TSN Internet.com.au the Australian Internet & Phone Provider

Drop Out Issues

Step 1. Check physical connection

You need to check your physical connection. Most phones require some power to store their memories, and so each phone draws a little power from the phone line when it charges its memory. This causes a spike on the line, which in turn can drop the modem. If you have one or more phones connected to the same line, you should disconnect the telephones before dialling the internet if you are experiencing dropouts. Fax and answering machines can also be problem. Unplug any phones/faxes from the circuit as they can drain the signal from the line and weaken the connection, having a long extension cord can also weaken the signal. Even if the extension cord is short its not a bad idea to try a different one just to rule that out as possibly being the problem. If you are having disconnections every 15-20 min and you have a Telstra Touch-Tone phone, disconnect it. Many users have reported success after disconnecting their Telstra Touch-Tone phones.

To solve this, you can unplug the phone when you use your modem, buy a new phone, or if you are renting your phone from Telstra, have Telstra replace it at no charge for a Touchphone 200R, which solves this problem.

Step 2. Do you have Call Waiting Installed?

Your telephone has a 'Call Waiting' feature. Call waiting signals are beeps sent from the telephone exchange to notify you that there is another call coming in. Unfortunately, they will sometimes break your connection. You can switch call waiting off by dialling #43#. If you want to switch it back on again when you have finished your internet session, you will need to dial *43#.

Step 3. Disconnect with Inactivity

Windows has an option, which is set on as default, to disconnect after 20 minutes of inactivity. Unfortunately, Windows only recognises mouse and keyboard input as activity; it does not see a 10 MB file download as activity! If you are doing nothing else on the internet while it is downloading, you will find that you get disconnected 20 minutes through the download.

To fix this problem, click 'Start' and scroll up to 'Settings' and across to 'Control Panel'. Click 'Internet Options' and click 'Connections' tab, located at the top. Untick the 'Disconnect if idle for 20 min' box.

Step 4. Are you dropping out in emails?

If you are, go into Outlook Express and click 'Tools' located in the top menu bar, and scroll down to 'Options'. Click the 'Connections' tab and make sure that the 'Hang up after send/receive' is unticked.

Step 5. Check Settings

Click 'Start', scroll up to 'settings' and across to 'Control Panel'. Click 'Modems' then 'Properties' then the'Connections' tab located at the top. Now down the bottom there will be a tick box that says 'Disconnect if idle', you need to make sure this box is unticked.
Also in 'Control Panel', go to 'Internet Options' and select the 'Connections' tab at the top. Make sure TSN is selected and click 'Settings'. In settings, click 'Advanced' and make sure that 'Disconnect if idle' and 'Disconnect if connection is not needed' are both unticked.

Step 6. Reduce Modem Speed

You may have poor-quality phone lines, in which case the modem speed is too high for your telephone line and the connection is unstable. By reducing the modem speed, the modem can handle the connection with a lot less trouble, thus reducing the chances of a drop out occuring. Steps for reducing your modem speed are below. If it becomes more stable, then the problem is likely to be related to telephone line quality. In this case, please check with your telephone company.

If you are dialing into one of our pops:

Double click on the TSN Dialer, located on your desktop then click 'Options' then click on the drop down menu next to 'modem speed' and drop that down to around 33 600 BPS then click 'OK' and try connecting again.

If you are dialing into one of our leased ports:

Win95/98/ME users: Click 'Start', scroll up to 'settings' and across to 'Control Panel'. Click 'Modems' then 'Properties' then the 'Connections' tab located at the top. Click 'Advanced' and type a modem string into the 'Extra Settings' sections. The main three strings to try are:
+ms=v34
+ms=11,1,300,33600
+ms=,,,33600

WinNT/2K/XP users: Click 'Start', scroll up to 'settings' and across to 'Control Panel'. Click 'Modems' or 'Phone and Modem' then click 'Properties' then the 'Advanced' tab located at the top. In the section for an 'Extra Installation Command' try these tree strings:
+ms=v34
+ms=11,1,300,33600
+ms=,,,33600

If you are still having drop out problems, please visit www.iapselfhelp.com

Need Help? Contact the TSN Helpdesk 13 14 86

TSN Internet.com.au • Phone: 13 14 86
PO Box 5293, Port Macquarie NSW 2444 • Fax: 1300 760 361