Connecting barely

Here's some computer annoyance news for geeks. I decided to purchase some pay-as-you-go dialup time, only to discover that I was unable to connect with my cheap PCI modem, or with my better USR Sportster external modem. The external would give me a "no dial tone" while the internal would get me online, then abruptly stop as soon as a connection was established. The "sent" and "received" lights would be off, and the numbers would never go above 300. So I bought a new PCI modem, and the same thing happened. Connection, then nothing. Finally it occurred to me that there might be a conflict with the motherboard's online NIC card (which I don't need anyway), so I went into the BIOS, disabled it, and now everything's working.

Which means I don't have to drive myself crazy and go blind using the hapless laptop which can't charge the battery anymore. (It was a good laptop, but the motherboard's connection to the charger plug died, and only way to use it is to take the battery out and charge it on a charger, which is a major pain, because I can't use the laptop while the battery is charging.)

This Bamnet temporary connection is much faster than the laptop's aircard, and I think I can recommend it for travelers.

But nothing beats the fast DSL connection at home. I wish they'd sell temporary DSL or cable!

(One of these days, technology will catch up ordinary human needs.)

posted by Eric on 04.16.06 at 11:59 AM





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On a tangentially related note (i.e., computer trouble) I arrived at the parents' house last night at about 7PM only to be handed a 15 year old relative's laptop which was overrun with spyware and viruses. I was on it most of the night, and most of today, taking breaks to eat.

The trojan look2me is insidious, but after dumping Norton, installing AVG, and running 3 different spyware removers and 3 different programs targeted for look2me, it's finally done.

What a holiday.

Dennis   ·  April 16, 2006 07:35 PM


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