Interference
I was doing some troubleshooting work for a friend who has an iBook that keeps losing its connection to the internet (well, the 'net siphoned through AOL, anyway). After determining that his modem and TCP/IP settings (OS 9.2.2) were correct, I found that connecting to AOL while his Epson C60 printer is connected to the iBook causes interference on the phone line. It's audible?disconnect the printer while the modem is dialing and connecting, and the buzz and static disappear. He has no problem getting on and staying online while the printer is unplugged, but AOL either hangs on connect or the connection is quickly dropped if the Epson is plugged in.
Has anyone else encountered this issue? I searched the TIL for references to modem interference but found nothing. Is there a chance that the dropped connections are caused by something other than the printer? For now I told him the easiest thing to do is to leave the printer unplugged while he's online and save any web pages or e-mails he wants to print later when he's offline.
Advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Has anyone else encountered this issue? I searched the TIL for references to modem interference but found nothing. Is there a chance that the dropped connections are caused by something other than the printer? For now I told him the easiest thing to do is to leave the printer unplugged while he's online and save any web pages or e-mails he wants to print later when he's offline.
Advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Comments
Second, if your computer is a fair distance from a phone outlet, and the printer is between the two points, consider moving the printer or rearranging the phone cord.
Also, if you have a remote phone, see if there is a setting on the phone to allow you to use a different channel. My parent's had a problem similar to this where the freezer was causing a problem. In this case it may be a bit far fetched, since you are not using the phone itself when you are connecting, but just to be sure...
A quick search on DPreview shows that other people have had similar problems,
<a href="http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1013&message=1977306"; target="_blank">http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1013&message=1977306</a>;
In this case it was near a noisy cable modem.
Maybe getting a more expensive sheilded USB cable for the printer might work, or a shorter cable? It depends on the setup for your system.
Good luck, and let us know what you come up with...
My parents are already uncomfortable as it is with this new piece of technology in their house, so I don't know if they'll like the idea of cluttering up the kitchen counter even more with an extra phone cord to the surge protector. The iBook connects to the phone jack behind a wall-mounted two-line cordless phone, so there's already some clutter with power cords and phone cables. They live pretty far out in a rural area, where cable TV isn't available, so they can't ditch dialup yet like I did last year.
I'll post a followup after we figure out how to resolve the issue. Thanks again.
Ah, those were the days!
Now my Mom's got a faster computer than I do... 8^(
Anyways, there is one other thing which might help, but only if you have the extra dough...
Base station... Airport... Plug it in into the wall outlet (or, if you aren't color blind like me, set up another phone jack somewhere else in the house) An airport would let you surf in the living room, while your mom bakes pies (and scolds Dad for coming in with dirty shoes) in the kitchen...
Or you could have my place up until last month, where my mom would connect to the internet while I was surfing, coz' her computer is faster... gr...