| Steve |
| (regular) |
| Sun Jul 06 2003 02:47 AM |
Com 1 2 4
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Hi All, My old computer is now with my Mother in Law and has aquired a new problem. When I first set it up for her the connection speed in the task bar (bottom right by the two small monitor icons) read as 44,333kbps. Now a week later it's actually much slower, taking several minutes to load up the same sites and the figure reads 24,400kbps. I've taken a look around and noticed (I think somewhere in settings, but it might have been elsewhere) that the dialoque box that tells you about COM 1 COM 2 etc seems to have changed. COM 1 and COM 2 are now both greyed out and read No Modem installed, COM 4 reads Ambiant HaM Data Fax Voice. Ham COM Port Settings read Current COM Port:4. I may be wrong but I thought there was a Com 3 there before but it's not there anymore but, I'm fairly certain that orginally there was a tick in Com 1 (which is now greyed out). Could it be that somehow she has altered the way the modem is used and would this explain the sudden change in connection speed as all sites load much slower than when I originally set it up for her? If so can anyone tell me how to put it back to rights? As always, please accept my thanks in advance, Regards, Steve.
TheFatControlleR
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| (Forum Admin) |
| Sun Jul 06 2003 10:50 PM |
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Re: Com 1 2 4
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Hi Steve,
As I understand it, with dial-up connections you are at the mercy of the network you connect to. If it is heavily loaded (dependent upon the time/day you log-on) you may experience slower than optimal connection speeds.
Having said that, there are smarter folk on this forum who'll know how to speed up your connection (if indeed it can be).
TFC
Nothing is a problem for me...
| Steve |
| (regular) |
| Mon Jul 07 2003 08:04 PM |
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Re: Com 1 2 4
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Thanks for your response Bud, I realise that she may be at the mercy of the telephone line on dial up, but I was just a bit flummoxed as to why the drop in speed was so great and constant (considering that she has actually tried at all hours of the day and night). I was also a bit confused as to how she has seeminlgy altered the way the moden works. Unfortunately as she lives in another city it's not very easy to just nip over and get more information for you guys. If anyone can offer further suggestions they'd be appreciated but thanks to you Fat ControlleR for your help so far. The floor is open ladies gentlemen. Regards, Steve.
| greysts |
| (regular) |
| Sun Jul 20 2003 06:07 PM |
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Re: Com 1 2 4
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Hi Steve
In theory the COM number shouldn't have any bearing on line speed. It's only got to number 4 presumably because you may have tried re-installing the modem and Windows doesn't understand that you want to use the same COM port not a new one. There are normally only 2 physical ports on a PC known as COM1 and 2 but you can have several software COM ports. In theory it is possible to force Windows back to COM1 but the only way I found to do it was uninstall anything that might want to use the COM port then use the Control Panel to delete the port. I then went into the BIOS and temporarily make the COM port inactive. After a reboot I went back to the BIOS and reactivated the port and Windows put it back ready to be used as COM1.
Bear in mind that I did all that when I was work, it wasn't my PC and it didn't matter if I broke it. I think I would hesitate if it was MY mother-in-law!
I would be more inclined to blame the telephone company. Get them to check the line and tell them that it is used extensively for a modem. It could be that they need to turn up the gain or reduce the noise.