Internet connection gone in the house

J

Joe Nonety

Guest
A couple of months ago we could no longer connect to the internet with the error message "No dial tone".
We've tried new cables, new ISP, new modem and even tried 2 people's labtops which are working fine in their own house's all to no avail.
We got Eircom out to check the line and install a new phonebox on the wall outside the house.
When it still didn't work, they said they don't guarantee internet connections.
Any one ever encounter a problem like this?
 
Presumably this is regular dial-up and not ISDN or something like that?

Is the line working OK for voice calls? Do you get a dial tone when you pick up the phone normally? If both of these work then it seems very odd that the modem(s) cannot detect the dial tone particularly if it used to work. If your modem doesn't normally play the connection tones (dial-tone, dialing, initial negotiation with ISP's modem) through its speaker then you should see if you can find the setting (probably some AT ... command or perhaps a Windows configuration option) to enable this just to see (hear!) if the dial tone is audible when attempting to connect.

Sounds like a strange one.
 
Do you have a dialtone when you pick up the phone when it is plugged into the same socket that is used for the modem ?

Maybe one of the wires to *that socket* are damaged, or maybe the whole socket is damaged. If you get an audible dialtone with a handset then you can rule out a damaged socket.

Unless you live in the Twilight Zone, there is a logical explanation to your problem. It might be that eircom have put some experimental card in *your* exchange and this is not generating the correct dialtone - you can hear it, but the modem is expecting a different tone and doesn't recognise it. Many modem drivers have (or had) an option along the lines of "Don't wait for dialtone" - this just causes the modem to dial regardless of hearing a dialtone or not. This may get over your problem.

z
 
Further diagnostics would involve using Hyperterminal (or other terminal emulation) and 'talking' direct to the modem.

Basically when you are 'talking' to the modem (on COM1:, COM2:, COM3: or COM4: unless you have something weird) you can send the following command

AT ->start talking to the modem
ATM2 ->enable speaker
ATL3 ->turn the volume up
ATX3 ->disable dialtone detection
ATDTxyxxyxy ->dial xyxxyxy by tones

(where xyxxyxy is the phone number of your ISP, or your mobile phone number, or any number in fact)

This should cause something like the following to appear
"ring, ring"
"ring, ring" - you do have a working link

or else
"no carrier" - you really don't have a working link

You could also try ATDPxyxxyxy where the P causes the phone to use pulses (like in the very old days) to dial instead of tones.

z
 
I had a similar experience with someone's PC a few years ago. Never got to the bottom of it. I took their PC to my house and it worked fine. In their house, there just wouldn't be a dialtone when the modem went off-hook. In fact, their voice mail prompt eventually kicked-in. So, for some reason, the telco switch isn't giving a dialtone. You can rule out the modem as other working modems fail in your house. Evidently it's something subtle to do with the phone point in the house but what that might be I couldn't determine.

Do you have any other phones in your house? If so, unplug them. If not, try plugging one in and then trying dialing out on the modem. Or, try picking up the handset on the other phone and then try dialing out. Just stabbing in the dark here.
 
Just to confirm that the dialtone and phoneline are working fine.
There was a crackling before which occurred at the same time the internet connection went but after Eircom came round that was fixed.
Next thing I'll try is that "Don't wait for dialtone" command.
Thanks for the suggestions.
 
.

Ive seen this sort of carry on a few times

Generally when there are other devices hanging out of the phone line as well the modem

Try to connect your modem directly to the line as it enters the house. Disconnect everything else ( alarm, sky box, cordless phone, fax etc etc ) that may be hanging out of the line.

BTW My pet hate is internal modems. If you have one of these give it to your worst enemy & buy an external one that you can see what is happening and can TURN OFF without turning off your PC

Must go now - have to get back to my paper tape reader


ASR33 from Skokie :D
 
Fax machine

Hi,

I have a similar problem with a standalone fax machine. i.e can't hear the dial tone....

I might try to unplug everything else just to see if the machine works, however this is impractable in the long run as I need the fax machineto be on-line during the day !!!

Any other thoughts ?

Digi
 
.

> BTW My pet hate is internal modems.

They're cheap for a reason (i.e. most of the functionality normally done in hardware is done instead by the software driver) and can take a bit of messing to get working optimally (e.g. sourcing, installing and tweaking the most appropriate drivers) but once they are correctly set up and configured they are generally fine for many dial-up users. I've set them up for most of my extended family's PCs and they've always worked fine for their (non technical) users. Of course given the choice an external hardware modem is probably better and more reliable.
 
.

Irldigi, take it in steps

Step 1 :

I might try to unplug everything else just to see if the machine works,

Step 2a :

If it does fix the problem try to figure out why ( frequently due to unused RJ11 connections being grounded / looped in unexpected manner )

Step 2b :

If it does not fix it put it all back the way it was - nothing lost but a little time -




As for my pet hate... Blank, I think the real reason I despise these things is that they are sooo cheep but nearly always demand endless time to set up so that by the time they are working it would have been so much smarter to have paid a little more at the start to get a product that worked out of the box. ( and thats another thing if the system is wiped & needs to be rebuilt how is it the drivers for the modem never seem to be there when they are needed.... DONT GET ME STARTED :D )
 
.

> As for my pet hate... Blank, I think the real reason I despise these things is ...

I certainly take your points on this and have spent many a weekend trying to source, install and configure WinModem drivers for various family PCs. Sometimes this involved a lot of detective work to figure out the original manufactuer, underlying chipset, most suitable drivers, most suitable initialisation settings/strings etc (none of which is always trivial!) and lots of trials and errors before getting the things working. Roll on universal broadband and end to dial-up woes is what I say. At that stage I'll probably simply end up spending the same amount of time installing/configuring firewalls, spyware/virus scanners etc.... :\
 
Re: .

Ah, but there are/will be software based adsl modems, so those phonecalls from your extended family won't stop
 
Re: .

Am about to check using Hyperterminal - fingers crossed!
 
Re: .

>>We got Eircom out to check the line and install a new phonebox on the wall outside the house.
When it still didn't work, they said they don't guarantee internet connections.


That's one of things I love about eircom -- an ISP division of a telephone company that owns its own network, yet cannot guarantee the integrity of your internet connection!

HELLO! EIRCOM? IS THERE ANYBODY THERE??!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top