Firefox Glitch

[Eve]

I am new to using Firefox, and so far like it very much. It is about as fast as SlimBrowser but I like many of the features.
One thing is really bugging me though and someone may be able to help.
I do not have FF set as my default browser (other half likes IE and as I hog most of the computer time I will let him have his way on that)
SO every 20 minutes or so I get the Auto Disconnect box asking if I want to disconnect. This does not happen in IE until it is detected that I may no longer need the connection. Obviously the computer does not know I am connected when I am using FF. Is there any way around this? I have tried having IE open at the same time but of course if I am not actually browsing with it that is no help.
Small problem I know but sometimes I miss the AutoDisconnect window and loose my connection. No good for larger downloads either. Nothing more annoying than to leave a download and come back to find connection was dropped when only a few minutes had remained, especially with a large file. :(

[amb141]

Eve

This behavior isn't a function of FF (or IE either, really) but try this. In IE Tools | Internet Options | Under Dialup and VPN Settings, click "Settings", under Dialup Settings click "Advanced" and uncheck Disconnect if idle for..., and Disconnect when connection may no longer be needed. If those boxes aren't checked try checking them, reboot, and then uncheck.

alan

[Eve]

Thanks Alan, have a had a fiddle and will see what happens. I am not on FF at the moment. My settings were Disconnect if Idle - unchecked, and the Disconnect if connection may no longer be needed was checked. I think with that unchecked the Auto Disconnect option will not appear at all. I had problems with that once before.
I have a suspicion there is something not quite right with the whole caboodle. When I booted up today the checkdisk screen came on. Thats the second time in a week, and yesterday when I clicked out of OE the computer shut itself down. Its all up to date, virus free, AdAware and Bazooka been run, and defragged but there seems to be some sort of a gremlin determined to annoy me.

[jbs3645]

Eve, out of curosity who is your provider? Some isp's are real bad about disconnecting. My son is on dialup and I went over one morning and was going to use his internet and discovered that he had been logged on 38 hours and there was no browser running. Would you believe this is a free isp. He and I have been using it for a couple of years. But back to the subject, check your isp and see if they are testing for use and trying to shut down. I know msn and compuserve would shut me down if I was idle.
Second point, get a good download manager. If you get disconnected it will reconnect from where you left off without starting over. I recommend Fresh Download (http://freshdevices.com). It is free with no ads. They ask that you give an email address to register and will send you an email when it is updated. This has saved me a couple of times on large downloads.
Hope this helps a little.
John

[Eve]

Thanks John, my ISP is iHug.So long as I see the Auto disconnect Im ok as I just click it to stay connected. The thing is, it only happens on Firefox. If I am using IE or Slimbrowser all is fine. Slim Browser has a built in download manager called InstantGet which I tend to forget is there so must start using it.

[myardor]

Eve, would not happen if u had DSL, 26.99 /mo sbc

[Eve]

Eve, would not happen if u had DSL, 26.99 /mo sbc Is this broadband?
With NZ$250 for wiring, NZ$90 connection and approx NZ$70 per month it is not an option for me :(
Wireless is not available in my area :(
Satellite once again $150 installation and about $80 per month unlimited access. :(
So I am stuck with my 56kbps dialup which on a good day goes up to 44. At moment is 31 which is normal!

:o

[LeRoi]

Eve,

You might want to try a new modem, my connection went from 36000bps (at best) to 53333bps (almost every time I dial, every once in a while the connection is 50666bps) when I installed my "new" (about 8 months old now) USR Performance Pro v92 modem (model #5610B).

Make sure to get a hardware modem, not a Winmodem (software). If the box says it will work with Linux, it is sure sign it's a hardware modem.

Best $80 I ever spent for the internet. I hardly ever get knocked offline anymore and downloads are almost twice as fast as before the new modem. It used to take well over an hour to download a new version of Mozilla, the last time it took less than 40 minutes, which to me is a big difference.

I have also attempted and accomplished much larger downloads. I downloaded a 158MB file about a week ago and it finished successfully. It was an add-on for Unreal Tournament (game). I have also downloaded other similarly large files and each has finished successfully and installed properly.

[Eve]

Thanks LeRoi, I know nothing about modems except the one I have now is an external
USB Swann Lucent V90. It is the 3rd one I have had and kept if from my old machine which was the first one I had (with 98SE) With that one I had disconnections all the time (i.e. could have 10 in 20 minutes) Had lines checked etc and had heaps of work done on the computer, completely reformatted a couple of times, 2 hard drive replacements, 2 modem replacements, in the end ditched the lot and got a new one and have really had no problems since until this FF thing, which is not really a problem if I keep my wits about me. I have Propel Accelerator which is provided free by my ISP. Right now it tells me my web page access without acceleration would be 19.3 kbps and with it is 57.4. I have it set to the lowest acceleration and notice no difference in quality.
I am going to try making FF my default browser and see what happens.I have checked by FF proxy setting and seems to be ok.

[D_Spider]

Eve,
LeRoi said $80 for his modem, so I'll mention mine, practically the only 56K hardware modem less than that (I searched and searched and incidentally found out that even USRobotics does not have a hardware modem that's up to date--v92). It's BestData 56FW92-D, and I got it from Chumbo.com for $24 or thereabouts, though by now probably some other vendor has the cheapest price. And while Dial-Up is slow, with this modem I'm connecting at 150% of the former speed, so the difference is noticeable.

[LeRoi]

I had to flash my USR modem's bios to bring it to v92. It was easy with the Control Center software that came with the modem.

Glad you are connecting at a faster speed now. :)

[Alejandro]

I have a Rockwall windmodem and I always connect at 50,666 and download are OK speed. Now I understand that winmodems are not suppose to work with Linux, BUT this modem apperantly has drivers for Linux OS. So what is the deal? I am not complaining I like it very much and it is tweaked for MTU of 560 which I have experimented with and by far gives me the best results. The default MTU is 576 (can also be set to 1500 and some other speed for DSL and stuff) which is OK but 560 for me does he job. Now if the MTU is set too low the speed will suck, to tweak the MTU you have to go into registry and mess with that a bit. Any takers PM me or just ask. Also this will help the downloads be more stable and keep them from jumping from 5kbs to 2kbs thats if you dont have a D/L manager ;)

[D_Spider]

I had to flash my USR modem's bios to bring it to v92.

LeRoi,

What is flashing its bios? --I'm just curious.

Before I bought my modem, I was in contact with USRobotics support, and they never said anything about upgrading as you did. This strikes me as odd (though not surprising anymore): There I was, wanting to buy their product, and they never said what would have influenced me to buy it!

And somewhat surprising was that the only place that said that their $39 modem was a winmodem was in the brochure that you have to download in order to read--there was nothing on the box!! My husband and I went to Staples (the biggest computer-supply place hereabouts) twice to be sure of that.

[LeRoi]

I think flashing the bios actually changes the programming of the hardware of the modem, it must have added v92 functionality, because it changed the labeling of the modem driver in the device manager to v92 from v90.

When you flash the bios of a modem like this you have to hope that the electricity won't go out on you (or have a ups), luckily for me it didn't. Computers also have a bios (basic input and output system) and sometimes you have to flash the bios, usually to increase hardware compatibility, but sometimes for other reasons.

You can either download a standalone "flasher" (.exe file, I think) for your modem (if it is capable of the upgrade) or use the Control Center software to upgrade (you have to disconnect from the internet before the flash can proceed).

Go here and see if your modem is on this list (drop down menu):

http://www.usr.com/v92/v-qualify.asp

This is my modem:

http://www.usr.com/products/home/home-product.asp?sku=USR5610B

This is the main support page:

http://www.usr.com/support/s-main-menu.asp

Your isp has to support v92 for it do any good.

[jbs3645]

Just curious, are the speeds that you are posting what is detected by the computer or by a web site that is measuring your speed. There is a big difference. My computer was telling me that I was connected at 48000kps but I went to 3 different test sites and always got 330000 - 35000kps. I had to clear up some phone lines in my house. Just curious.

[Alejandro]

http://homepage.eircom.net/~leslie/testpage.htm

I don't know if this has much to do with your question jbs but it measures your speed. check it out

[LeRoi]

Just curious, are the speeds that you are posting what is detected by the computer or by a web site that is measuring your speed. There is a big difference. My computer was telling me that I was connected at 48000kps but I went to 3 different test sites and always got 330000 - 35000kps. I had to clear up some phone lines in my house. Just curious.

I'm going by what the icon in the system tray says and by how long a time downloads take.

Download a file and divide kbs into the size and you get a pretty good idea of how fast your connection is.

It used to take me five or more minutes to download a 1MB file, now takes less than three.

I also had a new phone line installed before changing modems, that is when I started gettting 36,000bps connection, now since the new modem I get 53,333bps. Sometimes my downloads are even faster, according to Mozilla's "download manager" it sometimes says between 6.1 and 7.1kbs, depending on where I download from. Before the new modem the most Mozilla's dlm said was 3.9kbs (usually lower).

I ain't complainin'.

[jbs3645]

Alejandro, thanks for the link but I already have that bookmarked. I agree with you that it is a good site. Hopefully, others will see your post and check it out.

LeRoi, the icon in the system tray is not a true speed. Honestly I don't pretend to be an expert on this, just recalling what I have read. I know that with a dialup modem you are limited to something like 53.6( not for sure of the number but less than 54) by the FCC. Try the link Alejandro posted and see what you get. I use Freshdownload and it reports 4.6 - 6 but that is a combined speed. I agree that timing a download is the best method which is what some sites use to test the speed. Anyway, glad things are "going faster" for you.

John

[LeRoi]

I knew about the limits set by the phone company, but I know for a fact I get faster download speeds than that, don't know how or why, but timing downloads confirms that I get very good speeds for a dial up connection.

The difference in this modem and my old one is quite dramatic.

[Eve]

http://homepage.eircom.net/~leslie/testpage.htm
don't know if this has much to do with your question jbs but it measures your speed. check it out
Thanks Alex, handy site.
I was pleased to see that my Propel Accelerator DOES make a difference :D

Results:-
Modem Speed Test Page - Test Results
Without Propel Accelorator
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2004
Time: 23:35:27
Download Time: 9.413 seconds
Average Throughput: 3710 cps
*Estimated Connection Speed: around 28,800 bps

With Propel Accelorator
Date: Saturday, April 10th, 2004
Time: 23:36:15
Download Time: 8.202 seconds
Average Throughput: 4260 cps
*Estimated Connection Speed: around 36,000 bps

My System Tray Icon says 32kbps