problems?
 
i can dial up and log onto the internet: -YES-  -NO-
try the troubleshooter! Click one...

Yes it looks crappy, but it's FUNCTION not FORM that matters here. Yyou're already annoyed that you have a problem, you want to fix it not look at pretty designs, colours and graphics. This troubleshooter will work with
anyone's internet on any ISP anywhere, so if you're not one of our customers, wonder why your ISP doesn't have one like it. Send them a link to here....

    [TERMS OF USE:]
    Public use and links to here are allowed. Do not print out and feed to GNUs. Feel free to modify and make changes,
but NOT ON MY SERVER YOU DON'T. You may not alter these terms, and you must e-mail a link to me and include name,
phone number, ICQ, webcam or e-mail address and pic of the hottest redhead you know (or nekkid pic of Nicole Kidman
if you're so lame you don't know ANY... (you can never know enough)) OR mail a 14 oz hammer with 'use it on your head'
written on it to the politician of your choice (DEMOCRACY) and e-mail me confirmation (photocopy of warrant is fine)
monte@qlynx.com
[THE AUTHOR]

Your Connection is OK. Try to narrow your problem down further: Click one..
 

 - keeps disconnecting? [YES]
 - problem is with e-mail? [YES]
 - it is slow to log on [YES]
 - things seem really slow [YES]
 - a website does not come up [YES]


There are several reasons this can happen. Narrow this down: Click one...
 
 - disconnects are irregular  [YES]
 - disconnects at regular intervals [YES]
 - disconnects when mail comes on [YES]
 - disconnects while downloading [YES]

If your connection just cuts off at irregular intervals, but happens often, this can be one of the following:
1. Your e-mail (Outlook) is set to check the mail every XX minutes. It is also set to 'Disconnect before sending and receiving'.  [CLICK HERE FOR FIX]
2. Check your DIALER properties [CLICK HERE FOR FIX]
3. Make sure all screensavers are disabled, and if youhave CALL WAITING it is DISABLED.
3. Youmay have a LINE problem. There are only two places the LINE problem can occur: with the phone co., or in your home. The office equipment only tells us if you are allowed to or not by checking your password.
Is anyone else picking up an extension phone? This can cut you off. Is it really crappy weather outside? Snow/damp/lightning can cause noise on worn home wiring and outside lines. If the connection degrades below a certain limit, it will cut off the circuit.
It is NOT the server: the server will only disconnect you if you are sitting there doing nothing for a very long time.

YOU SET OUTLOOK TO HANG UP
Go to TOOLS-OPTIONS-CONNECTIONS or MAIL DELIVERY. Uncheck hang up on sending & receiving.

DOWNLOAD TIMEOUT
1. The server is not detecting any two way traffic. Either the server you were connected to stopped responding or your connection was lost. Dialups through a phone concentrator (Sowchea) do this often.
2. You have timed out and the download is too slow. Your dialer is set to disconnect if download falls below a certain speed. [CLICK HERE FOR FIX]

Your Explorer should be set to hang up after 20 minutes of no activity. This is a safety, you can change it. Don't make it longer as our servers will hang you up after 10 minutes of inactivity. We can make it less.... If you want to make yours less

SLOW LOG ON
Find your dialer PROPERTIES, choose SERVER TYPES. Under ALLOWED PROTOCOLS, check only TCP/IP.  Uncheck  'LOG ON TO SERVER', but if you are unable to surf after you do that, you'll have to reset it.
If still too slow, find your dialer, LEFT CLICK AND HOLD DOWN THE BUTTON. Drag the dialer out to your desktop. Use the dialer to log on. As soon as you see the words "logging on to network" you can start your mail or browser and use it.
If this is still too slow you will need to either CHANGE YOUR MODEM
(compaq, packard bell, HP owners: these are known to have CRAP MODEMS. They use your motherboard resources to operate. You will need at least 70% free for them to work at all) USR users- check your manual. these check all protocols, but work well. You can speed up them to just do v90.
or MOVE CLOSER TO TOWN. Cheap modems only work downtown.

SLOW NET
A) Your computer is clogged with crap. Download and run Ad Aware to remove spyware. Note how it deletes all those "download accelerators" as they are all complete BS. Update and run your Virus program to remove any trojans and viruses.
B)The phone system has BOGGED down. If you live in Sowchea, get used to it. Some of it is a design flaw in the concentrator (never meant to do data), it stops and starts when phone calls are made to or from this area (new connections get priority).
It can also be a clog in the system. If you feel real techie:
  FROM A DOS PROMPT WHILE CONNECTED
    tracert www.qlynx.com     will ping our server
    tracert www.ibm.com or www.sgi.com     will ping the USA
this can show where the system bogs. You can also tracert to the server you're having problems with.
C) The server you are trying to connect to is being used heavily. Try again later.

If a website does not come up:
    A) Does the DNS error come up instantly?
        - you are not connected.
        - Explorer's looking at it's cache instead of the Net. Shut off Explorer & restart it.
        - your firewall is blocking access
        - you messed with the Security & Content settings
        - you have a Virus that wrecked your winsock file
    B) It actually tries to look, but comes up with the DNS error
        - Site probably is just really busy. Only so many people can log in at once. HOTMAIL and MSN are examples. Try later (even right away)
        - Site may be being worked on, or the site is new or has changed servers. It can take several days before the new address propogates.
        - The site may be gone for good, or didn't pay up for webhosting in time.



DIALER
Find your dialer (the actual dialer in MY COMPUTER - DIALUP NETWORKING folder). Is it set to 'disconnect if idle for ?minutes? Is it set to disconnect if speed drops below a certain percentage? Change it, but it will not be correct until next time you dial.

E-MAIL TROUBLES:
 
- disconnects when mail comes on [YES]
- keeps asking for password (incorrect) [YES]
- can't find mail server [YES]
- starts getting mail then times out [YES]
- keeps loading the same mail over [YES]

MAIL PASSWORD
1. Is it the beginning of the month? Did you renew your internet? If you didn't this is your warning that your overdue.
2. Is your caps lock key on?
3. Do you have the right password?
4. You were just on your e-mail and you disconnected before it finished downloading. Perhaps it was taking too long or your system crashed. You must wait for FIFTEEN minutes before you try again. The server is still trying to send to you and it won't let you back on until it knows you're gone.

MAIL TIMEOUT
you have been sent a HUGE e-mail attachment. People with cable or ADSL forget there's a limit to downloading via phoneline. If you try connecting again it will reload the same mail again, and timeout in the same place. That's how Outlook works.
INCREASE your TIMEOUT: Start Outlook. Look under TOOLS - ACCOUNTS. Find your mail account and click PROPERTIES. Under ADVANCED slide the timeout to 5 minutes. APPLY and shut down Outlook and restart. If you still can't download the whole mail you have only 2 choices:
1) Use a different e-mail program like Netscape.
2) Unclog your mailbox. Wait for 15 minutes, then use Web Mail or Mail Washer to delete the large messages.

CAN'T FIND SERVER
1. Your computer has hung up on you. Make sure your online
2. You ran Norton's e-mail protection. It messed with you e-mail settings and can't find Norton's mail server. Call Norton and bitch at them. Hell call Steve Dotto, Norton owns him.
3. Check you mail settings under our HELP section to make sure they haven't changed. If your settings are correct, try again in a few minutes (like 10, not 2) as the mail server ports may be full

LOADS THE MAIL OVER AND OVER
1. Check to see if it's set to LEAVE MAIL ON SERVER: Start Outlook. Go to TOOLS - ACCOUNTS. Select your mail account and click PROPERTIES. Look on the ADVANCED sheet and remove the check from leave a copy of mail on server. APPLY then shut down Outlook.
2. Does it reload the mail and hang on one message over and over? You have a message larger than the phone line can handle.  [CLICK HERE]