Does anyone else have this problem?

My internet service is provided by BT Openworld/Anytime. But with irritating frequency it seems to be randomly disconnecting, usually when I'm in the middle of using it.

Often when I connect the system seems to work for two minutes then "hang" in limbo before finally deciding to disconnect.

Recently it's become so bad that I'm thinking of changing the service provider. But I'm wondering if it's caused by a setting on the PC or something else.

Although I've set the system to automatically disconnect when completely idle for several minutes, I know that this isn't the problem (it still happens even when I turn this option off).

Help much appreciated, before I tell BT how sh*te their service is.

I had exactly the same problem with BT. 9 times out of 10 my connection would fail within 5 minutes of initially connecting. Generally the service would be better after re-connecting, but I still had a lot of random disconnections.

Nothing I tried improved the service. It was suggested to me that it might have been caused by a fault with my telephone line.
I doubt this because I've been with a different ISP for the past few weeks, with far better results.

I've seen similar with a 98 Sp1 machine on Freeserve. Changing ISP to Waitrose improved matters (or seemed to), but in the end the solution we settled on was a new OS (w2k)

Ah, so it’s not just me! I’m been having the same problems since I left SurfTime for Anytime many many months ago. A few weeks ago, on one day it took over 6 hours of trying before I got a connection and all BTOpenWorld do is try and put the blame on my computer or the line.

During the last week I’ve been regularly disconnected after 5 minutes or so on line. A few months ago for a period of 7 days everything was consistently good and then it reverted to the current rubbish service.

Don’t hold your breath if you expect this ISP to help other than to give you standard email replies which bear little resemblance to the problem….and as for their 50p a minute help line, I think I knew more about computers/internet than they did!

Konkordski,

What are you doing when you get disconnected?

It is hard to guess what the problem is without any details on your comp.

It could be anything from static on your phone line, to using a Win Modem and overloading your CPU while playing games. Since a Win Modem is not a real Modem, you will get disconnected if your CPU cannot keep up.

A little more details on your Hardware (incl. Modem details) and OS would be helpful.

Take Care,

Capt. Richard J. Gentil, Pres.
Naples Air Center, Inc.
Custom Computers of Naples, Inc.

I used to have exactly the same even on ISDN and I believe it to be a local Telephone Company Hardware Problem.

There used to be a myth that there was a "Gain" value that could be increased in the local exchanges to help with the problem. I had something of a long wrangle with the local BT excange manager who disabused me about this misconception. We parted amicably enough with him saying that there was nothing he could do except check the line and that had been done and it was OK...

Soon after things improved remarkably. What a coincidence!

I think that you might get somewhere my repeatedly complaining about the quality of the line. But if you read the BT contract you will see that they make no guarantee about the line quality for Digital purposes. This point was made strongly to me by the Manager.

But, as said, the line quality can be improved by old-fashioned technical work by chaps on their knees with their heads in big Terminal Boxes by the roadside.

Now, change up to Broadband and these irritations just fly away. :D