A bad case of the "drop-carriers"......

[poltr1]

It's been one of those days, folks.

While trying to download my email today, I received the dreaded "Connection to [ISP] terminated. Would you like to reconnect?" pop-up window. I had 5 drops the first time I checked today, between noon and 1 pm. I had 2 drops between 4 and 5 pm. Add I've had 2 more drops so far between 11pm and midnight. That's a total of 9 today -- a new record.

When I do log in again, the POP server has a 10-minute inactivity timeout, so I have to wait for 10 minutes while the terminated session expires.


What can the ISP do? Probably nothing; their equipment will check out OK. And tell me "It's not our problem."

What can the phone company do? Probably nothing; they only certify residential lines up to 9600 bps. And say "It's not our problem."

What can I do? Check the ISP's website for their recommended solutions, and follow them. I know that my phone line doesn't "lock in" to the modem and there's nothing I could do about that, other than disfigure the back of the case with a pair of metal snips, which I don't want to do. I've already replaced the phone line. And I've already enabled software flow control.


Is it the cheap allegedly-category-1 phone line in the wall, which I suspect? Is it my phone cord? Is it my modem? And if I got DSL or broadband, would I still get these damned conenction drops?

As my late friend and fraternity brother Rob Sweeney used to say, "Line noise can kill!"

Comments

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

If you acquired broadband via cable, you'd be set. No phone line needed, in most cases. (I have heard of a very few that did, but I doubt they're still much in use.)

For DSL, you'd want to have the tech check the line and be sure it was okay. Make fixes as necessary before installation. At that point, you should be always-on.

Granted, in both cases there are other factors that cause outages, e.g., the switch through which your DSL goes, going out, or the modem flaking out. (Our cable does that every so often; I'd guess MTBF of this sort to be 3 months. We power the modem down for enough time for its memory to clear, reboot, and voila. Once we had to have the cable company send a signal through; they jolted us, we were fine.)

I'd recommend broadband, if you have the finances and a good option for it. (Depending on your connectivity and phone arrangements, you might, as we did, be able to justify broadband on telephone costs saved.) Good luck getting there!

[poltr1]

I've been sitting on the fence for broadband or DSL for a few years, for two reasons: 1) Which is better? and 2) Can I justify the cost? I don't do that much downloading, so a high-speed connection isn't that important to me.

I'm in range for DSL, but I'd probably have to get it through SBC. But I've heard their customer service isn't that great. I'd love to get ZoomTown, but I'm not in Cincinnati Bell's service area.

As for broadband, my cable provider is Time Warner, so I'd be getting RoadRunner. Lots of people love RoadRunner. But I'm not enamored of the company. They get enough of my money. In August, I missed a payment. Instead of waiting until I fell behind two months, they started calling me after falling behind one month. (They finally got their money.) I checked and cable companies are not regulated by the state's Public Utilities Commission.

I've been with my ISP for 10 years -- even though it was bought out 2 years ago. Even if I switched ISPs, it probably wouldn't take care of the line noise problem.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Even if I switched ISPs, it probably wouldn't take care of the line noise problem.

Si. Correcto. Unless, as I mentioned, you were moving to DSL and had the line checked and fixed at or prior to installation. I've heard that most telephone company service sucks -- certainly Verizon's is about as bad as any -- so DSL may present that obstacle.

"Broadband", by the way, includes DSL AND cable (AND some satellite connectivity). That said, you might see if you can get Earthlink Broadbank (a brand name); it might be delivered via the Time Warner cable line, but the service itself -- at least ours -- is pretty good. (Actually , TW's customer service is first line of defense, and they, who are atrocious for the cable TV arm, have been pretty good with the internet stuff.) Yes, they're greedy so-and-so's -- so is any corporation, especially the monopolies, these days.

While you may not do that much downloading, you'll have an INFINITELY better experience online on broadband. As I said, doublecheck the phone bill; if your local calls are above the monthly cost for broadband based on your internet connectivity alone, then you can afford to switch.

[poltr1]

I've heard that most telephone company service sucks -- certainly Verizon's is about as bad as any -- so DSL may present that obstacle.

Verizon (nee Bell Atlantic, nee NYNEX) has been on my boycott list for a while, after they closed a call center in Buffalo and laid off one of my friends who worked there.

Although it would be amusing to see a TV commercial where the Sprint PCS guy give the Verizon "Can you hear me now?" guy a Sprint PCS phone.

As I said, doublecheck the phone bill; if your local calls are above the monthly cost for broadband based on your internet connectivity alone, then you can afford to switch.

Since I'm on flat-rate billing for local calls, and it's a local call to my ISP, I think this point would be moot.

I've noticed that both DSL and broadband (cable) providers are touting their introductory price while conveniently forgetting to mention what the price is after the introductry period.

One of my colleages in the DECUS LUG cut his connection with SBC completely; he recently got a broadband VOIP service called Lingo. He was really happy with it when I last talked with him, about 3 months ago.

Chair stuff

[zencuppa.livejournal.com]

Just a quick note to say that I've sent you an email about picking up the chair on Tuesday AM ..

Re: Chair stuff

[poltr1]

Got it. Reply sent.