Slow dial-up speed

My dial-up connection is only 19 KBs, best at 22. This used to work at
about 45. I use it for when my DSL isn't working.

From my Sitestar ISP for my email connection:

Connection speeds are base on your current line conditions or quality.
You can try changing your phone cord, avoid having long phone extension
cords as this can create line noise, moisture in the lines can also
create problems. Failing all of those, you can always call your
telephone service provider and have then check your line quality for any
issues. I hope that helps.


My response:

The line I'm using also has a DSL signal, which I normally use for my
internet connection. (The Sitestar connection is for backup.) The modem
instructions say the Phone jack on the back of the modem does not require
the user to attach a DSL filer because the output is already filtered
from this jack. I have a splitter in this connection to feed my phone and
the line to the modem we are discussing. The phone line sounds extremely
quiet if I listen on the connected phone. The line to the modem we are
discussing is only about 6 ' long. I removed a DSL filter from another
phone and put it on this line but it didn't help. The 19 speed doesn't
work. Many web sites won't load through Firefox at that speed.

I could call for CenturyLink service complaining of a noisy line but I
suspect it wouldn't help. They'd listen to it and say it's fine. All this
worked fine months ago when I last used the dial-up connection, except
the modem was directly connected to the phone line - the DSL modem was
disconnected because it wasn't working, no DSL signal, the reason why I
was using dial-up.


Sitestar response:

The only other thing you can do is make sure you have the latest modem
driver or firmware for it. The modem and quality of the phone line is the
only thing that dictates the speed.

...........

My latst theory is that there is DSL on my phone line. The filters in my
DSL modem should keep this out of the Phone output of the DSL modem. As
noted above, I also tried adding another DSL filter in series supplied
for phones from CenturyLink. I suspect even the two filters aren't enough
or the modem is so sensitive to something from the DSL signsl that the
filters don't remove because it is too high or low a frequency to hear
during a phone call.

Perhaps when I used it at 45 KBs in the past it was because the DSL
wasn't working and so was absent from the phone line. So if I use the
dial-up because the DSL isn't working it will run at 45 KBs? Trouble is,
there's no way to check this.

Suggestions?

This is all happening using XP Home if it matters.

TIA

--
I love a good meal! That's why I don't cook.

KenK wrote:
My dial-up connection is only 19 KBs, best at 22. This used to work at
about 45. I use it for when my DSL isn't working.

From my Sitestar ISP for my email connection:

Connection speeds are base on your current line conditions or quality.
You can try changing your phone cord, avoid having long phone extension
cords as this can create line noise, moisture in the lines can also
create problems. Failing all of those, you can always call your
telephone service provider and have then check your line quality for any
issues. I hope that helps.


My response:

The line I'm using also has a DSL signal, which I normally use for my
internet connection. (The Sitestar connection is for backup.) The modem
instructions say the Phone jack on the back of the modem does not require
the user to attach a DSL filer because the output is already filtered
from this jack. I have a splitter in this connection to feed my phone and
the line to the modem we are discussing. The phone line sounds extremely
quiet if I listen on the connected phone. The line to the modem we are
discussing is only about 6 ' long. I removed a DSL filter from another
phone and put it on this line but it didn't help. The 19 speed doesn't
work. Many web sites won't load through Firefox at that speed.

I could call for CenturyLink service complaining of a noisy line but I
suspect it wouldn't help. They'd listen to it and say it's fine. All this
worked fine months ago when I last used the dial-up connection, except
the modem was directly connected to the phone line - the DSL modem was
disconnected because it wasn't working, no DSL signal, the reason why I
was using dial-up.


Sitestar response:

The only other thing you can do is make sure you have the latest modem
driver or firmware for it. The modem and quality of the phone line is the
only thing that dictates the speed.

..........

My latst theory is that there is DSL on my phone line. The filters in my
DSL modem should keep this out of the Phone output of the DSL modem. As
noted above, I also tried adding another DSL filter in series supplied
for phones from CenturyLink. I suspect even the two filters aren't enough
or the modem is so sensitive to something from the DSL signsl that the
filters don't remove because it is too high or low a frequency to hear
during a phone call.

Perhaps when I used it at 45 KBs in the past it was because the DSL
wasn't working and so was absent from the phone line. So if I use the
dial-up because the DSL isn't working it will run at 45 KBs? Trouble is,
there's no way to check this.

Suggestions?

This is all happening using XP Home if it matters.

TIA

There are two issues:

1) What is the actual phone network architecture ?

Note that some US telephone companies, have been
replacing infrastructure with VOIP boxes. Some
of which are outside your home, so you don't know
they are present. VOIP can interfere with dialup
modems, but regulatory requirements only exist
for passing voice, and nobody cares that the
modem or FAX machine doesn't work quite right.

The problem could actually be caused by something
outside the house.

2) Raising a voice trouble ticket with the phone
company, can get them to "wring out" the line
remotely, to determine it is good. Talking to a
tech about your issues, might casually uncover that
the present phone network simply does not support
~43K any more on dialup modems. For example, the
existence of VOIP, causes 14.4K FAX machines, to
only successfully send FAX info at 9.6K. There are
too many errors if the FAX machine is pushed to 14.4K.
And this is a result of VOIP interfering with it.

If a tech has to enter the house, to debug house
phone wiring, that'll likely cost you $99 for a
"truck-roll". Wringing out the line up to the
demarc, should be free.

The fact your voice line is "dead quiet", that
sounds like VOIP where the fake noise hasn't
been turned on. I have an actual VOIP box here,
separate from my modem, and it has a tick box
to add noise to make it sound like a regular
phone line. Digital transmission over VOIP
can otherwise be pretty quiet and noise free.

But just because the line is noise free, doesn't
mean it cannot be spectrally or temporally affecting
modem signals in such a way as to ruin the transmissions.
The human ear is much more tolerant of things like
that, than a modem is.

VOIP "feels different" than a regular POTS line,
in that the people on either end, tend to run
the conversation half-duplex. The phone dynamics
are much less forgiving of "interrupting" the
other party. It could be something to do with
buffer delays for packetizing the voice
or something. I'm not really sure what aspect
is causing it, merely that users end up behaving
differently when they're working over VOIP.

*******

Back when my ADSL setup here was "conventional", I
had a drop in data rate. It was caused by corrosion
of the outlet box in my room. The outlet is nailed
to the baseboard, right above the carpeting. While
the contacts in the RJ11 down there were gold plated,
the metal underneath was corroded. And this made
"noisy" electrical connections that cut the data
rate in half. Not wanting to **** around, I drilled
a hole in the floor, disconnected the entire existing
wire network, and ran a private four-wire up from the
demarc to the computer room. That... fixed it :-)

My boss had a similar problem at his place. He debugged,
and found the bad spot in his cabling, was where it
passed through the foundation.

By us doing our own debugging, we saved $99 on having
a telco guy do it. Where I live, you're allowed to
do your own in-house phone wiring, and I take full
advantage of that.

The hardest part of doing your own wiring, is getting
wire and outlets. I ended up going to my "good" electronics
store the last time, to get four conductor cable. And
they also had RJ-11 junction boxes for the end of the
line. The phone store no longer sells materials for
the job - they did at one time. Now, the phone store
only sells iPhones and related crap, since cell phones
are a very lucrative business (compared to home phone).

Paul

On 1 Nov 2017 17:03:54 GMT, KenK wrote:

My dial-up connection is only 19 KBs, best at 22. This used to work at
about 45. I use it for when my DSL isn't working.

ISPs exploit a feature in the phone system to use the digital channel
to get to v.90 speeds instead of just transmitting voice level data
which is capped at a theoretical max of around 19.2kbps (2400baud x
8). You will usually get less.
It is possible your phone system has closed the loophole that allows
v.90 transmissions. The "up" was always going to be v.34 or less since
you do not have access to the digital architecture from the subscriber
side.

wrote:
On 1 Nov 2017 17:03:54 GMT, KenK wrote:

My dial-up connection is only 19 KBs, best at 22. This used to work at
about 45. I use it for when my DSL isn't working.

ISPs exploit a feature in the phone system to use the digital channel
to get to v.90 speeds instead of just transmitting voice level data
which is capped at a theoretical max of around 19.2kbps (2400baud x
8). You will usually get less.
It is possible your phone system has closed the loophole that allows
v.90 transmissions. The "up" was always going to be v.34 or less since
you do not have access to the digital architecture from the subscriber
side.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modem#...28V.90.2F92.29

"introduced competing technologies based upon the digital transmission
used in telephony networks. The standard digital transmission in
modern networks is 64 kbit/s but some networks use a part of the
bandwidth for remote office signaling (e.g. to hang up the phone),
limiting the effective rate to 56 kbit/s DS0. --- robbed bit signaling

This new technology was adopted into ITU standards V.90 and is
common in modern computers. The 56 kbit/s rate is only possible
from the central office to the user site (downlink). In the
United States, government regulation limits the maximum power
output, resulting in a maximum data rate of 53.3 kbit/s.

The uplink (from the user to the central office) still uses V.34
technology at 33.6 kbit/s.
"

The company owning the dialup pool, rents a DS1. It contains 24 DS0
time slots, each one carrying 56Kbit/s (if robbed bit signaling
is assumed to be present, making certain bits unusable by the
application). A DS-1 is something you can string on telephone
poles, with fairly closely spaced regenerators. It used to be
fairly expensive (when we got Internet at work, we could only
afford 1/4 of a DS-1). In the current day, fiber would be
used to get pretty close to the modem pool building, so actual archaic
DS-1 wiring wouldn't be needed. There are other standards
they could use.

analog DS1
Ken -------- C.O. Switch -------------- Modem pool

That prevents analog degradation through the network in the
download direction. Just the line quality between the C.O.
and the user, matters.

They make no assumptions about what happens in the
upload direction, the upload rate and protocol
design is limited to the regular 33.6K (V34?) as
a result.

That's the implementation in the "prime" of 56K development.
When it actually worked well.

Paul

On 1 Nov 2017 17:03:54 GMT, KenK wrote:


Perhaps when I used it at 45 KBs in the past it was because the DSL
wasn't working and so was absent from the phone line. So if I use the
dial-up because the DSL isn't working it will run at 45 KBs? Trouble is,
there's no way to check this.

Suggestions?

This is all happening using XP Home if it matters.

TIA

I just dealt with this same thing. I usually connect at 45K (using a 56K
external USR modem). All of a sudden I was having trouble even getting
connected, and when I did, I was at 16K maybe 21K at most. I was getting
disconnected constantly. I hooked a phone to the line, and I heard a
loud hum and static. Then it got worse, and half the time I could not
even get a dialtone.

I checked all my wiring inside the house, and I finally called the phone
company. Turned out the module on the outside of the house was
defective. He replaced it, and I am back to my usual 45K.