Monday, September 4, 2000		Learning Computers

Setting up your modem correctly

No matter how long a journey is, if the road is smooth the journey passes well, if the road is bumpy and has obstructions then even a small journey may become a nightmare. This observation applies to the Internet also. For better efficiency and results, a smooth and trouble-free connectivity is a must. However, in case you experience disconnection and poor browsing and downloading speed, then you can never achieve the desired results. The connectivity is largely dependent on several outside factors like quality of telephone lines, type of telephone exchange (digital/analog) and services of the Internet service provider, which is beyond your control. And if things at your end are better controlled, then a large number of problems can be addressed well. Since you cannot alter the outside factors, so the whole idea is to find out the solutions within the given parameters. For achieving the most from the Internet, one can follow the following steps:

1) Choosing the right modem: As far as the overall performance of the Internet is concerned, the process starts from choosing the right modem and finally ends at installing it properly by taking care of necessary settings. Selection of modem is very important and one should not just pick up any modem, which is available in market. The price range for modems starts from Rs 750 to Rs 5000. It is not always advisable to go for modems, which are cheapest. Rather the choice of modem depends on the quality of telephone exchange and lines. The modems are equipped with technology to counter the poor condition of lines. If you have a good quality modem, you will surely see the difference in the performance. Modems like 3Com (US Robotics), Zyxel, Boca etc. have proven their performance in all-line conditions. Other available modems are also good, but the choice should really depend on the outside factors mentioned above.

2) Checking the line condition: When a person installs a modem, he often ignores the other important aspects like checking the overall condition of line which comes from the DoT box to home. This is something very important. If the telephone line is old and bears the mark of history in the form of breaks, joints and peeling off, or if it is passing near high-voltage power lines, then no matter which modem you buy, you will face a problem. If you see a small problem in the telephone line get it replaced by a good copper wire. Remember, this is your investment, as disconnection from the Internet and slow performance has a very heavy cost attached with it. Once you have got it replaced, make sure that the wire is not loose, as the loose wire often causes disturbance in telephone line. And if you wish to attach an extension, you must attach it by using the modem only. The joints in the line are at times the main cause of trouble in the Internet connections. Also ensure that the telephone line is nowhere obstructed in your premises, i.e. it should pass through a door or window. So once you have laid the telephone line properly, the next task of installation of modem begins.

3) Modem installation: The modem installation is very critical for optimum performance of the Internet. Normally people are not able to install the modem properly, and as soon as it starts working, they feel satisfied that the modem has been set up well. One may think, how does a modem start working when it is not set up properly? It is worth mentioning that just like a computer, modem is also basically a chip set. These chips sets are being manufactured by few companies like Rockwell, Zyxel etc. and most of the modem manufacturers are using them. So if you are using a D-link modem, then the chip set is of Rockwell which is same as GVC, Motorola SM56 SuperVoice(internal), Aztec, and several others. So if you install the driver for any one of these modems, rest of the modems would work. However, you will not be able to achieve the desired results as the driver would not be specific to the modem, thereby you will not be able to use the features of your modem. But in case you have lost the driver of your modem and wish to install it on a computer, then the choices available with you are very limited. Ideally, you should try to locate the site and download the relevant drive from the Internet. If you are neither able to do so nor able to arrange it from anywhere, then you can use the driver of any other modem which uses the same chip set like the one mentioned above. In this case you will be able to use your modem. As an option, just like the monitor settings where one uses the standard monitor, people also select the standard 33.6 kbps modem driver for installing the modem, if the name of the modem does not appear in the default Windows list. Well, by using this option your modem will work in most of the cases. But this option should not be opted normally as the use of this setting sets the modem at its least performance level. No matter how good your modem is the performance would be below average.

In normal cases, where you have all the necessary drivers, the best way to install a modem is to read the instructions manual first and then proceed with the installation. Normally there are some extra settings mentioned in the manual, which needs to be incorporated for optimal performance of your modem. You should take care of these settings. From the reader’s response to the Dr Tribune column, it was learnt that a lot of people had problems in installation of their Motorola SM56 Super Voice internal modem. It was primarily because of non-compliance of instruction manual, as setting up of an internal modem is relatively difficult in comparison to the external modem. You should also take care in choosing the right Com port while installing the modem. In case of external modem you should choose Com1 or Com2 whichever is free. However, in case of Internal modem, you should opt for Com 3 or Com4. You should not choose Com1or Com2 in case of Internal modem.

Fine-tuning of modem settings: After the installation, the next most important aspect is fine-tuning of the modem. For this purpose always keep the speed of your Com port at highest level i.e. 115000 bps. Though your modem will not be able to connect at this speed, keeping this option open helps your modem attain the maximum speed. However, the default baud rate set by the installation procedure in most of the modems is 9600 bps. Where as speed of the Com port allows you a maximum of 115000 bps. So, if your modem is restricted to a speed of 9600, no matter what connection speed is shown in your computer, your actual speed will not go beyond 9600 bps. So in order to improve the overall performance, you should set the baud rate of the Com port and the maximum speed of connection at 115000 bps. The second setting of your modem is related to disconnections. Since, in the procedure mentioned above, we have taken into consideration the best possible hardware settings which can be controlled from the user’s end. So, further settings would be sought in the computer. After adopting the above-mentioned procedure, you may still face the problem of disconnection. This can be sorted out by instructing the computer to wait for a longer period for a response from the Internet before disconnecting you from the Internet. This can be done by some minor settings in your modem properties. If you are using Windows 95/98. Click My Computer>Control Panel>Modems. Now the Modem properties window will open on your computer screen. Select Your Modem and click properties. Another window by the name of Your Modem will open. Select Connections tab and click the Advanced button on the bottom of the window. This will open another window "Advanced Connection Settings". Simply write S10=50 in the Extra settings box and click OK. Now your computer would be equipped to handle frequent disconnections. Although using this procedure, your problem of disconnection would be solved to a large extent. But due to external factors like poor line condition from the exchange, this problem cannot be just ruled out. There is one more very important setting which is related to automatic redialling on getting the engaged tone. This can be done as follows. If you are using Windows 95. Click My Computer> Dial-Up Networking. Now the Dial-Up Networking window will open. From the menu bar select Connections tab. When you click on this a drop down menu will open. Click Settings. Now another Dial-Up Networking window will open. In this window click in the box adjoining Redial. Enter 50 in "before giving up retry box" and enter 0 and 0 in the 2 boxes below. Also click "don’t prompt to use dial up networking" button at the bottom and press OK. If you are using Windows 98, then Click Start> Programs>Accessories>Communications. From the drop down menu, select Dial-Up Networking to open a new window. Form the menu bar select Connection and click on Settings. Check Mark the Box adjoining the Redial, and fill 100 in the box after "Before give up retry" Click OK and close Dial-Up Networking. This makes the fine-tuning of modem settings complete. And the whole procedure makes the task of setting up a modem complete. Now, in the normal circumstances you should not come across the problems of slow connectivity, frequent disconnections etc.