e. most generic modems)

AT&F&C1&D2W1S95=7%E2&R1&W&W1

With Windows95/98, leave the AT&F off of the beginning off the string.

For other brand modems consult your modem's manual.


Line Noise                                                             Back

The next thing to do is try and establish whether there are actually problems with line noise. In some cases you can do this yourself as you can hear the noise when you are on the phone talking to people.


The next step in line testing we would suggest is to ask Telstra to check your lines. Just because they checked out OK to your ears, does not mean they are noise free. Modems are far more sensitive than human ears.
To do this dial 132203 and a Telstra operator should be able to test your line.
Be aware however that a successful test does not mean the line is noise free. Telstra only test for voice quality and very low data quality.

In fact Telstra only guarantees that you can obtain speeds of 2400 bits per second on a normal line (For details see your Telstra White Pages). This is between 10 and 25 times slower than the average modem on today's desktop.
Telstra has recently standardised procedures and increased operator awareness for modem related problems such as drop outs and similar Internet connectivity problems, so your Telstra operator should hopefuly be more helpful than some people have experienced in the past.

If your line checks out okay, and none of our other suggestions have helped, then you might try lowering your modem speed. Typically the slower the connection speed, the more reliable the connection will be.

Modem Settings                                                    Back

To lower your modem speed go to the Extra Settings box in your Modem Control Panel (as per the above instructions) and add the following string:

The following is for 33.6K or slower modems.

+ms=11,1,19200,24000

This will prevent your modem connecting at speeds faster than the last number in the string.

You can then reduce or increase the last number of the string until you get a number that works for you. You can only use the following numbers as the last number:

33600 28800 24000 19200 .

For K56 Flex

+ms=56,1,300,42000

or For V90 modems you should use this string

+ms=12,1,300,42000

and try stepping up or down the speed in the following increments (replacing the last number with these):

54000, 50000, 46000, 42000, 38000, 34000, 33600, 28800, 24000, 19200.

Following these instructions will reduce your connection speed, but should increase your reliability.

 What Now?                                                                                         Back

If nothing so far has helped the last suggestion we can make is that you take your computer, cables and modem to another location and try and dial in from there and see if the problem persists.

And also try a different modem at your home and the other location.
This of course will not fix your problem, but will help to localise the problem to your house if your system works elsewhere.

With a bit of luck one or some combination of these suggestions should help to alleviate your problems.

If you need further help, or need help in following these instructions, please do not hesitate to email or telephone support on 07 5472 0702. If you choose to telephone, please have your telephone close enough to your computer that you can operate your computer and talk on the telephone simultaneously. You will not need to dial up to make these changes.



 Back to Trouble shooting