56k modem, never connects at that, why?

[RobUK]

My 56k modem has never connected at 56,000bps, why??? It always connects at around 46,000bps. Is this normal??

Rob http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[Jonty]

Thats not bad for a dial-up connection. I generally connect at either 45333 or 44000. The lowest I've had was 40000 and the highest (only once!) was 46667. Friends of mine sometimes connect as low as 30000 or so! My niece once connected at 49300!

[Techie Dude]

Hey Rob,

Just a quick quesiton. Are you using BT right now?

I have a BT and Cable line installed. Using the BT line, I get around 42,000-45,333 conneciton. If I connect on the Cable line, I get around 50,666-52,333.

It`s just down to the line supplier I`m afraid. I did phone BT before, and they did check the line for me, reporting no problem. I also had a problem with a noisy line on BT. They just transfered me to another line (still the same number). Although this can only be done if the fault is the line to the exchange (not your line in the house). So far, I haven`t had any problems with the cable line, but then it`s only been installed a few years.

Just to clarify (mainly to those US readers). A cable line here isn`t just a cable conneciton like there. It`s a cable TV company, which also offer phone lines (just the same as normal phone lines). A Cable (Broadband) connection here is pretty new, and some areas don`t have it yet......

Anyway, final comment is........your connection is fine mate...!

PS. You could always get a prog to optimize your connection, this may help, but don`t expect a huge difference. Try Modem Wizard or Tweak DUN.

[This message has been edited by Techie Dude (edited 08-08-2000).]

[jpeppers]

I may be wrong but, I believe FCC allows connect speeds up to 53K.

[chipbgt]

You may also be right http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif The fcc only allows up to 53k...silly isnt it?

[wtp]

that's correct, the FCC limits the connection you get because they think it will interfere with other lines and stuff.

wtp

[Bovon]

Here is my two cents worth. I have fought many battles with several ISPs, different modems, ect. What I have learned over the past 4 years is, it all boils down to #1 the phone lines, #2 the modem, #3 the firmware used in your modem, vs the firmware used at the ISP..(if the two modems can't 'talk' to each other, you get a lot of retraining, ect.)

In my particular instance, I live in an area that uses a small home-owned type of telephone company...the ususal ISP connections are at the 'city' some miles distant. I have to first go thru my exchange to get to the larger company, where the ISP is. This can cause all sorts of problems, like dual conversion. When your data from your modem leaves your computer, its in analog format...when it gets to the ISP it is converted to digital format. 56 K cannot do a double conversion, which happens when you go thru two or more exchanges. This reduces the connect speed, if you are lucky...if you are not so lucky, you get many disconnects. The win (PCI) modems usually only work fair, if you have excelent (no noise) phone lines, and live less than a mile from the first phone company exchange.

I finally bit the bullet, and bought a USR/3Com hardware data fax modem, which improved my connects several times over...finally, my own mom and pop telephone company let an ISP use their services for internet...that fixed my problem...I get 50.300 connects everytime, and never a disconnect. I stay connected some days for 14 hours or so. Check your modem...if it is a Rockwell chipset...can it, and if you must save money and use a win modem..get a Lucent based chipset modem...then get the latest firmware. Also...I have found that some computer switching power supplies are noisy...this plays havoc with modems and connects. A noisy power supply is hard to prove. The way I found mine was, the phone company sent a guy out to check my lines at the house, sence I was having so many problems...he disconnected my house from the line, and found that the line was clear. I asked him to reconnect to my house, and retest..he did, and all kinds of noise showed up on his meter...I went back to the computer, and just disconnected the line from the phone jack...that took all of the noise away...I replaced the power supply, and that helped a lot...almost eliminated the disconnects.

In the best of conditions, 56K is only good for up to about 3 to 5 miles from the first phone company exchange..where the lines then become either fiber optics, or much better hard cable.

Bovon