Connection FAQ

Connection FAQ
(covers modem speed, disconnects, line noise, STAC compression)

Q: What is ISDN?

A: ISDN is a high speed (up to 128k/sec.) telephone service provided by your telephone company. It's completely digital, and the speeds you realize are guaranteed, which means you will always get at least 128k/sec. downloads. You can get more information about ISDN by clicking Here.

Q: I have a 28.8k - 56k modem, but I can't connect at the highest rated speed. Why?

A: Your modem will connect to us at the highest possible speed based on your phone line conditions. We have gone to great lengths to ensure no line noise is present on our incoming lines, by going to all digital trunks from Southwestern Bell. We use the highest quality dial in equipment, Livingston/Lucent PortMaster3's. Certain modems have a better track record connecting at higher speeds than others. Generally, brand name (USR, Supra, Hayes, Zoom, etc) modems provide better connections than OEM or generic-brand modems.

Q: I have Call Notes on my phone line, when I have a message waiting, I cannot connect to the Internet and when I try I get an error window that says "No Dial Tone" -- how do I correct this?

A: We've created a page that explains how to set your modem to not expect a dial tone prior do dialing. The page is available here: http://www.vonl.com/support/faq/dialtone.cfm

Q: I get an error message that says "No Dial Tone". Why?

A: This is the age old question, not quite as old as "Which came first? the chicken or the egg", but it's still old just the same.

We've put together a page that provides some pointers which will assist you in solving this problem. It's available by clicking here.

Q: I no longer get a dialog box asking if I would like to close my connection after closing Internet Explorer or Outlook Express, how do I get it back?

A: This is a fairly common question we are asked to solve for people. It is also a fairly simple problem to solve. Here is how to go about solving it.

Q: Do these software programs that I see advertised all over the web that promise to speed up my Internet connection really work?

A: The short answer is an emphatic NO. The long answer is, in our testing of numerous such software packages, the resulting data does not lend credence to their claims that by simply installing and using these packages your connection speed will be increased.

Q: HELP! I get disconnected while actively using the Internet? What could the problem be?

1. Make sure your idle timer is turned off. Win95/98 users go to Control Panel, Internet. Click on the Connection Tab. Uncheck the Idle Timer if it is checked.

2. Make sure you do not have call-waiting on the phone line your modem uses. If you do, turn it off when dialing the Internet.

3. Poor line conditions cause the vast majority of unexpected disconnects. If you can hear any noise on your line, then its very likely you will not be able to connect reliably. If you suspect line noise, give your phone company a call and ask to have your line checked for noise. Some telcos provide a data-quality line for modem use.

4. In rare cases, modem incompatibility can cause random disconnects. We've seen this with some older generic modems.

5. Replace the phone line from the back of your modem to the wall. Some low grade cable can cause problems.

6. Try calling from a different location. This is an easy way to see if it is your phone line conditions that are causing the disconnects.

If you need to e-mail support on this topic, please include your modem make and model, your telephone company, and any details about your line you can provide.

More information on Disconnects

How to enable STAC compression:

For ISDN users, in Windows95/98, you automatically get STAC enabled as long as the "Enable Software Compression" box is checked in Dial Up Networking -> Village Online -> Properties -> Server Type in Windows95/98. NT4 users, your TA must support STAC at the hardware/driver level.

For modem users, the same holds true, except you must disable LAPM/MNP4 (hardware compression) on your modem. Most users can do this by going to Modems -> Your modem -> Properties -> Connection Tab -> Advanced and uncheck the Compress Data tab. However, this doesn't always work, so sometimes in the extra settings field below you must put a &K0 (for some modems) or a %C0 (for others, such as Zoom I believe). Check your modem manual/website for the exact string, it will be listed under Disable Compression. Once this is done, the MS-Stac built in to Windows95/98 will take over.

I did an informal test on our USRobotics V.90 modem. Without STAC, using normal modem compression, I got 4.6k/sec downloading a compressed file (mIRC 5.11 to be exact) from ftp.vonl.com. After disabling modem compression and enabling STAC, I got a big jump to 5.5k/sec on the exact same file.

Both of these were at a connect rate of 46000. Pretty good considering its a no-brainer no-cost enhancement :)

The only down-side is this:

It only works for Windows95/98 customers (modem users at least). NT4 does not have STAC built-in. However, some ISDN TA's in NT4 do have STAC support on the hardware. Windows 3.1 doesn't support this either. Linux and other UNIX variants may have this support, someone in-the-know feel free to let us know.

Go back to the General FAQ

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