Modem Trouble

[fine-tune]

Years ago when we all transitioned to broadband I decided to keep my dial-up modem as
a backup. Cost almost nothing. I'm glad I did, because broadband has never been 100%
reliable in my community.

I have several brand new Jaton WinComm V.92 modem cards. The chipset is Intel/Ambient
MD5628 D-L-C. I just replaced the old modem in my desktop (XP Pro_SP3) with a new WinComm.

There are endless problems connecting with this modem. I called a business friend. His
company installs and services computer equipment. He tested all the new Jaton modems and
and every phone jack in my home. Modems and phone lines all good.

The modem is plugged into high quality desktop speakers, so I can hear normal and abnormal
"handshaking" sounds.

First time connecting I heard a normal dial tone followed by an "unable to detect dial tone"
message box. I saved this Microsoft kb document about modem connection problems.
Clearing the tick from "wait for dial tone before dialing" was the fix.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/326681

Problem number two is a nightmare! I hear very abnormal connection sounds followed by
this recorded message:

"If you would like to make a call, please hang up and try again."

I couldn't think of anything else, so I searched the web for Intel/Ambient initialization
commands. Got frustrated because googling didn't produce much for Intel/Ambient chipsets.
Opened my list of generic modem string commands and tried several in the "Extra Initialization
Commands" box. Didn't help at all.

I know the hardware and phone lines are good because my business friend used the best
equipment to test everything.

Any suggestion that might lead to a solution would be helpful.

[dyarker]

It is possible that fixing first problem caused the second. The first, or more, digits of phone number are maybe being sent before DCO is ready to decode them. Been a long time since I used MODEMs and "AT" commands, but I suggest programming in a second delay between MODEM going "off hook" and beginning of dialing. That will give the DCO time to find an available DTMF decoder. The DCO tells the user it is ready for digits to be dialed by sending dial tone. During non-busy times this happens before handset moves from cradle to ear. Sometimes you may hear silence, then dial tone, then you may dial.

A MODEM is faster than you, especially with "wait for dial tone" turned off.

Why the MODEM does not detect dial tone could be harder to figure out. Do you have a POTS line on copper from the phone company, or analog phone port on TV coax, or something else electronic?

Cheers,

[fine-tune]

I googled "dial-up modem if you would like to make a call, please hang up and try again."
The list of possible causes are almost endless. I don't know why, but I've never had a
problem with a dial-up modem that required more than 10 minutes to resolve. Just good
luck, I guess.

Like I said, keeping this dial-up service made sense because in my town there have been
problems with power and cable lines that lasted for weeks.

I have an old IBM ThinkPad with 98SE. I can easily connect to the web with the Agere
WinModem installed in this laptop. Any phone jack in my home works perfectly with this
old laptop. That's all the proof I need that the phone lines are not causing this problem.

This is definitely a bottomless pit. I could tinker with this WinComm modem forever. Maybe
trying a different brand is the solution.

[dyarker]

Please, just try adding a pause between going off-hook and the start of dialing for the Jaton WinComm V.92 MODEM.

[haklesup]

My ISP (Comcast) does not even offer a dialup connection. your ISP must be as antiquated as your broadband service. Are you sure the number is not a FAX