Problem with dial up modem accessing the net through switchboard

dub45

Friend of mine is staying somewhere where he has to access the net through a switchboard. He is using a laptop which has no problem accessing his isp on the direct line there but anytime he tries to access via the switch he gets an engaged tone.

There are at least two other pcs in the location which have no problem at all accessing the net via the sb.

I remember reading somewhere that SB's are digital and that dial up modems require an analogue line so perhaps thats the problem.

I would be grateful for any suggestions (it is not convenient for him to use the direct line all the time).

Esel

Has he put in the number (usually 9?) to get an outside line?

I think there is an option to pause after this outside line number?

It's so long since I did it I can remember exactly, but think the above two tips should help.

fatherdougalmag

The PABX may very well be digital and he wouldn't get very far if he had an analog modem in that case. However, if he can hear an engaged tone it means that all is well at that level. It just sounds like he needs to prefix the ISP's number with a 9 or a 0 to get an outside line.

dub45

We have tried putting in the prefix ok but that does not work. The line can be heard as being 'available' but as soon as you begin to dial the engaged tone comes in.

Any other thoughts on what might be causing the problem would be greatly appreciated.

azezil

Put in the prefix followed by ,, two comma's, to make it pause before dialling... also try dialling you isp's number on a phone tru the phone socket the computer is connected too, see if that connects.

Capt'n Midnight

fatherdougalmag wrote:

The PABX may very well be digital and he wouldn't get very far if he had an analog modem in that case. However, if he can hear an engaged tone it means that all is well at that level. It just sounds like he needs to prefix the ISP's number with a 9 or a 0 to get an outside line.

Was on a site in London and the analog extensions on the PABX were programmable, you chould have voice only, voice + fax or Voice + fax + modem. So the old fairly reliable test of using a fax machine on the line did not apply. And if you hadn't applied for data to be enabled on a line then you didn't get it. So try the 9, for an outside line - have speaker on or sound up to hear what is happening when you dial.

Some internal pabx's use tones for voicemail so your computer may not dial out unless it hears a normal dialtone. Blind dialing is not recommended as some pabxs use numeric codes to program them. in one instance we had some who did not dial 9, and the first digits in the ISP number invoked a "follow me" signal on line 0 - all calls into reception went to the line with the modem.

If it's a digital line then you can't plug a modem in unless the phone has a modem port on the back.

Here is a biggie - if you are bypassing the company firewall / policy to connect to the internet then you are asking for trouble. At present machines are probed on averate 16 minutes after connecting to the internet. So if there are any security holes on your machine, and lets face it fully patched windows/IE systems are probably vunerable to something if past trends are anything to go by, you are exposing the whole network... (and wasting company time and phone bills etc. etc.) And if you reprogram the phone system it'll go down like a lead zeppelin

fatherdougalmag

Also consider that if he's in a different country he might have to use a country selector tool with his modem so that it knows how to behave.

dub45

fatherdougalmag wrote:

Also consider that if he's in a different country he might have to use a country selector tool with his modem so that it knows how to behave.

No hes only in Louth! Unless that counts as a foreign country and theres just a switchboard invovled not a Company network.

liamo

There are at least two other pcs in the location which have no problem at all accessing the net via the sb.

Try dialling out from a line that is being used successfully by one of those other PCs. (to establish that a connection from the laptop is, in fact, possible).

Having established that the laptop can, indeed, make an outbound call, try dialling the same number from the line that you're having a problem with. I assume that you'll be unsuccessful and the foregoing may seem like a waste of time but at least you'll have established beyond doubt where the problem lies.

I remember reading somewhere that SB's are digital and that dial up modems require an analogue line so perhaps thats the problem.

Switchboards are generally digital and it's likely that this is also the case here. Yes, modems require an analogue line.

Some switchboards can expose an analogue interface so that devices that require a PSTN interface can connect to their destination. The amount of available interfaces are usually limited in number.

Additionally, is it possible that the lines from which successful connections are being made are not, in fact, going through the switchboard and are, perhaps, either PSTN or ISDN lines?

I ask because, if the lines are, in fact, going through the switch, then there may be available PSTN interfaces which could be used. If the lines are PSTN or ISDN then it's probably pointless trying to do any testing with the switch.

The best thing to do would be to speak to the person who supports the switch or who's responsible for calling the support guy.

Hope this helps.

Liam

dub45

liamo wrote:

Try dialling out from a line that is being used successfully by one of those other PCs. (to establish that a connection from the laptop is, in fact, possible).

Having established that the laptop can, indeed, make an outbound call, try dialling the same number from the line that you're having a problem with. I assume that you'll be unsuccessful and the foregoing may seem like a waste of time but at least you'll have established beyond doubt where the problem lies.


Switchboards are generally digital and it's likely that this is also the case here. Yes, modems require an analogue line.

Some switchboards can expose an analogue interface so that devices that require a PSTN interface can connect to their destination. The amount of available interfaces are usually limited in number.

Additionally, is it possible that the lines from which successful connections are being made are not, in fact, going through the switchboard and are, perhaps, either PSTN or ISDN lines?

I ask because, if the lines are, in fact, going through the switch, then there may be available PSTN interfaces which could be used. If the lines are PSTN or ISDN then it's probably pointless trying to do any testing with the switch.

The best thing to do would be to speak to the person who supports the switch or who's responsible for calling the support guy.

Hope this helps.

Liam

Liam (and the other posters too) thanks for all your suggestions so far. Its a actually a fairly simple switch and its more by accident that the other pcs are working in the sense that they have just been added on as time went by rather than any special arrangements being made through the switch for them and I can assure you there is no 'support' there:)

I have suggested to them that they try the laptop on one of the extensions that work and they are going to do that. I will let you all know what happens.

Capt'n Midnight

fatherdougalmag wrote:

Also consider that if he's in a different country he might have to use a country selector tool with his modem so that it knows how to behave.

ROFL - there was this batch of modems and they were setup for India, back in the 90's when they had worse infrastructure than we did. They were driving customers nuts 'cos they were set to only wait for a few seconds on a handshake and redial up to something like 50 times to get a connection - that's how bad the lines there were..
and foreign dial tones and engaged tones can be very different to ours..

Esel

Yeah Cap'n I remember that problem - unless you hear a normal dial tone you can't dial out via modem.

Prob in my case was that outstanding voicemails were giving a high-pitched tone instead of a normal dial tone when you picked up the receiver. Clearing the voicemails did the trick.

Capt'n Midnight

Another tip.

If it is a fairly old modem then you may need to use it's cable. Most these days use the centre two wires straight through. Some of the US Robotics ones used to connect the centre pair at the socket end to the outside pair at the modem end. (And there was something about connecting two of the wires together of was that for BT systems ??)

Moral of the story - if the modem works at home, and all else fails, get them to bring in the known working cable.

(and no one has mentioned init strings yet ! - magic moon dust stuff )