Being Disconnected -- Things To Check

Being Disconnected - Things To Check

a) In Windows 95 & Windows 98 when you use Dialup Networking and the "Make new connection" wizard, it by default selects the wrong settings for Internet Service Providers. To check that these settings are right, go to:

My Computer-->Dialup Networking

You should now see an Icon that represents the server you dial into. Right mouse click on the icon and a menu comes up, left mouse click on the "properties". At the top of the screen is a set of tabs listing different options. From these tabs choose "Server Types".

The first thing you see is dialup server, it should read:

"PPP: Internet, Windows NT Server, Windows 95/98"

In the advanced options box, the only thing that SHOULD have a check mark in it is:

"Enable Software Compression"

In the following box titled "allowed network protocols", the only thing that SHOULD have a check mark in it is:

"TCP/IP"

If you made any changes, please left mouse click on the "OK" button on the bottom of the screen to make the changes come into effect.

The next thing to check is the "TCP/IP" settings. "Server Assigned IP address" SHOULD be dotted and the "Server assigned name server addresses" SHOULD be dotted. The next two items to be checked are that "Use IP header compression" and "Use default gateway on remote network" both HAVE check marks in them. If any changes are needed, make them and be sure to click on OK at the bottom of the screen.

b) The next thing to check is to make sure your machine is not set to automatically disconnect you. This is also another default setting of Windows, is to dis-connect you after 20 minutes of inactivity. Even though you may be typing an e-mail or looking over a page on the web, the darn thing thinks your inactive and dis-connects you.
To check to make sure the feature is off--go to:

My Computer-->Control Panel-->Internet Options-->Connections (tab at top)

On this screen you should see "Dialup settings" and here click once to highlight your dialup connection. There should be at least one. Then select the "Settings" box which brings up another Window. In this window make sure that "Automatically detect settings" is check marked, and click on the advanced selection button. Here comes the Window that controls how you are cut off if idle, usually set to 20 minutes. Uncheck this box. This should be all that is needed. Be sure to click the OK tab at the bottom of the little window to exit and save this setting.

c) Another thing you can check on is the COM PORT setting for the modem you are using. To check your modem settings and COM Port settings go to:

My Computer-->Control Panel-->Modems

Now select the diagnostics tab at the top of this Window. It should say what COM Port your modem is on. Make note of which COM Port your modem is on, and then press the cancel button on the bottom of the screen. Now while still in control panel, double-click on the "System" icon. Choose the "Device Manager" tab at the top. The next thing to do is go to: Ports (COM & LPT)--Double click on this. If the COM Port for your modem shows up, double click on it, and skip the next sentence.
NOTE: If your modems COM Port does not show up, do not panic, this is normal with many plug and play devices and do nothing more to your computer then exit out of this section.

Now you are looking at a Window with four tabs across the top, select the tab that says "Port settings". The first setting is bits per second, make this the highest number allowed, usually "115,200". The next thing to do is check that the following settings have the following values:

"Data Bits"=8
"Parity"=none
"Stop Bits"=1
"Flow Control"=hardware

These are the correct settings above for almost every modem and place a person would be dialing into.

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