Test for faulty modem??

Is there any way to test the phone modem in my Inspiron 2650?

I am no longer able to connect to my dial-up ISP, and they've
tried a lot of possibilities, to no avail. Their thinking is that my
modem may be faulty, but is there a simple way to check it out?

Is this a user-serviceable component if it needs replacing?

Thanks

The modem icon in Control Panel has a weak diagnostic program in it, but it's
better than nothing. If the modem fails this diagnostic, it needs to be
replaced for sure.

The only other things you can do to isolate the problem:

1.Tote the computer elsewhere and try dialing up from there.
2. Or try dialing another ISP.
3. Or get a now-dirt-cheap 56K PCMCIA card and try it.

These have always been messy problems to resolve, because the failure to connect
could be due to any one of: modem, telephone lines inside building, external
telephone lines, or ISP.

Finally, internal miniPCI modems are not too expensive either. Simply buy one
and replace... Ben Myers

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 04:10:03 -0500, "Judie & Randy Gehman" <>
wrote:

>Is there any way to test the phone modem in my Inspiron 2650?
>
>I am no longer able to connect to my dial-up ISP, and they've
>tried a lot of possibilities, to no avail. Their thinking is that my
>modem may be faulty, but is there a simple way to check it out?
>
>Is this a user-serviceable component if it needs replacing?
>
>Thanks
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Judie & Randy Gehman wrote:
> Is there any way to test the phone modem in my Inspiron 2650?
>
> I am no longer able to connect to my dial-up ISP, and they've
> tried a lot of possibilities, to no avail. Their thinking is that my
> modem may be faulty, but is there a simple way to check it out?
>
> Is this a user-serviceable component if it needs replacing?
>
> Thanks

Open the modems control panel, select the modem, properties, Diagnostics
tab, Query button and have at giving it a few AT commands, look at the
responses. If it is unresponsive, then it has a problem. ATH0 and ATH1
(off hook should provide a dial tone, on hook should stop it),
ATDT5551212 where 5551212 is replaced with a known working phone number
will dial. ATZ resets to default settings (as I recall, and there is not
guarantee of that!). Google for 'modem AT commands' for more.

You should be looking for the driver at Dell, replace or update it
first. The modem is not serviceable except for the driver. The only
alternative is a serial modem, PC-Card modem. Both will likely perform
better than the on-board modem.

You might look at winsockxpfix.exe to repair the TCP/IP stack (Google
for it).

i could also be that you have spyware running. post a list of your
running tasks and perhaps we can spot something.

You should tell us more about what does happen when you try and connect.
Do you hear the dial tone, does it get carrier, it says connected, and
then doesnt do anything, or it says "xxxx" on the screen.
this is all important.
Jay


Judie & Randy Gehman wrote:

> Is there any way to test the phone modem in my Inspiron 2650?
>
> I am no longer able to connect to my dial-up ISP, and they've
> tried a lot of possibilities, to no avail. Their thinking is that my
> modem may be faulty, but is there a simple way to check it out?
>
> Is this a user-serviceable component if it needs replacing?
>
> Thanks
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>