How to Troubleshoot Telephone Line and Internet Connection Problems

All dial-up and broadband Internet connections experience difficulty from time to time. You may mysteriously get "kicked" off the network, have trouble finding your connection or may not be able to connect at all. When you have trouble, you can perform simple troubleshooting steps on your hardware (e.g. modem and phone) and in your operating system to resolve the problems.

Instructions

Check Hardware Connections

1. Pick up the phone and listen for a dial tone. Look at the lights on the modem. Blinking lights on your cable or DSL modem typically indicate a faulty connection to your ISP. Look at the lights on your wireless router. Confirm the router displays three or more lights: for power, for the "Internet" connection to your modem and for the wireless signal.

2. Look at the wires connected to your Internet modem. Follow the wire from the "Ethernet" port on the modem to your computer to make sure it is connected. Or, if using a wireless router, follow the wire from the modem to the "Internet" port on the router.

3. Follow the telephone wire from your phone jack to the Internet modem, making sure that it's connected to the modem's "line" port and not "telephone" port, if using a dial-up connection. Remove any DSL filters between the phone jack and the modem, and attempt to make a connection.

4. Look at the phone jack wire and make sure, if you have multiple phone jacks, that it is connected to the correct one. For example, connect the phone jack to "line 1" instead of "line 2" if you only have one phone line. Pick up the phone after reconnecting the wire to the correct jack to see if you hear a dial tone.

Configure Dial-up Settings

1. Click the "Start" button in Windows XP and click "Control Panel." Select the "Network and Internet Connection" section and click "Network Connections." In Windows 7 and Vista, click the Windows logo button and type "Network and Sharing Center" in the "Search" box and press "Enter." Click "Manage Wireless Networks" or "Manage Network Connections."

2. Right-click the name of the dial-up Internet network connection you want to configure. Click "Properties."

3. Look at the "Phone number" field to confirm that your dial-up phone number is typed correctly. If it is not, retype the phone number for your dial-up connection -- including any required access numbers -- and try connecting again.

4. Click the "Alternates" button. Click the "Add" button and enter any additional phone numbers that you can call to connect to your ISP. Select "Move successful numbers to the top of the list" option.

5. Click the "Security" tab. Confirm that the "Security options" is set to "Typical" with "Allow unsecured password" selected in the "Validate my identity" section.

6. Click the "General" tab of the "Properties" box. Type "*70," "#70," or "1170," in the "Phone number" field before the typed phone number to disable call waiting. For example, type *70, 123-456-789 or 1170, 123-456-789, depending on which code your ISP uses to disable call waiting. After you type this code, attempt to establish a connection.

Repair Windows Problems

1. Right-click the Internet connection icon in the taskbar next to the system clock on your computer.

2. Click "Troubleshoot Problems" if using Windows 7, "Diagnose and Repair" if running Windows Vista or "Repair" in Windows XP.

3. Wait for Windows to automatically find problems with your connection, adjust computer or adapter settings, repair Winsock corruption and fix other problems it finds. Open an Internet browser and browse to some of your favorite sites to see if Windows fixed the problem.

Tips & Warnings

• Perform a complete power-cycle on all your Internet hardware if troubleshooting steps do not work by unplugging all hardware (e.g. phones, routers, modems) for at least five minutes, plugging them back in and then attempting to re-establish a connection.

References

• Microsoft Windows: Troubleshoot Internet Connection Problems
• Microsoft Windows: Advanced Dial-up Settings
• Expedient: Check Dialup Settings - Windows XP