Connection Problems and Explanations

The cause of disconnection or a poor connection speed can be frustrating
and sometimes hard to pinpoint. An inconsistent connection is an indication
something is wrong and these tips will give you somewhere to start as far as
getting the best connection your equipment is capable off. Lets start at TCSN.
We use only the newest 56k V.90 digital modems from Lucent, the industry
leader. With multiple backbone connections (Our Internet providers) you are
assured the fastest possible connection speeds and we are constantly adding
new equipment as we grow. The possibilities of getting a busy signal is small
and if you do retrying the connection in minute or so will usually get you
right through. If not your settings are incorrect or there is another problem.
Sometimes the problem is a bad phoneline, (house or street) and don’t think
that just because you live in a new house the lines are perfect because the
phone company has to connect your house to their office over existing lines
and switches, some of which have been in the ground since the 1940’s or 50’s.
(Pacbell will usually check your lines for free if you dial service:611 but
will not support any thing over 4800 bps (not even enough to make a good connection) so be sure to say that you are having problems with fax transmissions.
If you stay on the phone long enough to talk to a live person, request someone
be sent to your location to check the line for resistance, the enemy of a fast connection.)

We have several customers who live in a brand new house in a poor area and
have lots of connection trouble especially with the new 56k modems. The difference
between the older 28.8 modems (analog) and the new modems (digital) is that the
new modems are much more sensitive to noise. Someone picking up a extension
phone in your house can break the connection as can an incoming call if call waiting
is not disabled. (Usually *70, but check with your phone provider for sure because
if you use the wrong code or enable it without having call waiting, problems can
occur. Use the DIAL PROPERTIES to add the code.) Old phone equipment with
unshielded wiring can disrupt your connection. Had one customer who had lots
of problems. Turns out the problem was an old pay phone he had installed in his
recreation room.

Building wiring can be a problem but seldom "becomes" a problem. If the problem
is in the wiring in your house one way to check or bypass the problem is run a wire
called a "homerun" directly from the computer to the box where the phone line enters
the house that way any internal problems are avoided. Check your extension phones
the more you have the more problems that can occur. I saw one case where a cordless phone was picking up stray radio signals and kicking the user off line so be sure they are on another line or turned off. Speaking of new lines I cannot stress enough how much a new dedicated line can improve your connection as the only thing going across it is your computer data and it’s no competing with incoming traffic or your daughter picking up the phone every 5 minutes to call her girlfriends. Can you hear static or crosstalk on your line? Bad news it’s not stable enough for data transmission. We’ve covered the provider (TCSN), the transportation (Phone Co.) and the wiring so what’s left?

Equipment that’s what!
Of course your dealing with electronic equipment and a modem can become bad but still work it just doesn't stay connected or give you a good connection every time. The "BIG" computer manufactures (Compaq etc.) sometimes include the worst modems you can get in their machines. (LT WIN modem is a perfect example. It’s hard to configure properly and almost never gives a stable connection. ) Often replacing the modem cures the problem. So don’t think just because the machine is brand new it should work perfectly right out of the box. There are so many variables. But with a little persistence (and a little luck) you should be able, from ANY phone line and any computer, to get a decent connection also if you let the mail program do the dialing it has a timeout of only a couple minutes so it's better to use dialup networking or The Internet Explorer icon..

Now we have covered everything except the system settings and as you can imagine these effect everything on your computer.(and your connection to the Internet)
I can only cover so much in this space and you can figure that for each operating system there are settings to optimize the specific OS. Windows 3.1, Win95,(A,B or C) and Win98 all have little tricks to help them connect at there maximum
(and we haven’t even talked about MAC yet!) One thing you can try is to go to your modem properties in control panel and lower the maximum speed for your modem you must also go to DIALUP NETWORKING, go to the properties ,click on configure, and reset the modem speed there as well. Here are some other tips that may help you get a good connection.

Symptom:
It's taking forever (or so) for my Windows 95 computer to connect to
your service after my modem has made excessive amounts of noise.
Solution:
Part One
•Double-click on MY COMPUTER
•Double-click on DIAL-UP NETWORKING
•Right-click on your TCSN connection icon
•Click SERVER TYPE and un-check support for NetBEUI and IPX/SPX
-- be sure to leave TCP/IP checked
•Un-check LOG ON TO NETWORK
•Attention FrontPage Users: If you see the error message
"NTLM Autentication Failed" when accessing your page, you may
prevent the error from occuring by checking "LOG ON TO NETWORK".
•Click OK and then OK again
Part Two
•Click on START, then SETTINGS, then CONTROL PANEL
•Double-click on NETWORK
• All you want in there is…
Client for Microsoft Networks (This remembers your password)
Dialup Adapter (This dials the phone)
TCP/IP (The language our computers talk together with)
If you’ve got an AOL Adapter or ANYTHING that says AOL you have
to remove it
•Highlight the DIAL-UP ADAPTER and click PROPERTIES
•Click on the BINDINGS tab and uncheck all items other than TCP/IP
•Click OK
•Double-click on TCP/IP
• Click DNS CONFIGURATION set it to DISABLE
• Click WINS CONFIGURATION set it to DISABLE WINS RESOLUTION
• Click IP ADDRESS set it to OBTAIN AN IP ADDRESS AUTOMATICLY
• Click GATEWAY be sure there are no installed gateways.
Click OK and OK reboot your system and your network is optimized for TCSN.
It’s always best to let the program that does the dialing do it on it’s own without
The other programs competing with it. Double click MY COMPUTER and then
DIALUP NETWORKING. Click once on the TCSN icon
(or whatever your connection is called it may be MY CONNECTION or CONNECTION TO 221-0027 etc)
Choose FILE, CREATE SHORTCUT. It’ll say "Windows cannot create a shortcut
Here would you like a shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?"
YES! Now you have a shortcut to TCSN on your desktop this icon connects you
to the Internet and checks your password, that’s all. You must start the application
that you want to use on the Internet (Internet Explorer, Netscape, email etc.)
This will give you a better error message (if there is such a thing!) that will help us
troubleshoot the connections if there’s problems. If you need to call our support line
be sure to have your user ID,  Password and the error message your getting ready
it will really help our tech support guys pinpoint your problem..
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Call support at 227-7000 or 1-800-974-DISK with any questions or if you
need help configuring anything. Rest assured there
is not a big switch here with your name on it that we shut off everytime
you get to the end of a giant download.