Dial-up FAQ

1. When I dial in it says that my username or password is invalid but I know they are correct?
   
2. How much will it cost me to call the Internet?
   
3. I have a 56K modem. Why isn't my download speed even close to 56K?
   
4. Whenever I dial in it seems to takes ages to connect?
   
5. I normally get a very good connection speed but downloads from some sites are quite slow?
   
6. I keep losing connection to you?
   
7. How do I make my modem redial?
   
8. I have just set up an account with you, I can log on to the Internet, I can send e-mail but I cannot see any web sites?
   
9. Server assigned DNS and Linux problems
   

1. When I dial in it says that my username or password is invalid but I know they are correct?
For security reasons all dial-up accounts have to show the number they are dialling from, this is called CLI or Caller Line Identification. On most lines including BT adding 1470, before the 0845 number you dial should give out your number just for the call you make to the Internet. i.e. 1470, 0845 XXXXXXX.

To change this go to My computer/Dial-up-Networking/ then right click on your PlusNet Icon and select properties, take the tick out of use area code and dialling properties and in the box marked "Telephone" enter the number as above replacing the XXXXXXX with whichever particular dial in number you use. Also try re entering your username and password just in case there is a spelling mistake in there.

Connect account holders must inform us of the number(s) from which they are dialing by visiting the My CLI area of the My Connection section of the portal in order to prevent misuse of the service. This will allow you to dial on a fixed-cost number from up to 5 locations which have BT lines without having to revisit the portal.

ISDN users need to have CLIP (Called Line Identification Protocol) enabled on their line in order to connect successfully to us when using their Connect account. This will ensure that you present the number dialled so that BT Net know where to route the call. CLIP can be enabled by calling BT sales on 150 (residential lines) or 152 (business lines).
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2. How much will it cost me to call the Internet?
All Calls made to our 0845-based Internet services are charged at lo-call rates. You will have to ask your telephone line provider how much they charge for a lo-call rate call, this differs depending on who you use (BT, Energis, Telewest, Localtel, Cable & Wireless) and what time the call is made.

Connect and Broadband ADSL services are fixed-cost and include the cost of your Internet access in the subscription.
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3. I have a 56K modem. Why isn't my download speed even close to 56K?
There could be several reasons - and most of them aren't your ISP's fault.
First of all, static electricity caused by radio signals, power lines, and other sources interfere with most 56K modem signals, forcing them to fall back to 42-50Kbps.
56K modems also require a clean, straight through telephone connection to the telephone company's central office switching center. Phone company line amplifiers that boost a telephone signal over a long distance, PBX switchboard systems, and other phone equipment alter the phone signal and force 56K modems to fall back to speeds of 33.6Kbps and lower.
Finally, the FCC doesn't allow 56K modems to use the full range of signals that phone company equipment can generate. They're concerned that it'll cause static interference to other phone lines.
So no 56K modem in the United Kingdom ever connects at 56K. Most 56K modem users seem to connect at speeds of 44-48Kbps.

If you think that you are only connecting at a very slow speed (around 30,00bps), make sure you are on the right dial in number for your modem and that you have the latest drivers installed. Also if you have made an extension to reach your computer make sure that the lead from your modem to the phone socket is as short as possible. Another thing is to check how many telephones you actually have connected to your line, the more telephones the more likely you are to get a bad or slow connection. Check with your phone company to see what REN rating your phone line has then look under each telephone in your house, there is usually a REN rating for each particular phone. Add them up and see if you are exceeding the number given to you by your telephone supplier.
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4. Whenever I dial in it seems to take ages to connect?
If you go to My Computer/Dial-up-Networking and then right click on your PlusNet Icon then select properties, firstly make sure you are using the correct number for your particular type of modem (see link below) Then click the tab at the top marked server types and make sure only enable software compression and TCP/IP are ticked.

Unticking any other boxes such as log onto network will speed up the time it takes to connect to us.
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5. I normally get a very good connection speed but downloads from some sites are quite slow?
There are a number of factors that can affect this:

• The actual speed of the server site you are downloading from.
  
• The actual location of the site.
  
• The amount of traffic currently on the net.
  
• The amount of people downloading from the same server as you.
  

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6. I keep losing connection to you?
There are many reasons for this happening, first thing to check is are you connecting through the correct number. Consult the 'connecting' guide in Support for the correct number.

Secondly is your telephone line noisy? Are there crackles, pops or any other kind of interference? Try plugging your modem into the main telephone socket in the house, rather than an extension lead. If this is not possible try making the lead from your socket to the modem as short as possible.

Finally if there is still noise on the line you may have to contact your telephone line provider and ask them to "balance" the line or turn up the "gain". This should improve your disconnection problems.
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7. How do I make my modem redial?
Go to My Computer then into Dial-up-networking and click on Connections then Settings. This will bring up a box, place a tick in Redial and enter the relevant times into the delay boxes.
For example: you could type 10 in redial attempts, this would attempt 10 redials before giving up. 0 in minutes and 5 seconds, this will pause for 5 seconds after a failed attempt then retry until it reaches the 10 redials you have specified.
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8. I have just set up an account with you, I can log on to the Internet, I can send e-mail but I cannot see any web sites?
If you have had any other ISPs on your machine (or recently installed IE) they may use a proxy server to access web sites, where as we do not. This setting is normally a small box that needs unticking and can be found in different places depending on your browser, here is where to find it.

Internet Explorer 3 or 4: Open your browser and click on View then Internet options, click on the connections Tab and untick Use Proxy Server.

Internet Explorer 5: Open your browser and click on Tools and then Internet options, then click on the connections Tab and onto settings, and untick the Use a Proxy Server box.

Netscape Navigator/Communicator: Open your browser and click on Edit then Preferences, Open the Advanced drop down menu and select Proxies, Tick the Direct connection to the Internet.
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9. Server assigned DNS and Linux problems
Sometimes Linux customers can have problems connecting with Linux and PPP, although we do not support linux here is something that may overcome connection problems for you.
1. Add "usepeerdns" to
/etc/pp/options
2. modify the scripts
/etc/ppp/ip-up and
/etc/ppp/ip-down
as follows
ip-up

This sample code shows you one way to modify your setup to allow automatic configuration of your resolv.conf for peer supplied DNS addresses when using the usepeerdns option.

In my case I just added this to my /etc/ppp/ip-up.local script. You may need to create an executable script if one does not exist.

You will also need to add the following to your ip-up.local and ip-down.local scripts:-

Please add to your ip-up.local script:-
if [ -n "$USEPEERDNS" -a -f /etc/ppp/resolv.conf ]; then
rm -f /etc/ppp/resolv.prev
if [ -f /etc/resolv.conf ]; then
cp /etc/resolv.conf /etc/ppp/resolv.prev
grep search /etc/ppp/resolv.prev > /etc/resolv.conf
grep nameserver /etc/ppp/resolv.prev >> /etc/resolv.conf
cat /etc/ppp/resolv.conf >> /etc/resolv.conf
else
cp /etc/ppp/resolv.conf /etc
fi
chmod 644 /etc/resolv.conf
fi

Please add to your ip-down.local script to restore the original state:-
if [ -n "$USEPEERDNS" -a -f /etc/ppp/resolv.conf ]; then
if [ -f /etc/ppp/resolv.prev ]; then
cp -f /etc/ppp/resolv.prev /etc/resolv.conf
else
rm -f /etc/resolv.conf
fi
chmod 644 /etc/resolv.conf
fi
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