problems sending e-mails/uploading

[Denise]

Ever since we came back from Sheridan, I have been having no end of problems with attempting to send e-mails with attachments and uploading pictures to the forum. We are on dial up (high speed not an option here). Things were working fine when we left on May 12th. Home on May 20th and problems every since. Computer was unplugged when we were away.

I occasionally get an message when trying to dial up that the server has not responded. There have been times when I could not send a 4kb, two sentance e-mail. Generally I keep attachments down to 200 kb max. On the rare occasion they have gone, but most commonly I can't send an e-mail with more than about 50 kb. (I use OE, but the same thing happened when I tried to use Microsoft Office Outlook.) I tried to upload a 40 kb picture last night - wouldn't go.

Because it is happening in numerous programs, I don't think it is a software issue. I changed the modem - no change, so I don't think it is a hardware deal with that.

I am running AVG. I was using 7.5 when this started and have changed to 8.0, but it was just as bad before the switch. No different if I turn off the e-mail scanner or the Resident Shield.

When I take the computer to town and hook into high speed - no problem. (Well at least as I can tell with the light speed things go at compared to what I am used to). When I go to dial up in town - same problem, so not likely to be a local line.

Telus - our only option for phones and internet out here - directs me to nice people in the Philippines who go down their list of "fixes" and then tell me to delete things from my computer and that everything will be fine when I disconnect from them and try to dial up. They all say that. All 20 or so (not kidding) of them so far... And no, there is not even an address in Canada they can give me a to write a snail mail letter to - they're it.

I strongly suspect it is a Telus problem, especially since our neighbour down the road is experiencing the same thing. Also, the connection speed has dropped to be pretty consistently 26.4. Normal had been 31.2 and 28.8.

I am not a computer person. You see most of my computer knowledge in front of you now. Any other ideas on what might be going on and what else to try so I can send proper e-mails again and upload pictures here again? Thanks in advance for using small words and typing SSSSLLLLOOOOWWWW.

[IanCantwell]

Very frustrating isn't it! I had similar problems of the connection dropping out usually at busy times of the day but fortunately I'm near an exchange and the wiring is fairly modern although 26k-32k was about average. I very occasionally get the same problem now that I'm on high speed but usually manage about 7000k.

It could be a wiring problem on the line coming into the property or the street if it's also affecting your neighbour, our overhead lines don't like the high wind. You should have got a program disc when you signed up to the service, try running that, it might have a repair installation option which will check all the settings in your computer and it might recommend you refresh your IP address (at a click of the button) which sometimes helps. Beyond that I'm as lost as you.

[Johanna]

Denise- if you could be online and on the phone at the same time, I'd walk you through a couple of things. First I'd probably delete your connection and recreate it. I'm going to point the monkey here, because he can't pound leather, but he knows his computer stuff.

~J

[dsenette]

26.4. Normal had been 31.2 and 28.8.

wow...that's barely even dialup speed (the max is 56-ish)....i remember my old 28.8 baud modem...big honkin beast that sat on the table.... it wasn't really worth connecting with

When I take the computer to town and hook into high speed - no problem. (Well at least as I can tell with the light speed things go at compared to what I am used to). When I go to dial up in town - same problem, so not likely to be a local line.

i agree...probably nothing to do with your specific phone line since if you hook up to a phone somewhere else it does the same thing

I strongly suspect it is a Telus problem, especially since our neighbour down the road is experiencing the same thing. Also, the connection speed has dropped to be pretty consistently 26.4. Normal had been 31.2 and 28.8.

this could indicate (as Ian pointed out.....is that EEE-an or EYE-an?) an issue with the local distribution site....which is probably a big grey box at the end of the street. however since you have the same problem "in town" (man livin in the boonies is great isn't it?) i would say that this probably isn't the case since they're not connecting to the same distribution point as you...

i would point my hairy monkey finger at telus (they suck to begin with even in metro areas....or so i'm told)....their local ISP demarc might have some issues (the local hub for all their connectivity...basically wherever that phone number you dial to dial up actually sits at)....of course getting an ISP to admit fault is like pulling the teeth from a bobcat while it's awake...

how's your cellphone service where you live?

[Johanna]

I think her cell phone service is two tin cans tied to a string...

What Dave means is that Telus has more traffic on their hub than they have the hardware to handle, so consequently everything slows to a crawl. Can you take your computer to town and call while you're online? We don't want to knock you offline trying any fixing, because the only thing worse than slow is dead.

Johanna

[dsenette]

yeah it's either that they're over loaded or their equipment is actually failing....either is completely possible

without looking at anything i would doubt that it's the connection profile (since in theory nothing changed with regards to the setup)...but it's worth a shot

[Denise]

Thanks for the help. Cell service in our yard is touch and go - one bar or often not available. If you walk out the driveway to the road, you get better service, but calling our house would make it long distance. ( No, it is not a long driveway! We are just between two towers. Land line wise 2 miles north is also long distance for me.) Telus has walked me through changing the connection information a few times - in different ways, of course! I will see what I can do about getting a phone and the computer online at the same time.

The speed on the internet varies so much, seemingly independently of the connection speed. Sometimes it sits forever before it changes pages and sometimes it goes really fast despite a slower speed. Huh?

[dsenette]

Sometimes it sits forever before it changes pages and sometimes it goes really fast despite a slower speed.

when it goes really fast it's PROBABLY (again without seeing it) either a "static content" kind of website where things don't change that often....or to a site you've already been to on that session...in the second scenario your PC has a cached version of the page sitting on your hard drive waiting for it to be accessed again

[Denise]

when it goes really fast it's PROBABLY (again without seeing it) either a "static content" kind of website where things don't change that often....or to a site you've already been to on that session...in the second scenario your PC has a cached version of the page sitting on your hard drive waiting for it to be accessed again

That would make sense sometimes, but not always. For example, after I post a response here, sometimes it will take 30 seconds to a minute to get the last screen when I click the back button.

I suspect there are, at times, things downloading in the background that will slow it up. I wish I knew how to shut off all the automatic update stuff that people build into their programs, especially the windows stuff. But I don't think even that is the whole problem because things will be going well, and then all of a sudden slow to an absolute crawl. If I disconnect and reconnect, it will generally go back to "normal", but not always.

[kseidel]

Denise,

I feel your pain!!! I hateed dial-up. I used a satellite service from Hughs Net. It was not great, but soooo much better than dial-up. They have many different packages available, so I don't know what the price would be for you, but it sounds like it may be your only choice for faster connections. The website is url="http://www.hughesnet.com"]www.hughesnet.com[/url]. We had a VPN using their service and the only problem was the latency between computer and satellite. Speeds were about 1.5gb two years ago. I'm sure it is faster now.

Hope you get some improvement!

Keith