Well nuts! Here I was thinking it was an old sytle phone modem, not a DSL!
LOL!
Quote
should have keyed me in...
Ok, let me switch gears then. Let's try to rule out any hardware problems you may have. Since you've got a broadband connection, that makes it a bit easier. Ever used linux before? This will work great for troubleshooting...
There's a distro of linux that runs completely off of CD and doesn;t touch the hdd. Most people use it either to test on a new PC to see if it's hardware is linux compatable or those that need a quick linux distro without any installation hassels. OR those of us that just want to verify if a PC has a hardware or software problem.
Try downloading knoppix linux 3.6 from one of the mirrors here:
http://www.knoppix.net/get.php
Download the ISO, burn it to CD
Simply boot off the cd and then type in "knoppix26 desktop=kde" and wait until you get up in the GUI. Then fire up mozilla and see if you can crusise the net and stay on-line longer than before. If it doesn't automatically connect to the net (if your DSL requires a username/password) then access the Kmenu, go to network -> configure and go to the DSL setup stuff.
IF you can connect and stay on-line for quite a while then ther's a software problem somewhere, the hardware is fine. Maybe time to re-install the modem, or even windows.
If its the same as before and you find that after like 20min you're having connection problems, then I'd say its time to contact your ISP and either see about doing some trouble shooting or get them to swap your DSL modem, run another line, switching to another USB port or plugging in the modem via the RJ45 connector,...ect.
Yeah, I know using linux to trouble shoot sounds crazy, especially if you've never used it before. But that distro is quite nice, easy to use and configure....and great if your only hdd dies and you need a PC to get on the web and such....
Hope that helps more than confuses!
Paul
PS-if all else fails, maybe try another ISP???