Win Modem

The service technician left a message 45 hours later saying that no problem could be found with the line and that I should call back if the issue persisted.

*drop*

It persisted. And it got worse: constant drops, immediate disconnects after dialing up, modem noises that resembled explosions.

And then there were the error messages...







For a few days I was in denial, thinking that others would start having phone problems and the telecom would have to fix it like they did before, showing up in two trucks packing huge spools of wire.

*drop*

At some point I snapped out of that wishful thinking and realized that any solution would to have to be my pwn. It occurred to me that the modem's PCI contacts might need a cleaning; otherwise I was fresh out of ideas.

*drop*

While opening the computer I noticed that it felt pretty warm, and after removing the side panel found that the power supply was hot. Really hot! Its fan was still running but not moving much air. With the PC open I dialed up and it connected instantly, downloaded like a champ, and all seemed well again.

After shutting down I took the PSU apart and cleaned the fan thoroughly, as well as the CPU fan which was also sorely in need, and gave them each a bit of oil.

And all was indeed well again.

I suppose that the dropping and errors were caused by heat from the power supply hitting the modem. If that is the case, then my Win Modem alerted me to a meltdown that was days, possibly hours away.

It might not be going too far to say that my Win Modem saved my computer.

Gotta go. There's downloads to be landed and I'm back to bringin' 'em in non-fail at ~ 4.8 screamin' KB/sec.

-Tarbolde

"For Great Justice!"

to! The Internet doesn't stand still and my download list is getting steep. With some of these links it's a matter of get 'em while they're hot!

I was reading somewhere (it must have been online, since books are obsolete) that on a 'noisy' phone line a 56k modem will fall back to 33.6 kbit/s mode. That sounds like what I described above, which brings us back to the phone company.

*drop*

Their crap infrastructure has caused me to rage many a time; I've cursed aloud upon their name. The challenge was to call them and be civil when, if wishes were horses, my telecom provider would be stomped to death beneath their thundering hooves. But since I don't purchase my Internet access from them, they aren't likely to be sympathetic about my connection problems.

*drop*

Last time this happened, I waited a month before contacting them, and so it was again. After dusting off the telephone and plugging it into the back of my computer, I called customer service. They actually managed to sound happy to talk to me, and when I told them that my computer wouldn't stay connected to the Internet they didn't even question it. The rep cheerily promised to send someone out to fix it within 48 hours, and asked if I'd like to sign up for their high-speed internet at an amazing low price, with free installation.

Telemarketing in the middle of a service request. At least they didn't call and wake me up to do it like they used to.



Anyway, I'd done everything I could and the cavalry was on the way. Within two days my connection problems would be over.

*drop*