Why do I get frequent disconnects?

Frequent disconnects while you are online is normally caused by telephone line conditions.

If you share a line with your voice phone you may be getting incoming calls that are knocking you off line. If you have call waiting and you don't have it disabled (*70), an incoming call will disconnect you. Noise on the telephone line accounts for the largest majority of disconnects. Higher speed modems are more susceptible to line noise. Line noise that is barely perceptible to the ear can be deadly to a modem connection. Sometimes you can make your modem less susceptible to line noise by making your modem wait longer until it detects that the line has been dropped. On most modems, including "S10=20" in the init string will cause it to wait 2 seconds before determining that loss of signal is actually a disconnect. In Windows95, in Control Panel, click on Modems, then select your modem, then click on Properties, then the Connection tab, then click on Advanced. In the Extra Settings box, add S10=20. If you have to do this, you probably should see about remedying the line noise problem, though. An excellent description on how to troubleshoot your modem/line problems can be found at http://www.56k.com/trouble/. Keep in mind that your house wiring can be the cause of telephone line noise, and most telephone companies will bill you if the problem is in your house wiring, so if you suspect noise on your line, it is best to check out your house wiring before calling the telephone company.

It could be your e-mail client hanging up when it is done sending mail.