- Dropped Dial-Up Connections
There are four reasons you may be losing your dial-up connection:
- Your connection is idle for 15 minutes or longer.
NMU's dial-up server will disconnect you if your network connection is idle for 15 minutes. If you're writing or reading E-mail and wait 15 minutes before you send or check E-mail, the system will disconnect you. You will need to dial up again.
To keep this from happening, make sure you send or check your E-mail every ten minutes or so.
If you are downloading software from the Internet, you have nothing to worry about since your network connection will be active throughout the download.
- You have been connected for more than two hours during peak hours (between 7:00 PM and 1:00 AM). For more information, see NMU's Dial-Up Access Policy.
- Another computer is dialing up using the same user ID and password (shared or stolen account).
- You have call waiting, and someone is trying to call you.
Sometimes an incoming call will interrupt your dial-up connection.
To keep this from happening, disable call waiting for your dial-up connection. See Disabling Call Waiting.
- Busy Signal
If you hear a fast busy signal or a recorded message, your phone service provider may have temporarily run out of available connections supporting outlying areas.
If you hear a normal busy signal, NMU may have run out of available modem connections.
Please wait a few minutes, then try again.
- Dial tone but no connection
If you are having trouble getting a dial-up connection, try the following steps.
- Make sure you have a dial tone. If you do not, see Getting a Dial Tone for Dial-Up Connections.
- Make sure you are dialing the correct number.
If you are in Marquette, make sure you are dialing 227-9680.
If you are calling long distance, make sure you have entered the full number, including the area code.
- Retype your user ID and password.
Make sure that you type both your user ID and password in lower case, and that "Caps Lock" on your keyboard is not turned on.
- Make sure the NMU dial-up server is responding by calling 227-9680 with a regular telephone.
- Check your TCP/IP settings. See Checking TCP/IP Settings.
- Set your modem to a slower speed. See Changing the Modem Speed.
- Make sure your modem is responding. See Checking the Modem's Response.
- If there is a network bridge on your computer, delete it. See Deleting a Network Bridge.
- If you have an older modem on your own computer, it may need to be replaced with one that supports the newer v.90/92 standard.
Modem models sound different when trying to connect to a dial-in server:
- V.34 modems emit an immediate modem tone and usually connect quickly.
- V.90/92 modems emit two short beeps, followed by a few seconds delay, then the connection.
Older modems may not be able to connect unless set at a very low speed ~ 19.2Kbps. See step 5 above.
- If you are still unable to get a dial-up connection, contact the Help Desk at 227-2468.
- Troubleshooting No Dial Tone
If you are not able to get a dial tone, try the following steps:
- Make sure nobody is using a phone that uses the same line. You cannot place a phone call and dial up on the same line at the same time.
- Make sure the phone line is plugged into the computer's modem port.
Many computers have two ports that both look like telephone jacks. One, which is slightly smaller than the other, is the correct port to plug the phone line into.
- Make sure the phone cord you are using is not defective.
Try another cord with the computer, or attach a phone to this cord, and listen for a dial tone.
- Make sure you are only using one phone cord, not a set of several phone cords daisy-chained together.
- Make sure the phone jack you are using works properly.
Either try dialing through another phone jack, or attach plug in a phone to this jack, and listen for a dial tone.
- Make sure the Tone/Pulse setting in your dial-up configuration is correct.
Most phone lines use Tone dialing. Make sure your computer is set up for Tone dialing, unless you know your phone line uses Pulse dialing. See Setting Tone/Pulse Dialing.