internet connection problems

D_Derbonne

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Jul 12, 2001
Posts
5,409
Loc
Middleburg, FL
Business
semi retired
I've been having problems connecting to the internet lately.
Someitmes I get an error message, something about my computer not answering and sometimes a message about my network settings being incorrect. I've checked the settings and everything looks okay.
Someitmes I have to turn the computer off 3-4 times before it will connect. It is down right frustrating.
Can anyone help? Please?!?
 
Hello
Which provider do you use and have you checked to see if they may have changed some of their local numbers lately?

Going into start -> settings -> control panel -> network, which items are listed?

Some programs (AOL, etc) are notorious for adding extra items and mixing up the ones already there.

Are you using Windows 98 or something else?

Mike
 
I have MSN, and they have almost continuous server problems. They never admit it, but, after connecting ISP's to BellSouth for years, I know better!
I desperately want to go with cable, Roadrunner, in NC.
 
I use Bellsouth and Windows 98.
I can't see anything wrong and this morning everything went smoothly.
I am understanding that it is probably Bellsouth that is to blame?
Guess it's just life in the country and I'll have to be persistant if I want to get online.
Thanks guys.
 
Deb,

I use Netscape with Earthlink as an ISP. The past 2 weeks I had a problem connecting. I attributed it to school starting, everyone coming back from summer vacation and getting on thet internet, but it is back to normal now. I think it would help if I changed my dial up number, it is one of the first dial up numbers (oldest) GTE had in this area (earthlink contracts for use of GTE lines here). I have had the problem at other times when kids were out for break , Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc., Christmas in particular.

I notice you are using Netscape, have you checked to see if they are doing any kind of system maintenance?

Anyway, it's probably not you, it's is probably your ISP.
 
I tend to agree about it being the ISP, but network settings can sometimes cause random problems too.

The larger ISPs (AOL, MSN, EARTHLINK, etc) seem to be the most UNreliable; at least around here. I remember the fiasco about 5 years ago when the internet grew and all you could get from them was busy signals. (especially AOL)

If you're a frequent user, cable(fastest and cheapest) or dsl(slower and more $, but still great) might be worth looking into. For about $35/month, you get a 24 hour live feed that runs about 20 times faster- and doesn't tie up the phone line. I installed it several years ago and haven't looked back. (Have it at 2 of my offices, at home, and at he frame shop)

Mike
 
Mike's right! High speed is the WAY TO GO!! As soon as we can afford it, we're going cable, which connects upwards of T1 rate, which is 1.544 Million bits/Sec as opposed to 56,000 bits/sec.

We;re paying $29.95/mo for MSN, and connecting, when we can, at 56,000. It just seems good business to go for 24/7 online, at 20+ times the speed!
 
It's a curious thing to me: seldom is mentioned ATT as a dial-up ISP. We pay $16.95 for 150 hours (about five hours a day which is way more than I ever come close to using). It's pretty much an instant connection, about 14 seconds, very reliable, but the throughput is only about 30,000 bpm. However, that doesn't seem to make much difference to me as I can waste half a second or so to change from Warped to Business Issues forums.

I'd probably go Roadrunner but too many of my friends have real problems with it. Or maybe I'm just too lazy to investigate. Our RR and DSL run about $45.00 to $50.00 per month. I just don't think it's worth it to me, I guess.
 
You guys with your high speed connections don't have to rub it in. On Verizon's carrier system here, we get 18kbps on a good day, 16k on an average day and less than 12k on a bad day. We have been told that there are no plans to upgrade as far out in time as budget plans go.

A 56k connection would be like warp speed.

Our only other option is DirectWay Satellite for $100 per month for the first year.
 
I used to get aggravated, even when I switched to SNET DSL. I had a AMD 700mhz with 98 and later upgraded to ME. It was not much faster at surfing than 56K, and when using AOL it was even worse. I got a new machine, an Intel P4 1.7mhz with XP and I'm happy as a Grumbler clam. Talking to others with slower machines and XP upgrades, they say it made an incredible difference.

Surfing for me now is trouble free and fast, even with AOL, which is a little slower than just using explorer. And my computer has never been so stable, no lock ups at all.

Happy Happy Joy Joy – some how I'm sure I will find a way to screw it up!
 
Rick, I think you win the prize for slowest connection rate. I thought mine was slow at 26-28,000! Sometimes I have to get up and do something while I wait for pages to load. I would love to have a high speed connection but it isn't in my budget yet. Actually I'm just happy that I got online tonight on my first try. Yippee!!!
 
I havent posted before... I check every once in awhile and ead with my dad but don't feuently find things i have much to say about. However, I am a frequent user of the internet at home. About April (for my birthday) we started with Bellsouth DSL, running with some slightly non-standard euipment. This would include the internal Speedstream 3060 modem, which is much better quality and more reliable than the home touch one you get standard. I have had a few problems... It took awhile to figure out how to set it up first off as far as software configs go. The installation was a breeze (as opposed to cable.. will usually cost money). I finally found the right files, it actually manipulated windows DUN in a wierd way so I connect to DSL like a normal dial-up connection. When i actually found the right file, I backed it up and all i have to do is run a customized driver install and every thing works fine. I absolutely LOVE DSL, as I play alot of games online and 56k just wont cut it. As for OS.. for normal people windows 98 will do just fine. I recently installed 2000 at home and I find it to be much smoother and more stable, although a bit more troublesome to set up. I havent used XP, although I hear good things about it outside of a few compatibility issues, as it uses acrhitechture similar iin many ways to 2000, and 2000 has many of the same issues. I'm getting a little off topic.. So I will share my findings on speed. On DSL at home, I have about a constant 1.2-1.4 MBPS all day every day. My friend has cable, and has clocked it close to 2 MBPS late at night. However, I tested it during the day: 600k. The major downfall of cable is you share a certain amount of the bandwidth to the backbone with everybody else. The more people logged on, the slower you go. Cable can be very fast or very slow depending on your locale. If there is nobody for miles, but you can still get cable, get cable. In more densely populated areas, I would say DSL is the way to go. We pay about $45 a month, and I help at the frame shop (who woulda guessed?) to earn it. If it is in your buget to go high-speed, you wont go back.
 
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