[celtish]

From time to time I get the "no dial tone" message when trying to connect. It usually sorts itself after a reboot - but what causes it and how can I avoid it in future?

The physical connections are okay.

I've got 56k DUN connections and broadband -Intel HaM Data Fax 56k Modem (internal modem) Wanadoo Broadband (external green Alcatel Speedtouch modem) - and the problem can arise with either. I'm running Win98SE.

[sven]

do you have any phone problems? as in when your just using your phone normaly. also, its possible your alarm system is interfearing, but not as likely.

[mendipjohn]

You would be suprised how fragile telephone leads are!
I have frequently (in the past) been unable to connect using dial-up when these have become faulty or completely broken without my knowing.

Might be an idea to check any extenstion leads or any other cables which tend to be moved or stretched quite frequently.

Try a replacement cable, as you cannot visually see faults because the cables are so fine under all that plastic (also why they break so easily)

Also check you have all the appropriate ADSL microfilters installed, and check any telephone surge protection in place is compatible with the connected devices.

Sometimes my trouble was caused by the modem itself! Whilst restarts often fixed it, I would suggest trying a different modem, preferably a "hardware" one, as those software ones are really crumby.

[prathapml]

Hey, if a restart is fixing your problem, then you can do something alternative to fix it.

Go into device manager, and disable the device. Enable it back, after 5 seconds. I've found that this normally has the effect of re-initializing the device (which is what a restart does) and has fixed many times, my DSL modem's problem as well.