Dial up problems - me or ISP?

[gaf at blu.org (Jerry Feldman)]

On Friday 07 July 2006 10:17 am, Ilane Walberg wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I suddenly started having dial up problems with my ISP.  My configuration
> has not changed and Earthlink claims no changes on their end either (but
> they claimed the same a month or so ago when they added authentication to
> their mail servers and they couldn't tell me how to fix my email because
> they don't support Linux!).  Here's what's happening:
>
> I'm running RH 7.3.
>
> When I first dial in to the ISP, I can ping earthlink.net (or anywhere
> else). I can pop my email, no problem.  I was able to ftp to my web
> server and list the files there.  But as soon as I try to do certain
> things, like browse to a web page or upload a file with ftp, I hang.  My
> subsequent ping hangs and I can no longer pop my mail.  I did a
> traceroute and it printed 4 or 5 lines then asterisks, but stopped
> completely when I got the hang. When I hang up and redail, I get the same
> behavior - works with some things then hangs.
>
> I don't see anything obvious in the error logs.
>
> Oh, and occasionally, I'll hear a small pop or snap, and my line
> disconnects completely.
>
> Could this be my modem?  Or some new security setting at the ISP?   A
> combination?  Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions appreciated.
Red Hat 7.3 is quite old. You probably should consider upgrading to 
something more recent. But, aside from that you should probably run some 
tests.
The first thing you probably should do it to get to a point where the 
problem is recreatable. You want to try to identify what triggers the hang. 
It could be as simple as some buggy software on your side. 

The "small pop or snap" on the line are indicative of a line failure, and 
can be caused by some static on the phone line or even an incoming call. It 
could also be your modem, but at this point I would doubt it.

One thing you could try is to temporarily run a stand-along Linux, such as 
Knoppix from the CD and browse the web to a site that previously caused 
your system to hang. If you still hang while running Knoppix (or another 
recent standalone) then you probaby can point to a hardware or an ISP 
issue. 

-- 
Jerry Feldman <gaf at blu.org>
Boston Linux and Unix user group
http://www.blu.org PGP key id:C5061EA9
PGP Key fingerprint:053C 73EC 3AC1 5C44 3E14 9245 FB00 3ED5 C506 1EA9