I have been having problems with frequent dial-up disconnects while surfing for some time now. When it disconnects the little computers in the taskbar stay on and the balloon tells me the band usage, but when I pick up a connected phone to hear if the staticy noise is there, there is nothing--dead. I have to disconnect and then reconnect to resume (same with Outlook Express.)
I recently became aware that one thing to look at is maybe my PC is not responding to ISP pings or "heartbeats" and that my firewall may be involved. I use ZA free. I have tried to make sure that all appropriate programs are fully allowed, and there are no incoming alerts that indicate that the ISP is trying to get in but cannot, so I assume they must be allowed.
There may be other variables, I know, but I am trying to go at this one thing at a time to rule things in or out one thing at a time. My ISP tells me there is nothing wrong on their end Is there anything more I can try with ZA to make sure the ISP pings are being answered?
Jesse