Tech Forum

I am new to this position, so excuse me if I ask a question that is covered somewhere else. I have noticed that most of the computers in the Stake when they dial-up and connect to the Churches site for transmitting their MLS data connect at a blazing 26K, and I believe all the computers have 56k modems. Before I go to check with the phone company, I wanted to be sure that we are using the correct settings and local dial-up number? Can anyone point me in the correct direction, so I can get our computers transmitting faster?

Thanks,
Rick Stringham
Highlands Ranch Colorado Stake

Just because the modem is 56K doesn't mean the internet connection will be 56K. If your internet connection is with the phone company, ask them about geting DSL. 'blazing 26K' is actually 'snail paced 26K' from the 90s, hince your internet connection is slow!

DSL is like a jet, while dial-up is a handcart crossing the plains!

You cannot get DSL (or any dedicated line) for a stake building. You can have your FM group use the Family History connection though. For more information look at the thread [thread=792]"Internet Connection for MLS"[/thread].

rstringh wrote:I am new to this position, so excuse me if I ask a question that is covered somewhere else. I have noticed that most of the computers in the Stake when they dial-up and connect to the Churches site for transmitting their MLS data connect at a blazing 26K, and I believe all the computers have 56k modems. Before I go to check with the phone company, I wanted to be sure that we are using the correct settings and local dial-up number? Can anyone point me in the correct direction, so I can get our computers transmitting faster?

Thanks,
Rick Stringham
Highlands Ranch Colorado Stake

Your settings are probably fine. It is not uncommon to see 26k connection speeds. It depends on your phonelines/provider. It is hoped that somewhere in the future, we will all have DSL speed connections.

Jesse Smith wrote:Just because the modem is 56K doesn't mean the internet connection will be 56K. If your internet connection is with the phone company, ask them about geting DSL. 'blazing 26K' is actually 'snail paced 26K' from the 90s, hince your internet connection is slow!

DSL is like a jet, while dial-up is a handcart crossing the plains!

I was being very sarcastic about 26k blazing speed...what I was really wondering (since they don't appear to be letting us have DSL), is why I am not able to connect at 56k? It is usually caused by a few things, settings, the dial-up number, or the phone lines into our building supplied by the phone company.

My original posted question was to address the first two...then I would try the phone company if those items had been eliminated.

Thanks,
Rick Stringham
Highlands Ranch, Colorado Stake.

In most cases it's a phone connection quality issue. What devices are between the computer and the phone company? Some of those devices may be filtering the connection.

Greetings, I'm in Layton, UT and I can tell you there's not a dial-up modem in town that can connect faster than 28K, whether it be from a clerk's office or a home phone line. It's my understanding that the way Qwest has its lines set up here prevent anything faster. Of course, everywhere is different, but a 28K limit is not unheard of.

I've also noticed that since the upgrades a few months back to our MLS computers (including adding the Symantec security software), our connection "session" times to HQ have doubled or tripled. Even after a successful send/receive of information, I can immediately connect again to find it can take up to 10 minutes to figure out there is nothing else in the queue for our unit. This part I don't understand. It seems to me the efficiency of exchanges between our unit's PC and the Church's servers has been reduced somewhat. (That's a nice way of saying it appears to have picked up some bloat along the way.)

I would imagine that both LANDesk and Symantec try to communicate/update themselves whenever they see something that looks like an Internet connection. I don't know how much is actually functional, nor how to disable it to free up some bandwidth.

DJC wrote:Your settings are probably fine. It is not uncommon to see 26k connection speeds. It depends on your phonelines/provider. It is hoped that somewhere in the future, we will all have DSL speed connections.

I saw similar issues in my stake. Where the speed difference was between wards in the same building, it was a configuration problem on one of the computers. In a building a little farther from the telco central office, it was the best speed you could get. I asked some of the ward clerks in that building about it. They fold me you couldn't get dial up any faster in that part of town.

Unfortunately, they're stuck with the slow speed as that particular building does not host a Family History Center and has no existing broadband connection to take advantage of. They deal with this by runnng the Send/Receive at the start of Sacrament meeting or other meetings, or just befor leaving the building.

Speeds also differ on dialup the further you are away from the physical location the 'switch' is from the location you are dialing into the 'net from is.

I live only about a mile from the Provo switch, so I get 49.2K regularly. However, I know someone who was on dialup near 56th West and 66th South in West Jordan and he said before he got broadband internet via cable, he rarely saw anything above 38k there.

So I'm wondering if Layton, and other similar places, are just in a bad spot for getting good speeds at all. Hopefully, when it comes to the Internet connectivity, something will come along that will allow better speeds for dialup, but it is not likely, they are putting all their eggs into that basket now on the general tech development front in the industry.