Laptop modem issue

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I have a Dell Inspiron laptop I purchased last month. I am also one of those pitiful souls who uses dial-up to connect to the Internet.

Occassionally, I will be unable to load any pages. The error message says the connection to the server timed out. It will do this for any and all pages I try to access.

I will then disconnect from the Internet and try to connect again, and it will not connect. I can try this about 15 times in a row and never get a connection.

I called my ISP to see if they were having any problems on their end. The tech suggested I restart the computer and try connecting again. This did work and has worked every time I've had the problem.

My questions are, why is my modem deciding to call it quits every so often? Did Dell insert a lump of fecal matter where a modem should be instead? And why is restarting the computer making it work and how can I fix the problem, if there is a way to do it?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

[Pedersen]

Chances are extremely good you have a WinModem in there (or , to use your terms, a lump of fecal matter where a modem should be).

From your description, what's likely happening is that the driver for said modem get into an inconsistent state internally, which means your computer can't properly use the modem.

Your options, if all of the above is correct:

1. Try to find updated drivers for said modem.
2. Get an external modem. Due to their nature, it's very difficult to get an external modem that is a WinModem, but it can happen. How to avoid it: Get one that the box says is compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac (and, ideally, a few that you've never heard of).

Not a lot to go on, to be sure, but I'm hoping it helps out a little bit.