XP computer, very slow dial up modem, 2nd one installed

[ando57]

Hey Guys,

I am having trouble with a 56k modem in a customers ‘HP Pavilion 743’ ‘XP Home machine’, the problem is that it is only connecting at 25-35 kbps and the connection drops after about 25 minutes.

The customer has a laptop in the house that when connected using the same cabling will get a sustained connection of 44 kbps.

· There are no other applications running in the background
· All garbage has been disabled in MSCONFIG
· There are no extention cables just a short connecting cable provided with the modem to the wall (same cable is used with the laptop)
· Modem uninstalled/reinstalled in device manager
· All connections removed and just this dial-up connection set up again
· Problem persists 25-35 k/bits
· Windows updates turned off, nothing like kazaa etc on the pc
· Sent engineer to replace internal v92 modem
· New modem and the problem persists low speeds and dropouts
· Had phone line checked, 99% clear
· Sent out HP recovery disks and Norton 03 package
· Destructive restore completed
· New modem still as slow as the new one

Any comments will be gladly received.

Kind regards,



Jeff Anderson

 

[RevFlash]

I have heard of compatibilty issues between the clients modem, and the servers modem. Just something to consider...

Find out what modem the ISP recommends also what kind of modem the Laptop has...

Are you buying "Winmodems" vice standard or "any OS" modem.

Those are simple things to check...

 

[ando57]

Cheers for that, I'll check who their isp is and give them a call.

I think the modem is a Conexant HSF v92 56k PCI (too cheap not to be a winmodem)

it might be that they're just crap

i'll check that they don't get cut off due to 'idle time' as well

thanks for your help

 

[Comtech]

The chip on the modem may be a Conexant, but the modem itself is built by HP, if it came stock.
You cannot compare one system with one modem to another system with a different modem.
Just because one gets 44k does not mean that any other system will get the same.
Replacing the modem doesn't always help, because of differences in OS, differences in driver versions, differences in loaded programs, etc.
Unless the ISP supports V.92, it's best to turn it off, and use a protocall that is compatible. At least you're eliminating one possible source of the problem.
For most modems, including Conexant/Rockwell, Lucent, et al, but NOT USR, the init string is: +MS=V90,0 and if that fails, use: +MS=V90,1
I have no idea what USR/TI chipset use for V.90.


Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[ando57]

cheers Jim,

I had one of these 743 PCs in our lab so I tried a few different drivers and got ours to go from about 30k/bits to 40 to 45.2kbps with different drivers in each case (the fastest was an old conexant driver) I sent the customer the link for that one so hopefully it will have a positive outcome on his.

thanks for the post

 

[Cervantes]

Having worked for HP, I can tell ya, the Conexant modems are a headache.

Two things that might help:

First, do the USR line test (it's free!). It's my favorite test. =)

-Open a new Hyperterm session, and dial 1-847-262-6000 (or ATDT1-847-262-6000.
- Press "enter" to proceed once connected
- User the first name "Line" and the last name "test"

Et voila! It will test your connectivity and let you know if you can support 56K, or what your line conditions are.

I don't know if it's still there, but the whole document used to be at :

http://modemupdate.usr.com/infinity/56k/need4_56k/linetest.html

If that doesn't give you any clues, I know we used to fiddle with the FIFO buffers. Often, dropping the buffers to 1/2 would help maintain better and more stable connections. Also, dropping the max speed of the port to 57k helped, and on unstable connections, dropping everything to 34 was a good last resort.

Also, make sure they don't have a cordless phone on the same line. the 900mhz and 1.something Ghz phones often cause interference.

Hope some of this helps. Let us know!

 

[Comtech]

One thing that just may work, is if you remove any conexant drivers, and try browsing the built in list for this one: Fujitsu LB RWModem V.90 56K J
It seems to work really well with just about any type of SoftK56V Conexant HSF modem (NOT HCF!).
Worth a try.

Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/