Dial-Up Questions and Troubleshooting

My password/username is being rejected!?

This is a common problem amongst dial-up users. Fortunately, in 99% of all cases, it is easily fixed.

• Your password/username must be lowercase. The system is case-sensitive, therefore if your password/username is annie and you type Annie, AnNie or ANNIE it will not work. Make sure your "Caps Lock" key is not on.
• Sometimes, if you are online, and are disconnected by call waiting, a power failure, or any other reason where you did not manually disconnect, the server does not properly log you off, essentially, it believes your account is still online. If you try to login during this time, the system shows you are still online, and your password/username will not be accepted. Wait a few minutes and try again.
• When you enter in your username, please make sure that it does not have the "@isp.com" added to it. Your username is the part before the "@isp.com". This suffix is only used by the email system to put your email in your inbox and give you a unique email address. When "Bob" logs in, the server knows him as "Bob" - not "bob@isp.com".

When I try to dial, I get "NO DIAL TONE or Error 680 " Why?

That will happen for any of the following reasons:

• Is your phone cord plugged into the modem's "phone" jack, instead of the "line" or "telco" jack?
• Is your phone cord damaged or unplugged from the modem or wall jack?
• Is a phone off the hook somewhere?
• Your modem may have encountered an error and stopped responding. This happens often and can be fixed by shutting down and powering off the computer for a few minutes. If the problem persists, you should contact your computer or modem vendor, since your modem is not physically seeing that it is attached to a phone line. The help desk cannot troubleshoot this problem.
• Installed Fax/Speakerphone software will sometimes 'listen' for an incoming fax/call, thus preventing the modem from getting a dial tone. Make sure this software is not running when you attempt to dial.
• Is the phone jack damaged, or has your line been disconnected? Try plugging a phone into the jack to see if you get a dial tone.

The modem dials, screeches forever, then disconnects!

This "screeching" is called a handshake, and it is where modems identify their capabilities to each other and attempt to make the best connection possible given current phone line conditions.. When this screech takes longer than 15-20 seconds, it is likely that there is something interfering with the connection. This could be phone line noise, an outdated modem driver, faulty phone cord, or a signal dropout. You've experienced this when you call someone and can barely hear the other party's voice. Remember, your call is going through the same lines that normal phone calls do, which in some areas are highly susceptible to moisture, heavy use, or are not conducive to 56k speeds. Modems are highly sensitive to sudden changes in line condition and quality. Finally, every phone call you make may take one of several paths through your telephone company, it is possible that some routes are not as "clean" as others. When this happens, you should simply try calling in again and more often than not, the problem will go away. However, persistent occurrences of this may indicate a more serious matter. Your modem settings play a very important part in the ability of the modem to connect. If you are having this problem often, you may need to modify your modem's settings.

My modem worked fine until today/last week, now the computer can't find it!

• Usually, it's just a glitch in your operating system. Sometimes powering off the computer, then turning it back on will cause the modem to be redetected. In Windows, you can run the "Add New Hardware Wizard" from your control panel and see if the modem reappears. Sometimes this will require a driver disk to be reinstalled, Windows 95/98 will almost always ask for the disk. You should have this handy, or contact your computer or modem vendor to obtain one.
  
• If this problem occurs after a series of power failures, or an electrical storm, it is possible that your modem may have been damaged by a power spike. The best way to avoid this is to always unplug your modem from the phone jack during a storm, surge protectors don't always work. Never use the Internet during an electrical storm, doing so risks destroying your entire computer.