[Aramas]

I bought a second hand G4 800 iBook a few months ago, and the modem was so appallingly unreliable that I've been using an external usb modem. The internal modem commonly failed to connect up to 8 times in a row, making up a different excuse every time. Once it finally did connect it would disconnect itself up to a dozen times a day (and yes, I did turn off the 'disconnect when idle ' stuff, and no, my isp doesn't drop me - my windows box commonly stayed connected for weeks at a time).

Anyway, the prospect of carting around a modem that's a quarter of the size of the computer led me to research and experiment with the internal modem. A search of this forum yielded the advice that I should:

a) Uncheck "Send PPP echo packets"
b) Uncheck "Enable error correction and compression in modem"
c) Select "Apple Internal Modem (V34)"

The problem with this advice is that c) (and probably b)) downgrade the modem to a crappy old 33.6 kbps unit that will be lucky to sustain 3.2 kB/s downloads (I was getting 2.2-2.6 kB/s much of the time - lol). Now that might be acceptable for someone living in a mud hut in the Congo, where the phone line is a piece of rusty fencing wire nailed to trees, but for someone like myself who has been connecting over the same line and cabling for 2 years and getting 4.8-5.2 kB/s download speeds on a windows system and with the iBook through an external modem, it's clearly unacceptable.

The problem seems to be that the iBook's internal modem, as shipped, is a piece of junk. Whether the problem is in the firmware or whether the unit itself is just markedly inferior remains to be seen.

So, what are my options? Can firmware updates be downloaded, and if so, where? Is there any third party software that can alleviate the problems? What other options do I have?

[D'Espice]

Seriously dude, sounds like your modem is broken, I highly doubt that firmware updates will fix the problem. But you're free to see for yourself, updates are available from www.apple.com

Btw, you do realize that we live in the age of broadband? How come you're still using a *shudder* modem?

[Forbodium]

This is not the �age of broadband� (not yet anyways). In many places dial-up is the only thing available.


Aramas,
I wish I knew of a solution. The only thing I can think of (and I have given it thought since before your post) is to use the internal modem sparingly.

I agree that the internal modem is crap. I got my ibook new at around early 2002 (icebook 600 Mhz) and the modem gradually got worse over time. Only a few times would it not connect for 8 attempts in a row though. It had been connecting at 44000-46000 after an average of 3 tries when all of a sudden about 2-3 weeks ago, it would no longer work. I�m using a USB modem now, which is considerably better, but I am pissed about not having an internal modem anymore.

[SSharon]

I have one of the newer ibooks and also have some problems with the modem although I rarely use it. My problem was when connecting to AOL the modem was just too slow to sync well. So AOL would think I was connected and start sending its crap while the apple modem was still connecting. I did some reading and found that in my case all I had to do if it didn't work the first time was to try again quickly before AOL dropped me.
So I clearly don't have an answer to your question, but wanted to let you know that at least some of the problems still persist even in this few month old ibook.

[MARINEOSX]

I think the modems just suck. My imac did that for the longest time and would have to be reconnected constantly. But depending on where I was was a big thing too. The age of the wire could play a role in it not wanting to connect or having trouble doing so. Not sure though. I just know that the iMac 800 Flat Pannel that I have did horrible at my first home and great at my second home.

[Aramas]

Thanks for the replies. I seem to have had limited success by using a shorter cable, turning off the PPP echo packets and using the V92 script. I'll cross my fingers

I'm not using broadband for the same reason that I bought a laptop - I'm going overseas soon to live and work. Portability is everything. If i can find a 2 way wireless system with good coverage in Europe then I'll probably sign up for that, but here in Australia it's not currently worth my money. I was on the waiting list when broadband was first introduced in Australia, and had it installed within a week of release. It was great, but since then the download limits have plummeted. My original contract was unlimited downloads, whereas now the cheaper plans are only a few hundred MB of bandwidth.

I currently pay $20AUD a month for dialup with no time or download limits and I can connect for the price of a local call anywhere in the country. The cheapest broadband plans are around $50AUD with a 250MB download limit! No sh!t! Landline broadband is limited to a single phone line, and wireless is still very spotty, and commonly requires either a windows box and/or a card slot.