Phoenix_Heat
Beta member
- Messages
- 2
Hello.
I might as well take it from the top and start from Day 1 when things went wrong. It'll be a while before we get to "present day" (7/31/07), so I'll go ahead and tell you what my problem is:
It has to do with dial-up internet, and possible computer components not working correctly or are misplaced.
When I connect, the connection sounds very sick when it tries to connect sometimes, like halfway through it it'll sound air-ish, almost louder in a way, and then sometimes near the end it'll sound like it's breaking up or there's static on the line. Oh, and the speeds?
9.6 KBPS, 12 KBPS, and 14.4 KBPS. Far from the usual lowest speed of 26.4 KBPS, and the usual high speed of 42 KBPS.
On these "barely connected" speeds, I practicly couldn't and CAN'T do anything on them. It's always "timed out" and when it says "The document contains no data".. I know what's coming, from experience, because it means I'm going to get disconnected shortly thereafter. And I do. But before, before all of these "Unfortunate Events", if you will, happened, it was fine. I was living the high-life. I just didn't know it. That was around 2 weeks ago... So let's get to those events, shall we?
At the very beginning of this, Day 1, My computer was on. It's plugins are in a CyberPower surge protector. The phone lines are also connected through it. We have had it since we've had the computer, which has been about 4 years now. So it was old anyway.
The air conditioners were going throughout the house. My Mom was extremely rushed, and needed to blow her hair dry. From experience, we know that when we fire up the blow dryer and the air conditioner is on the their bedroom (which is beside their bathroom), it clips the circuit, making the power flicker for about a quarter or half a second, and turns the power off in their part of the house. Well, when she tried to turn that power back on, she accidentally turned my room's power off, and then realizing her mistake, flipped it back on.
This created a surge of sorts, which killed the CyberPower surge protector, for good. It also turned off my computer, because the surge protector's battery was empty. Just a little note on that surge protector.... It has served me well. It has taken, well, alot of surges, alot of power outages, and numerous lightning strikes.
Well, I tried turning the surger back on. Nothing happened. I tried over and over again. Dead. It sounded like it was trying to turn on, but it just couldn't. It's fried.
Well, later that evening, when I was sure there wouldn't be any more surges, I risked it and plugged my PC and monitor into the wall. In turn I had to go without my air conditioner.
I didn't know if it'd work, but it did, and I got online through the dead surge protector. (Pardon, sometimes I call it a "power surger" by accident; sorry if it's confusing).
I got a speed of 36 KBPS; an average.
Seems like the next day, I got on. I hit a record speed of 48 KBPS - the fastest I've ever achieved in my life. I should have enjoyed it more.
That night, I got on again. 14.4 KBPS. In context, I "lol'd". I thought it was just having fun with me. Laughing's catching, as when I reconnected, I got 12.0 KBPS. I shrugged it off and tried to do stuff, thinking it'd be fixed by tomorrow. It wasn't.
I assumed it was the surge protector. That weekend, we got a new one. I thought problem solved. At least I was able to use my computer freely again, but it meant nothing as I was still not able to connect online. And when I did, I never got anywhere, and when I finally did start going, I'd eventually get disconnected. "Link to bellsouth failed", it would say, and the countdown would begin to reconnect it.
I looked on my computer and did several things. I read alot of documentation and tried alot of things, such as the Modem Troubleshooter (get to that later), and tried to update the driver but it said it was up to date. Everything was fine, except one part.
During the Troubleshooter, it said something might be wrong with the COM ports. But before we get to that, let me finish the little story of what I've already done, and then we'll get down to business.
What I done that time didn't work. My Dad (My parents don't know much about computers) said "Maybe it's the phone line."
So, sometime or another in the coming days, I tested the phone line. I tested the "out" one with the one that came with the surge protector. Same results. I checked the one to the wall jack (that took 30 minutes of HARD work because it's behind an ULTRA HEAVY dresser; I laid flat and wiggled the phone lines in and out...), and same results. I thought (and everyone else) there was a cut between the wall jack to the real phone jack in the kitchen, because we've weaved the one from my room to the kitchen around alot of things and alot of work has been done to it. Maybe there was a cut.
So we went to Lowe's and got a 50 ft. phone cord. I tried it. Failed. Or did it? Seems like I got a faster speed, but like ALWAYS when it tries to trick me, it's fast like, 2 seconds of working, then it seems to drop like a rock, eventually disconnecting 30 minutes to an hour later, and when I reconnect, I get the 12 KBPS etc...
But that wasn't the only problem. It just wasn't my computer. It was the phone line to the phone itself. Sometimes, people would have to call 5 times in order to get the phone to ring. They said it sounded like someone picking up, and then hanging up. I know from experience by trying to call the house: Instead of it just sounding like someone was answering, it was like someone was bashing the phone onto a hard surface, then hanging up. Crazy as all getout. But at this moment, we didn't really notice this (it was after the following), so we'll get back to this soon.
Then, I thought my computer was overheating. Because I got faster speeds when my room was ice cold with my air conditioner going. And for some time, it seemed like the truth. Before, I didn't have my air conditioner (now will be referred to as A/C) going, and I was getting faster speeds.
"Was".
Soon, it was back to the way it was.. 12 KBPS.
I pretty much lost hope then. I tried to work more computer-wise, but never got anywhere.
Last Thursday, my Mom called BellSouth, because the phone was also acting up, because it just wasn't my internet connection. They ran tests, and said it would be fixed by today (Tuesday). Well, today, a guy came. He checked the box outside. My Dad said that it was burnt up. It had took a lightning strike. He replaced it. It wasn't 6 PM yet; they said when my Mom called earlier that it would be fixed by 6 PM.
Well, the phone is exellent now; but my internet.... it's still 12 KBPS. I thought it was going to be fixed. I was so happy. When I tried to connect and saw that "9.6 KBPS".... My heart broke. It really did, and it is now. I'm gonna get a new game 2 days from now, and I was looking forward to playing online. Well, I was looking forward just to getting back to the way it used to be!!! When I check my email for the first time in a week or so it's gonna say "200 new messages"!
I have been put through heck. I really have. I guess I need to fit one last piece of the puzzle in place before this will work out. And now we get down to brass tacks.
The modem is Lucent Win Modem. It says it's attached to "COM3". The Troubleshooter said there was something of odd interest with the COMs. What it suggested to do was already done. I learned to check the Device Manager for COM ports, to see if anything is there and if anything is disabled.
I checked it.
COM3 isn't in the list. The only thing it shows is COM1 and some other thing that has to do with something else. No COM3. I tried to learn, if possible, how to reactivate it.
I KNOW this is pretty much the problem. How do I turn it back on? What do I need to do? If this doesn't work, my last thing to do is call BellSouth and get the man to come back (he said he would if nothing changed) and check the lines. Some could be waterlogged, like my uncle suggested. But if the problem's my fault, I don't want to trouble them, so I want to do this first. Because this I think is my problem. If nothing helps....
I'm screwed. Game over man. I can't get DSL because of where I live. Really, if I was, do you think I'd be here asking this question? I'd already have it in the blink of an eye. There's always satellite internet, but how good is that? They say it's not good for online gaming, for the fact I think the connection waivers in speeds. But if I can at least pull off the speeds I used to get, you'd think I'd be able to do the same with it. But it's so expensive....
Help me. Please. I hope if I can do anything more, that it works. I can't stand this anymore. I'm on the verge of tears. I've been using my Dad's laptop to just do simple things. In fact, I typed this out on my computer, saved it, put it on a USB driver and transferred it to his laptop, dropped it off, and then came here.
Thank you for your time....
I asked this on Yahoo answers, but due to Yahoo's cutoff, I had to drastically reduce this. And people are like "Get DSL" but I CAN'T and I'm SICK of people telling me that! I live on a mountain! I can't help that.
One of the things however someone told me was the modem got fried. It's possible, but I'm tired of wasting money. I need answers. I may get a USB modem. I saw one on bestbuy.com...
But I'll wait before I do anything more. Thanks again..
I might as well take it from the top and start from Day 1 when things went wrong. It'll be a while before we get to "present day" (7/31/07), so I'll go ahead and tell you what my problem is:
It has to do with dial-up internet, and possible computer components not working correctly or are misplaced.
When I connect, the connection sounds very sick when it tries to connect sometimes, like halfway through it it'll sound air-ish, almost louder in a way, and then sometimes near the end it'll sound like it's breaking up or there's static on the line. Oh, and the speeds?
9.6 KBPS, 12 KBPS, and 14.4 KBPS. Far from the usual lowest speed of 26.4 KBPS, and the usual high speed of 42 KBPS.
On these "barely connected" speeds, I practicly couldn't and CAN'T do anything on them. It's always "timed out" and when it says "The document contains no data".. I know what's coming, from experience, because it means I'm going to get disconnected shortly thereafter. And I do. But before, before all of these "Unfortunate Events", if you will, happened, it was fine. I was living the high-life. I just didn't know it. That was around 2 weeks ago... So let's get to those events, shall we?
At the very beginning of this, Day 1, My computer was on. It's plugins are in a CyberPower surge protector. The phone lines are also connected through it. We have had it since we've had the computer, which has been about 4 years now. So it was old anyway.
The air conditioners were going throughout the house. My Mom was extremely rushed, and needed to blow her hair dry. From experience, we know that when we fire up the blow dryer and the air conditioner is on the their bedroom (which is beside their bathroom), it clips the circuit, making the power flicker for about a quarter or half a second, and turns the power off in their part of the house. Well, when she tried to turn that power back on, she accidentally turned my room's power off, and then realizing her mistake, flipped it back on.
This created a surge of sorts, which killed the CyberPower surge protector, for good. It also turned off my computer, because the surge protector's battery was empty. Just a little note on that surge protector.... It has served me well. It has taken, well, alot of surges, alot of power outages, and numerous lightning strikes.
Well, I tried turning the surger back on. Nothing happened. I tried over and over again. Dead. It sounded like it was trying to turn on, but it just couldn't. It's fried.
Well, later that evening, when I was sure there wouldn't be any more surges, I risked it and plugged my PC and monitor into the wall. In turn I had to go without my air conditioner.
I didn't know if it'd work, but it did, and I got online through the dead surge protector. (Pardon, sometimes I call it a "power surger" by accident; sorry if it's confusing).
I got a speed of 36 KBPS; an average.
Seems like the next day, I got on. I hit a record speed of 48 KBPS - the fastest I've ever achieved in my life. I should have enjoyed it more.
That night, I got on again. 14.4 KBPS. In context, I "lol'd". I thought it was just having fun with me. Laughing's catching, as when I reconnected, I got 12.0 KBPS. I shrugged it off and tried to do stuff, thinking it'd be fixed by tomorrow. It wasn't.
I assumed it was the surge protector. That weekend, we got a new one. I thought problem solved. At least I was able to use my computer freely again, but it meant nothing as I was still not able to connect online. And when I did, I never got anywhere, and when I finally did start going, I'd eventually get disconnected. "Link to bellsouth failed", it would say, and the countdown would begin to reconnect it.
I looked on my computer and did several things. I read alot of documentation and tried alot of things, such as the Modem Troubleshooter (get to that later), and tried to update the driver but it said it was up to date. Everything was fine, except one part.
During the Troubleshooter, it said something might be wrong with the COM ports. But before we get to that, let me finish the little story of what I've already done, and then we'll get down to business.
What I done that time didn't work. My Dad (My parents don't know much about computers) said "Maybe it's the phone line."
So, sometime or another in the coming days, I tested the phone line. I tested the "out" one with the one that came with the surge protector. Same results. I checked the one to the wall jack (that took 30 minutes of HARD work because it's behind an ULTRA HEAVY dresser; I laid flat and wiggled the phone lines in and out...), and same results. I thought (and everyone else) there was a cut between the wall jack to the real phone jack in the kitchen, because we've weaved the one from my room to the kitchen around alot of things and alot of work has been done to it. Maybe there was a cut.
So we went to Lowe's and got a 50 ft. phone cord. I tried it. Failed. Or did it? Seems like I got a faster speed, but like ALWAYS when it tries to trick me, it's fast like, 2 seconds of working, then it seems to drop like a rock, eventually disconnecting 30 minutes to an hour later, and when I reconnect, I get the 12 KBPS etc...
But that wasn't the only problem. It just wasn't my computer. It was the phone line to the phone itself. Sometimes, people would have to call 5 times in order to get the phone to ring. They said it sounded like someone picking up, and then hanging up. I know from experience by trying to call the house: Instead of it just sounding like someone was answering, it was like someone was bashing the phone onto a hard surface, then hanging up. Crazy as all getout. But at this moment, we didn't really notice this (it was after the following), so we'll get back to this soon.
Then, I thought my computer was overheating. Because I got faster speeds when my room was ice cold with my air conditioner going. And for some time, it seemed like the truth. Before, I didn't have my air conditioner (now will be referred to as A/C) going, and I was getting faster speeds.
"Was".
Soon, it was back to the way it was.. 12 KBPS.
I pretty much lost hope then. I tried to work more computer-wise, but never got anywhere.
Last Thursday, my Mom called BellSouth, because the phone was also acting up, because it just wasn't my internet connection. They ran tests, and said it would be fixed by today (Tuesday). Well, today, a guy came. He checked the box outside. My Dad said that it was burnt up. It had took a lightning strike. He replaced it. It wasn't 6 PM yet; they said when my Mom called earlier that it would be fixed by 6 PM.
Well, the phone is exellent now; but my internet.... it's still 12 KBPS. I thought it was going to be fixed. I was so happy. When I tried to connect and saw that "9.6 KBPS".... My heart broke. It really did, and it is now. I'm gonna get a new game 2 days from now, and I was looking forward to playing online. Well, I was looking forward just to getting back to the way it used to be!!! When I check my email for the first time in a week or so it's gonna say "200 new messages"!
I have been put through heck. I really have. I guess I need to fit one last piece of the puzzle in place before this will work out. And now we get down to brass tacks.
The modem is Lucent Win Modem. It says it's attached to "COM3". The Troubleshooter said there was something of odd interest with the COMs. What it suggested to do was already done. I learned to check the Device Manager for COM ports, to see if anything is there and if anything is disabled.
I checked it.
COM3 isn't in the list. The only thing it shows is COM1 and some other thing that has to do with something else. No COM3. I tried to learn, if possible, how to reactivate it.
I KNOW this is pretty much the problem. How do I turn it back on? What do I need to do? If this doesn't work, my last thing to do is call BellSouth and get the man to come back (he said he would if nothing changed) and check the lines. Some could be waterlogged, like my uncle suggested. But if the problem's my fault, I don't want to trouble them, so I want to do this first. Because this I think is my problem. If nothing helps....
I'm screwed. Game over man. I can't get DSL because of where I live. Really, if I was, do you think I'd be here asking this question? I'd already have it in the blink of an eye. There's always satellite internet, but how good is that? They say it's not good for online gaming, for the fact I think the connection waivers in speeds. But if I can at least pull off the speeds I used to get, you'd think I'd be able to do the same with it. But it's so expensive....
Help me. Please. I hope if I can do anything more, that it works. I can't stand this anymore. I'm on the verge of tears. I've been using my Dad's laptop to just do simple things. In fact, I typed this out on my computer, saved it, put it on a USB driver and transferred it to his laptop, dropped it off, and then came here.
Thank you for your time....
I asked this on Yahoo answers, but due to Yahoo's cutoff, I had to drastically reduce this. And people are like "Get DSL" but I CAN'T and I'm SICK of people telling me that! I live on a mountain! I can't help that.
One of the things however someone told me was the modem got fried. It's possible, but I'm tired of wasting money. I need answers. I may get a USB modem. I saw one on bestbuy.com...
But I'll wait before I do anything more. Thanks again..