modem troubleshooting in XP Pro

[Bozette]

It's been ages since I've had to troubleshoot a modem, and never in XP. Is there a place in Modem Diagnostics that indicates that the phoneline is good?
The Problem:
We upgraded our pcs so all use DSL for connectivity. ONE has a modem since I need to dial-in for one service every 2 weeks.
To add to the confusion, we also upgraded our phone system (part of the DSL package). Now I'm trying to connect via a new computer/new modem over a possibly changed phoneline and not having any luck. I'm stumped as to whether it's the modem or the line. The line I'm trying this on is our fax line. It works fine for sending/receiving faxes and hooking a phone to that jack does get a dial tone.
One last thing.. our postage machine is refilled via downloading postage over a phone connection. This is not working using the fax phone jack either. The phone company says since we hear a dial tone and the faxing is working the problem is not their line. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance

 

[mattjurado]

Well, line is good since voice/fax work. First thing you want to do is determine if you have to dial a 9 or some other digit before you get out. Plug the phone back in and make a call. If you need to dial a special digit, then remember this has to be in your dialer (i.e. 9, 555-5555).

The next thing is to run the modem diagnostics from within Windows, query it, see if all AT responses are ok.

Then, run hyperterminal (hypertrm.exe), dial 1-888-296-3892, post what happens (logon screen, weird characters, etc...)

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[ZeBozette]

Thanks for the reply Matt.

I double-checked with a handset... no special digit needed to dial out on the line

I ran the modem diagnostics but interpreting the results is where I'm stumped. I'm not at work right now (where the problem exists) but I remember seeing lots of AT commands that looked fine but the ATDT command, followed by #####s had "NO CARRIER" on the line below it.

I ran hyperteminal and don't remember the error message but do remember it didn't work.

I took my laptop to work this morning and WAS able to connect with it. One odd thing was the 56k modem connected at 12,000 bps. My laptop is 5 years old, as were our old work computers, and we used to connect at around 28 to 32,000. I'm wondering if poor line quality causes problems with newer modems.

I'll get the exact error message from hyperteminal on Monday and post it. If there's any section in the diagnostics I should post just let me know.

Thanks again for the help.
Boze

 

[mattjurado]

No, I'm suspecting this is a configuration issue with your modem. Try that number I gave you Monday, and also try 1-800-543-3279. Post the results of both.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[ZeBozette]

Problem solved! We had 2 computers (new) with modems and neither were able to connect when trying to dial up. Before I could run Hyperterminal and post the results we tried one more thing....
Since our fax machine was working fine plugged into the wall jack we plugged the modem into the port on the fax machine. (It's a port normally used so you can plug a handset into the machine). Without any changes each computer was able to connect. I was told the fax machine acts as an additional filter for line noise. Thought I'd post for others information.
Boze