You can find additional information about Internet connections
in the sections on web
connections,
email connections, news
server connections, IRC
net splits, MUD net lag,
and mailing
list problems.
You should know how to
physically disconnect if you need to. The sections below provide
help with maintaining your underlying
Internet connection,
and describe why you might want to break it
quickly by physically disconnecting from
the network.
Connection. If you are
having unpredictable Internet connection problems -- random disconnects
-- the first thing you should do is try a ping test
to confirm it's a problem with the network and not an individual
application or protocol. If ping indicates the entire network connection
is completely down, or the network
is fine but you can't reach your provider's web site, email
server, Usenet server, etc, and rebooting
everything
with a power
light doesn't
solve
the problem, then you
can phone
your service
provider and see if they are
having problems or can provide further assistance. As always, you
are likely to get better and faster service when you can describe
the
tests
you have already run.
On the other hand, if your system disconnects after a certain
amount of time without use, then either your computer or
your service provider might have a default time-out set to close
the connection if it isn't used for a specified length of time.
This is often an option in dial-up client settings,
so check your own computer's configuration first. If the disconnect
setting is on the network provider's side, the decade's old
hack to solve this problem is to set
up an electronic pulse by configuring your
email program to automatically check your server for mail every
M minutes, where M is a few minutes less than the default disconnect
period, and leave the program running
to generate traffic at regular intervals and keep the connection
alive.
You should try
to
keep the
period as long as possible to minimize the small but real load
on the server -- i.e., if the disconnect period is one hour, perhaps
set the program to
check
for email every 50 minutes.
Finally, an invaluable component of your Internet connection
safety kit is a basic telephone modem to give
you a back-up
connection method. Whether you are already connecting with a
low-speed
telephone modem or using
a high-speed
wireless modem, having a backup modem provides a safety
net in case your primary Internet connection goes down due to hardware
failure -- a rare but frequent event. When your backup connection
is also
a different method -- telephone backup to wireless -- it is
probably to a different set of servers and a
different
part
of
the network,
providing additional redundancy. Almost all high-speed
providers provide a backup low-speed
Internet telephone
capability for travelers and exactly these sorts of emergency connections.
Disconnection. Maintaining
an Internet connection is all well and good, but sometimes you
need to bailout in an emergency and quickly stop
some online function
but can't figure
out
how.
For
example,
you might change your mind while downloading a large file but
can't stop the program, be doing an online program
installation
that you can't cancel, or performing some other process you
can't end by conventional means. You could reboot your computer,
but you'd rather just quickly and completely cut your network connection.
These are the times to remember that you can always take the low-tech
route and disconnect from the Internet by physical means, either by
turning your modem off, or by disconnecting
your modem cable from your computer. Handheld wireless
connections can usually be broken by turning the device
off.
Once you disconnect from the Internet,
problem programs will sometimes end by themselves or give an error
message
so
you can correct
the
situation,
reconnect
to the
network, and proceed as you wish. However, if the program stays hung
up, then you can always completely reboot your
computer and then reconnect to the network, which usually solves
most problems.
