Grr.

[hummingwolf]

It's bad enough that noise on the phone line means I keep getting disconnected from the Amazing Online Experience. But why is it that when I get cut off once again, immediately the telephone rings with somebody offering me a great deal on a home mortgage?

Comments

[cowboybud.livejournal.com]

It's their auto-dialing program. When they call and the line is busy, it keeps calling back till the line is clear.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah. On one call, I was tempted to press the appropriate numbers to explain to them exactly why they do not want to be offering me a deal on a home mortgage loan. Those stupid machines annoy the heck outta me.

[lindsaybits]

What version of mac or windows are you using? There are ways to change modem sensitivity so that it drops less.

Granted, if it's your line, i'd call the phone company and tell 'em to fix that shizzy. Ask them to do a line test for noise. Don't mention you're having modem problems or they'll all but hang up on you.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

I'm using Windows 98SE, but I don't think changing modem sensitivity would help all that much. When the lines get that noisy, surfing online is frustrating enough anyway--sometimes the best thing to do is disconnect & try again!

Phone company would have gotten my call already if I had any idea how much longer I'll be living here. As it is, the phone line seems to be just fine any time telemarketers call. :-P

[lindsaybits]

It may not fix it, but it can't hurt. Well, it theoretically could, but not in a way that couldn't be fixed by just undoing it. :)

Here's a walkthrough onw how to change a modem initialization string, but instead of AT+MS=V90, you want to put s12=0. That will turn the modem's noise sensitivity off. It doesn't hurt to leave it there, but if it seems worse, just go back in and delete it.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I've played with modem initialization strings before, but it's been a while. It's good to have a link to someone who knows what they're doing!