Phone line problems are at the root of many of the error messages and problems users will see. Here we will give you some advice on determining if you have a line problem, and if so, what you can do about it.

No matter how good your computer is, or how fast the access Dragon Internet provides is, if your phone lines won't give you a clear enough or strong enough signal, you will see disconnects and the "computer you are dialing into is not answering" error message. The good news is that only in the most severe cases will this be a problem that cannot be fixed, or at least improved. Through the steps we will here lay out, you should be able to drastically improve your connection.

First, you'll want to determine if the problem is coming from your phone lines at all. There are two factors at work here: your lines and your modem. If your line is not clear, the modem will either deal with it, or give up (in which case you'd see it disconnect, or give the no answer (or similar message). A high quality modem will put up with more than a cheap one. A cheap modem generally has no problem if the lines are clear. As the line gets progressively worse, a modem must be correspondingly good to maintain a smooth connection. This makes it difficult to nail down whether your lines are unacceptably noisy, or your modem just too picky about the quality. A great method for finding out is to take your system to another location. Only somewhere that you know the lines are good will do. A location where someone is getting a wonderful connection to Dragon is ideal. Testing your system on a known good line should clear up where the problem is. If you find yourself connecting perfectly, but still cannot from home, you have a definite line issue. (Note: Some people do the reverse of this and have someone bring their computer, which connects fine, to the house where a line issue is suspected. While this can be helpful, it is not nearly as good as taking your computer to another location. The reason is that the computer you have brought to your house might have an outstanding modem in it that will put up with anything. It being able to connect is not necessarily a concrete indication of line quality.)

Here might be a good place for a word on "win" modems. Winmodem is a generic term for a modem that does not process the information it receives. Instead, it makes your main CPU do all the work. This was an idea that cut the cost of modems tremendously. If you paid less than $30 for a modem, it's probably a winmodem. If you bought your computer from a large manufacturer, it's almost guaranteed you have one. This is a case where you get what you pay for. Winmodems are notorious for needing excellent line quality to give you a good connection. Otherwise, they'll be the most unstable modems you could have. Some common models of the winmodem are the USR winmodem, LT winmodem, Conexant softK56, HSP micro modem, and the Motorola sm56. There are others of course. When dealing with Winmodems, it is extremely important that you keep the driver updated. For details on doing that, contact your computer manufacturer.

Now that you know you have a problem with line quality, it remains to do something about it. Of course the best answer is to get the phone company to fix it, but that can be difficult. The sticking point is that your definition of a "good line" is probably not the phone companies definition. They are required by law to provide a clean enough line to get a connection of 14,400 kilobits per second. That was fine ten years ago when that was also the top speed of modems. Increases in modem speeds have had no parallel increase in telephone line standards, so now when we want our 56k connections the phone companies are under no obligation to make sure their entire phone network can carry them.

The gist of all this is that if you call the phone company and tell them to do a check on your lines, the rule of thumb is that if it's legal, it's fine. A phone line cut in half they will fix. A phone line only giving you a 26,400 connection, even if it's a very unstable 26,400, is not their top priority.

Another frequent problem is living too far away from a digital switching station. There are two kinds of signals that carry information on phone lines: analog and digital. The phone lines in your house are analog, which is good, because that's the language a modem speaks. Somewhere in the life of the phone call, that signal hits a digital switch and becomes a fast and efficient digital signal. If your call goes over about 3.5 miles on an analog line before hitting that switch, you have almost no change at connecting any faster than 33,600 bps. Also, if your call gets routed in such a way that there are too many "hops" in the signal before it reaches our equipment, no matter how close you are, you'll see roughly the same thing.

All this is not to say there's nothing that can be done. There are several tricks you can try to get your computer to connect with fewer errors, and disconnect less often. Your modem probably has two jacks. One is to run a cord to the wall, the other is sort of an extension of the wall jack, allowing you to plug a phone in. This is handy if there is only one phone jack by your desk and your computer is filling it up, but you'd like to have a phone there. It can also cause problems for some modems, so unplug any devices plugged into that second jack. If you have a splitter on the line anywhere, take that out of the circuit. Signal strength is the bread and butter of stable connection, and splitters can kill it. Having many phones plugged in can also be a factor, so unplug all other devices from your phone line as a test. If you run your line through a surge protector, take it out. Do this only TEMPORARILY! We do not advise getting rid of the surge protector permanently, only testing to see if it was adding noise to your line, and if so, replacing it. Sometimes fax machines in other parts of the house can cause problems by putting feedback on the line. Please also remember that updating your modem driver, as stated above, is an excellent start. After you do that (or if you for one reason or another can't) there are some things you can try with your settings. Start by going into my computer, and into the dial up networking folder (in windows 95/98) or my computer, control panel, dial up networking (on Windows ME). Windows XP will require you to open the control panel, and go into the network and internet options, then into the network connections section of that. If the control panel is in advanced mode, network connections will be directly in the control panel. In there you'll see your connection. Right click it and click the properties. You'll see the phone number here. Try adding a comma to it. If that doesn't help (and you'll want to try dialing in four or five times like that), try two. Go all the way up to four. This causes your connection to literally pause after it dials, which can help a great deal for the "computer you are dialing into did not answer" error message. Do not add more than four commas. Three is a good number, and is probably where you should leave it if you don't get connected with four. Do not remove the commas completely. They may not help yet, but in conjunction with other things you are going to try they may.

Click the configure button at the bottom of the properties screen (the one you added the commas to). In here you'll see a setting that reads "maximum speed". It will have a number, representing how hard your computer is pushing the modem. It does NOT represent how fast your modem is going, which is a common misconception. Windows default here is 115200, which is too high if there is any noise or static on your line. Your modem has a much better chance to compensate for errors if this speed is set down a notch to 57,600. This helps out a great deal with disconnects. If you still see the disconnects, go down one more step to 38,600. It should probably not go any lower. Under no circumstances should the "connect only at this speed" box be checked.

Next thing to try is clicking the connection tab across the top. In there you'll see an option labeled "port settings". (Note: There are some modems, notably the Motorola sm56, that do not allow you to access the port settings. Also, Windows XP users will not be able to try these fixes.) Click that port settings button. On this screen you will see two buffer settings. Take them both down a bit. Also under that connections screen is an advanced button, which has several useful things to look at. Bear in mind that these settings are, as stated, for the advanced user. You will need to know a bit about your modem before making changes in here. If you aren't sure, it's better not to change anything in here. The main thing to look for is under the "flow control" setting. Anyone with a WIN modem can switch that to software based flow control, which can help disconnects a great deal.

Between all these things, most people can improve their connection dramatically.