IF YOU'RE GETTING DISCONNECTED AFTER CHECKING YOUR EMAIL, CLICK HERE.

IF YOU HAVE CALL WAITING:  If your phone service with Verizon has "Call Waiting", you will get disconnectd when someone calls you when you're online, unless you temporarily disable call waiting.  To disable call waiting when you're on the internet, you must enter a special "Star" code in your dialup connection.  To do this, bring up your "Connect To" window which shows your username, password, and dialup phone number.  Enter *70, before your dialup phone number.  For example, if you dial the Kilmarnock number, 436-7068, your dialup number should look like this   *70, 4367068      

ON-LINE: Your modem is connected with one of our modems and you have established a "session".  You must be "on-line" to view new (non cached) web sites or to send/receive email.

IDLE TIME-OUT: If you are "on-line" with RiverNet and you haven't either sent or received any data (web page, email, etc...) for a period of 20 minutes, our system will assume that you are not at your computer and will log you off.  This type of disconnect is necessary to keep system resources available for all customers and to prohibit customers from accruing excessive hours of usage.

SESSION LIMIT: RiverNet establishes session limits for its customers in order to keep resources available for all who want to use the system.  This allows people to connect to the internet instead of getting busy signals, caused when all of the resources are used up.  The current session limit is 8 hours for a standard customer.  For customers who purchase our services above the standard rates, session limits may be greater.  If you get disconnected after being "on-line" for 4 hours, you have probably been disconnected by your session limit.  You can logon immediately after a session limit disconnect.  This type of disconnect is necessary to keep system resources available for all customers and to prohibit customers from accruing excessive hours of usage.

PHONE LINE FACTS: RiverNet offers internet connections up to 56K speed.  However, these speeds are not attainable due to copper telephone lines.  Remember, the phone lines were only made for voice communications, so we can't expect perfection in data transmission.  The closer your house is to a telephone "switching station", the better your chances at getting a high speed connection.  My connection at "Mollusk" connects at 28.8K (not 56K), but that's as good as I can get due to my distance from Lively where the switching station is located.  Some customers attain 44K or 46K connections, and that's about as good as it gets.  Sometimes we must just be patient and wait a little for a screen to load or a download to finish.

NOISY PHONE LINE: Although the telephone line may sound perfectly clear to the human ear, it may be very "noisy" to a modem.  A "noisy" telephone line can cause many problems, ranging from not allowing you to logon (get "on-line") to very slow response times when "browsing" the internet and/or sending/receiving email.  What happens with a noisy phone line is that the data must be sent over and over again between the modems (yours and ours). You see the result as SLOW performance.  Here's an analogy: Imagine standing on one side of a busy street during "rush" hour, and your friend is on the other side.  You're trying to tell them items on a grocery list.  How many times do you think you'd have to repeat an item.  Now imagine the same thing at 3:00am when it's very quiet.  You wouldn't have to repeat yourself as much, so you could transfer the list much quicker.  If you are having problems due to a noisy phone line, the only thing to do is have the telephone company test your line.  To do this properly, they must send a technician to your house to test the quality of the signal from their connection at your house to their switching station.  There are other things that can cause these same symptom, so don't just assume that the problem is with the telephone line unless you've exhausted all other possibilities.

INTERNET CONNECTION OPTIONS: Windows allows you to set numerous options with regard to connecting to the internet.  One of the most common reasons for disconnects is that your computer is set to disconnect.  It could be set to disconnect after sending an email, or it could be set to disconnect after being idle for 5 minutes.  If your computer always disconnects after sending an email, then you have an option set to "disconnect after sending/receiving email".  If you get a window on your screen that says "you will be disconnected in ..... seconds, do you wish to stay connected", then you have the option set to disconnect after a certain number of minutes of idle time.  See the "Checking your setup" section for help with checking these options on your computer.

MODEM SETTINGS: You modem settings must be set properly to establish a good connection.  Port settings, speed settings, etc....

DIAL-UP NETWORKING SETTINGS: These settings must be set properly to establish a good connection.  Especially important is the selection of the proper protocol.

Start "Outlook Express"
Click "Tools" -> "Options"
Click on the "Connection" tab
Uncheck the checkbox that says 
               "Hang up after Sending or Receiving"
Click OK
Close Outlook Express
Start Outlook Express again

Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel

Double Click on the Modems Icon 

Highlight your modem in the Modem Properties window and then click the Properties button.

Set the maximum speed of your  28.8, 33.6, or 56K modem to 115200.  (Set the maximum speed of your 14.4 modem to 57600.)  Do NOT check the "Connect" only at this speed checkbox.

Click on the Connection Tab near the top of the window. 

Set the following: 8 Data Bits, Parity None, 1 Stop Bit. 

Enable the "Wait for Dial Tone before Dialing" option. 

Enable the "Cancel call if not within….." option and enter the value 90 seconds. 

Note: If these options are not available, your modem may not support them. 

Click on PORT Settings near the bottom of the window. 

Enable  the "Use FIFO Buffers" option and then click OK. 

Click on the "ADVANCED" button. 

Enable "Use Error Control" and select "Compress Data" 

Enable "Use Flow Control" and select "Hardware Flow Control" and then click OK. 

Click on the "Dialing Properties" button and verify that these settings are correctly configured for your current telephone 
service options. 

Click OK. 

Click Close.