ethernet modem - no dial tone

....trying to set up an ancient NEC pc to dialup the net for a girl i
like.
.... a 166Mhz P1 with 64mb RAM, WIN98.It has an ethernet 3 modem - is
this for local networks or the internet too? alleged to be a
33,something modem...
AANNYYWAY this is an old farmhouse, old wiring... i can hear the
modem click but - no dial tone. Someone indicated in an old thread
that the line voltage might be low. Are there phone-line signal
boosters? any other fixes? thanx Ъ×

I spent a lot of years in the entertainment/news business and never
saw such a booster. If in fact the line voltage is low the phone
company has to fix it. Do all the phones work ok?

"dax" <> wrote in message
news: m...
> ...trying to set up an ancient NEC pc to dialup the net for a girl i
> like.
> ... a 166Mhz P1 with 64mb RAM, WIN98.It has an ethernet 3 modem - is
> this for local networks or the internet too? alleged to be a
> 33,something modem...
> AANNYYWAY this is an old farmhouse, old wiring... i can hear the
> modem click but - no dial tone. Someone indicated in an old thread
> that the line voltage might be low. Are there phone-line signal
> boosters? any other fixes? thanx Ъ×

Dax:

I suggest that you try to "talk to the modem" independent
of the phone line connection. You can do this as follows from
Win98:

1) Click on Start/Programs/Accessories/Communicatoins and choose
HyperTerminal.

2) Double-click the HyperTerminal Icon

3) For Name: on the New Connection screen enter: Test
and then click OK

4) On the next Connect To screen, set the Connect Using:
to your modem name. E.g., Sportster Voice 33.6 Fax Modem.
Erase the Area Code and set the phone number to the character: minus sign
then click OK

5) On the next screen click: Cancel

6) When you see a blinking cursor in the upper left-hand corner
fo the HyperTerminal screen, type: AT and then press Enter
If you see OK on the screen, you are successfully communicating
with your modem. If not, then you may have an incorrect system
setting or pin setting on the card.

7) If you saw the OK, try issuing: ATDT phonenumber
where phonenumber is the phone number as you would
dial it from the handset. If there is call waiting on this line,
this would cause major problems if you did not first cancel
Call Waiting for this call: e.g., ATDT *70,,,phonenumber
where ,,, are three commas for a three second pause.

There are other trouble-shooting items you may wish to check at web page:
http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/pub/access/wi...Stuff/drop.txt

Good luck with it.
Skip Knoble, Penn State


On 6 May 2004 06:06:56 -0700, (dax) wrote:

-|...trying to set up an ancient NEC pc to dialup the net for a girl i
-|like.
-|... a 166Mhz P1 with 64mb RAM, WIN98.It has an ethernet 3 modem - is
-|this for local networks or the internet too? alleged to be a
-|33,something modem...
-| AANNYYWAY this is an old farmhouse, old wiring... i can hear the
-|modem click but - no dial tone. Someone indicated in an old thread
-|that the line voltage might be low. Are there phone-line signal
-|boosters? any other fixes? thanx Ъ×


Herman D. (Skip) Knoble, Research Associate
(a computing professional for 38 years)
Email: SkipKnobleLESS at SPAMpsu dot edu
Web: http://www.personal.psu.edu/hdk
Penn State Information Technology Services
Academic Services and Emerging Technologies
Graduate Education and Research Services
Penn State University
214C Computer Building
University Park, PA 16802-21013
Phone:+1 814 865-0818 Fax:+1 814 863-7049

dax wrote:

> ...trying to set up an ancient NEC pc to dialup the net for a girl i
> like.
> ... a 166Mhz P1 with 64mb RAM, WIN98.It has an ethernet 3 modem - is
> this for local networks or the internet too? alleged to be a
> 33,something modem...
> AANNYYWAY this is an old farmhouse, old wiring... i can hear the
> modem click but - no dial tone. Someone indicated in an old thread
> that the line voltage might be low. Are there phone-line signal
> boosters? any other fixes? thanx Ъ×

How do you know there's no dial tone? Maybe the speaker's just off.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.

On 6 May 2004 06:06:56 -0700, (dax) wrote:

>...trying to set up an ancient NEC pc to dialup the net for a girl i like.
>... a 166Mhz P1 with 64mb RAM, WIN98.It has an ethernet 3 modem - is
>this for local networks or the internet too? alleged to be a
>33,something modem...
> AANNYYWAY this is an old farmhouse, old wiring... i can hear the
>modem click but - no dial tone. Someone indicated in an old thread
>that the line voltage might be low. Are there phone-line signal
>boosters? any other fixes? thanx Ъ×

You've checked that the phone line uses digital dialing rather
than the old style pulse dailing?
If it's pulse you have to change the modem dailing command
ATDT vs ATDP (without checking a modem manual)

I assume it's a private telephone line rather than a party line (which
used to be common in many rural areas).
Party lines don't support modems.

On Thu, 06 May 2004 18:11:47 GMT, dm-----@sentex.net (Dennis Mullin)
wrote:

>On 6 May 2004 06:06:56 -0700, (dax) wrote:
>
>>...trying to set up an ancient NEC pc to dialup the net for a girl i like.
>>... a 166Mhz P1 with 64mb RAM, WIN98.It has an ethernet 3 modem - is
>>this for local networks or the internet too? alleged to be a
>>33,something modem...
>> AANNYYWAY this is an old farmhouse, old wiring... i can hear the
>>modem click but - no dial tone. Someone indicated in an old thread
>>that the line voltage might be low. Are there phone-line signal
>>boosters? any other fixes? thanx Ъ×
>
>You've checked that the phone line uses digital dialing rather
>than the old style pulse dailing?
>If it's pulse you have to change the modem dailing command
>ATDT vs ATDP (without checking a modem manual)
>
>I assume it's a private telephone line rather than a party line (which
>used to be common in many rural areas).
>Party lines don't support modems.

it is digidialing, and there is an error message that sez the modem
can't hear a dial tone. This 'speaking to the modem' looks useful.
One thing i did not try - there is a 'don't wait for dial tone'
option... the idea is that maybe on a country line and with a long
(60') cable twixt pc and bellbox, maybe there wasn't enuff oomph
coming up the line to wake up the modem.
Thanks. I'm gonna try tomorrow and will follow up here. - Ъ×

On Thu, 06 May 2004 18:11:47 GMT, dm-----@sentex.net (Dennis Mullin)
wrote:

>On 6 May 2004 06:06:56 -0700, (dax) wrote:
>
>>...trying to set up an ancient NEC pc to dialup the net for a girl i like.
>>... a 166Mhz P1 with 64mb RAM, WIN98.It has an ethernet 3 modem - is
>>this for local networks or the internet too? alleged to be a
>>33,something modem...
>> AANNYYWAY this is an old farmhouse, old wiring... i can hear the
>>modem click but - no dial tone. Someone indicated in an old thread
>>that the line voltage might be low. Are there phone-line signal
>>boosters? any other fixes? thanx Ъ×
>
>You've checked that the phone line uses digital dialing rather
>than the old style pulse dailing?
>If it's pulse you have to change the modem dailing command
>ATDT vs ATDP (without checking a modem manual)
>
>I assume it's a private telephone line rather than a party line (which
>used to be common in many rural areas).
>Party lines don't support modems.

i was actually on a party line HERE when i first went online -
absolutely forbidden but it does work... I used to surf late at
night... finally they gave me a line - Ð