I currently have an old PC and a new PC here on the desk, which are hooked up to different servers, AOL and ATT. I am using a phone line jack with an adapter for two connections. I have to disconnect the phone hookup on one PC before I can use the other. I've had no problems with this setup until last night.

There was the power company truck down the street doing something, while I was here on the FCR. All of sudden the power went out for about 2 seconds, then came back on. I have a surge protector strip at the electrical connection. I had to reboot both PC's and then tried to reconnect, but a message came up that I had no dial tone, on both PC's. I checked the regular phone line and it had a dial tone.

At first I thought the power outage somehow fried the connection, then I thought it was just a bad connection at the 2 line jack. I've been trouble shooting this and the only way I can now get a dial tone is to hookup only one PC at a time to the phone jack, then I get a dial tone. If I disconnect and immediately reconnect on the same PC, it says no dial tone, again. However, if I just pull the plug at the jack and then reinsert, I have a dial tone.

In other words, when I want to connect on either PC, before I do so, I have to pull the connect wire out of the jack, to disconnect it from the PC, then reconnect it to the jack, to get the dial tone. It's the same on both PC's.

What is happening here? It's not a bad connection, it's either in both PC's or something is screwy in the PC phone line. Any helpful hints would be truly appreciated. Patrick :confused:

 

Yikes, all the photos we keep throwin' at ya FXT...and yer usin' a dialup.

Lord have mercy, I'll try to slow down on the posting :D

Now to your problem:
First, the basics. Is the phone cable plugged into the LINE or TELCO jack on both computers....not the jack marked PHONE?

Is it possible that with all the pluggin' and unpluggin', sometimes you get it in the wrong hole?

 

Another check to perform:

When the computer says "No dialtone", stop the dialing attempt and plug a regular phone in the PHONE jack on the modem. Listen for dialtone.

 

Patrick, I'm talking about the OTHER end of the phone cable...at the computer. Are you plugged into LINE or TELCO on BOTH computer modems???

 

What kind of modem? Internal??

Normally, telephone lines and electrical lines have nothing to do with each other. It sounds to me like your problem isn't your phone lines but I'd look closely at the modem(s) settings. The power outage may have done something hanky to your comm circuits. It doesn't take much of a surge to cause huge problems.

 

Sounds like the modem is off hook..
If your using the same line, make sure you are off-line on computer 1 before launching computer 2

Just a thought here,
Make sure the new computer is not auto loading a remote control package like PC Anywhere, FAX, etc.. and is tying to call out or otherwise taking over the modem.

If it is an internal you can't see any status lights..

Try going to modem properties of control panel and run a diagnostics test..
See if the modem responds properly..

Let us know what you find.

Tony


[Modified by pittsaj, 4:32 PM 4/18/2002]

 

That's it for tonight, I give up. The wife uninstalled the modem, then reinstalled it, ran a diagnostic check, says it's the connection box mounted on the baseboard by the floor. Tomorrow, I'll stop by Radio Shack and get a new box, with two connection openings, so I don't have to use a splitter adapter.

Between the transmission problem and now this, it has not been a good week, but there is light at the end of the tunnel...tomorrow is FRIDAY!!! :cheers: