When BT logged me off at 0955, having been logged on since 0800 but having actually used the service for only 30 useful minutes I phoned the BT helpline.
At a cost of 50p a minute I was taken through the usual set up checks, told to go through dial up networking etc etc. After £10 of useless advice I was told that my phone line could be faulty and I was advised to dial 150 to ask for a line check and an increase in gain.
I went away and did other things while this was carried out and logged on again at 1400. The machine stopped after 4mins of PPRuNeing. So I phoned the helpline again. This time after nearly £2 of advice I was told my modem setting might be incorrect and that I should reduce the setting from something like 11560 to 5667 or whatever. So far the connection has operated properly.
I will get another modem and I will try to get shot of AOL. thanks for your advice.
cheers
SS
Uh oh...the connection has stopped again.