HELP - Cannot connect to BT Broadband

I hope someone can help me. For the last two days I have been unable t
connect to my BT Broadband service. I keep getting a message sayin
“Unable to connect to server, please check our connection”.

I am using a Zoom USB ADSL modem. I tried uninstalling th
software/drivers and disconnecting the modem. I then reinstalle
everything, but this made no difference.

When re-installing the modem software I was asked the following
questions:

Enter service Provider selection: UK_(PPPoA VCMUX) or UK_(PPPoE LLC)
Enter Username and password
Enter service Name (Optional)

I emailed BT from work and asked the to confirm the correct answers
They said I should enter:

UK_(PPPoE LLC)
Username should be same as my email address and password
Service name left blank as its Optional.

I asked them if they could do a line test as well. They advised me tha
seems to be a line fault and I should contact BT Broadband Technica
Helpdesk on 0845 600 7030 and ask the advisor to refer to line fault
department.

So, when I got home I rang them. They asked me to look at the “Networ
Connection” under “Control Panel”. In there under “Lan or High-spee
internet” I had a “Local Area Connection “ which showed that a cabl
was unplugged. I told then that my modem connected through a US
connection, but he seemed to be hung up on this unplugged LAN cable. M
PC is about 7 years old and did not have a PCI card with a LAN socket
so I bought a Belkin PCI card and installed it in my PC as I intende
to get a wireless router, but never got around to it and continued t
use my USB ADSL Modem. I told him this but he kept banging on about m
PC not talking to the modem so it was either my pc or modem at fault
He said he could not see a fault with the line, even though the firs
guy said there was one.

So, after I spoke to him, I uninstalled the Belkin PCI card and
removed the hardware from my PC (so as not to muddy the waters!).
uninstalled/re-installed my Zoom modem again, but still canno
connect.

I also stopped the firewall/anti-virus software, but still made n
difference.

Under Network Connections, I have two icons: One is under “BROADBAND”
and icon is called “BT”. When I double click this, it tries to connec
to the internet, but fails with “ERROR 678”.

The second icon under Network Connections is listed below under “LAN o
HIGH-SPEED INTERNET”. This is called “LOCAL AREA CONNECTION 3” an
refers to my ZOOM modem.

What I really want to be able to do is to prove there is no fault wit
my modem and PC before going back to BT. I know they say there is n
fault with the line, but that is what they said a year ago when
couldn’t connect. Then someone told me to take the front of my phon
socket and plug into the test socket and everything has been workin
fine (well, up until now!). So, can anyone tell me how I can be sur
there is not a fault with my PC or modem? How can I be sure that when
click on my BTYAHOO icon, it is pointing at and trying to use th
modem?

Just to complicate matters, a few things happened the day th
connection stopped working, which may or may not be ‘red-herrings’:

1 -The BT-YAHOO icon on my desk-top mysteriously disappeared (not
problem as service could still be used by finding BT-YAHOO) on the lis
of programs). My wife assures me that at this point she could stil
connect to the internet.

2- The ZOOM icon on the desk-top ‘locked up’. Clicking this di
nothing. Once again, my wife assures me that she could still connect
Reinstalling seemed to sort it out.

3 – There was an automatic windows update at 17:00 in the afternoon.
have no idea if this was before or after the connection stoppe
working. I tried to restore my PC to an earlier time just in case thi
update had something to do with it, but for some reason my PC would no
restore to an earlier time, no matter what day/time I picked.

4 – In the morning, there was some sort of power cut or surge. My wif
said that the pc rebooted and the lights dipped/smoke alarm sounded
However, this was about 10:00 and she could still connect to th
internet at 14:00.

Sorry that this is so long-winded, but I’m really at my wits end trying
to get this bloody thing working! I think you can tell this type of
thing is not exactly my area of expertise, so I wanted to include as
much information as I could in the hope that someone can spot something
I’m not seeing.

So any suggestions/advice/things to check and try – all comments
gratefully received!!




--
confusedbt

confusedbt wrote:
> I hope someone can help me. For the last two days I have been unable to
> connect to my BT Broadband service. I keep getting a message saying
> “Unable to connect to server, please check our connection”.
>
> I am using a Zoom USB ADSL modem. I tried uninstalling the
> software/drivers and disconnecting the modem. I then reinstalled
> everything, but this made no difference.

What lights do you have on the front of the modem and what are they doing?

> When re-installing the modem software I was asked the following 3
> questions:
>
> Enter service Provider selection: UK_(PPPoA VCMUX) or UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> Enter Username and password
> Enter service Name (Optional)
>
> I emailed BT from work and asked the to confirm the correct answers.
> They said I should enter:
>
> UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> Username should be same as my email address and password
> Service name left blank as its Optional.

That surprises me. I'd have personally gone for UK_(PPPoA VCMUX), your
ADSL username and password (your ADSL username will be in the format
<username>@<something>.<something>)

> I asked them if they could do a line test as well. They advised me that
> seems to be a line fault and I should contact BT Broadband Technical
> Helpdesk on 0845 600 7030 and ask the advisor to refer to line faults
> department.
>
> So, when I got home I rang them. They asked me to look at the “Network
> Connection” under “Control Panel”. In there under “Lan or High-speed
> internet” I had a “Local Area Connection “ which showed that a cable
> was unplugged. I told then that my modem connected through a USB
> connection, but he seemed to be hung up on this unplugged LAN cable. My
> PC is about 7 years old and did not have a PCI card with a LAN socket,
> so I bought a Belkin PCI card and installed it in my PC as I intended
> to get a wireless router, but never got around to it and continued to
> use my USB ADSL Modem. I told him this but he kept banging on about my
> PC not talking to the modem so it was either my pc or modem at fault.
> He said he could not see a fault with the line, even though the first
> guy said there was one.

Line test results can be variable at best.

> So, after I spoke to him, I uninstalled the Belkin PCI card and
> removed the hardware from my PC (so as not to muddy the waters!). I
> uninstalled/re-installed my Zoom modem again, but still cannot
> connect.
>
> I also stopped the firewall/anti-virus software, but still made no
> difference.
>
> Under Network Connections, I have two icons: One is under “BROADBAND”,
> and icon is called “BT”. When I double click this, it tries to connect
> to the internet, but fails with “ERROR 678”.
>
> The second icon under Network Connections is listed below under “LAN or
> HIGH-SPEED INTERNET”. This is called “LOCAL AREA CONNECTION 3” and
> refers to my ZOOM modem.
>
> What I really want to be able to do is to prove there is no fault with
> my modem and PC before going back to BT. I know they say there is no
> fault with the line, but that is what they said a year ago when I
> couldn’t connect. Then someone told me to take the front of my phone
> socket and plug into the test socket and everything has been working
> fine (well, up until now!). So, can anyone tell me how I can be sure
> there is not a fault with my PC or modem? How can I be sure that when I
> click on my BTYAHOO icon, it is pointing at and trying to use the
> modem?

Chances are it probably isn't going by what you've said. Even if it's
unrelated to this problem, you could do worse than get yourself an
ethernet modem or router. That eliminates you relying on Window's dial
up connections.

> Just to complicate matters, a few things happened the day the
> connection stopped working, which may or may not be ‘red-herrings’:
>
> 1 -The BT-YAHOO icon on my desk-top mysteriously disappeared (not a
> problem as service could still be used by finding BT-YAHOO) on the list
> of programs). My wife assures me that at this point she could still
> connect to the internet.

Go to Internet Explorer, click Tools > Internet Options, select the
'Connetions' tab and all of your Internet connections will be listed there.

> 2- The ZOOM icon on the desk-top ‘locked up’. Clicking this did
> nothing. Once again, my wife assures me that she could still connect.
> Reinstalling seemed to sort it out.

Not sure about this one.

> 3 – There was an automatic windows update at 17:00 in the afternoon. I
> have no idea if this was before or after the connection stopped
> working. I tried to restore my PC to an earlier time just in case this
> update had something to do with it, but for some reason my PC would not
> restore to an earlier time, no matter what day/time I picked.

I'd be surprised if this was related to your connectivity issues.

> 4 – In the morning, there was some sort of power cut or surge. My wife
> said that the pc rebooted and the lights dipped/smoke alarm sounded.
> However, this was about 10:00 and she could still connect to the
> internet at 14:00.

Could have fried your modem but the fact you were able to connect
afterwards suggests otherwise.

> Sorry that this is so long-winded, but I’m really at my wits end trying
> to get this bloody thing working! I think you can tell this type of
> thing is not exactly my area of expertise, so I wanted to include as
> much information as I could in the hope that someone can spot something
> I’m not seeing.
>
> So any suggestions/advice/things to check and try – all comments
> gratefully received!!

Hope you manage to arrive at a solution.

Kind Rgds,

--
|Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
|Support Home & Business @
|PlusNet plc. www.plus.net
+------ PlusNet - The smarter way to broadband ------

> Enter service Provider selection: UK_(PPPoA VCMUX) or UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> Enter Username and password
> Enter service Name (Optional)
> I emailed BT from work and asked the to confirm the correct answers.
> They said I should enter:
> UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> Username should be same as my email address and password
> Service name left blank as its Optional.

AFAIK every ISP i've ever used uses PPoA - it might be worth asking
them to re-confirm what you've already been told.

If it gives you any clues, I always found BT tech support to be a
useless shower of cnuts - one shining example was one guy who didn't
know how I figured out they were hosting a phishing site on a users'
personal website.

After going through his supervisor, and then the supervisors' manager
when the supervisor was clearly out of his depth, having to explain
how to get the IP address for a domain and how to trace whose network
it hung off, did the full incompetence come to light.

Colin Wilson wrote:

> > Enter service Provider selection: UK_(PPPoA VCMUX) or UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> > Enter Username and password
> > Enter service Name (Optional)
> > I emailed BT from work and asked the to confirm the correct answers.
> > They said I should enter:
> > UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> > Username should be same as my email address and password
> > Service name left blank as its Optional.
>
> AFAIK every ISP i've ever used uses PPoA - it might be worth asking
> them to re-confirm what you've already been told.

I couldn't agree more.

Incompetence is EVERYWHERE these days.

Graham

Thanks for the suggestions - in answe to the question about modem light
- the link light is solid, so is the power (PWR), but the middle dat
light is not lit at all.

I'll give thinks another go when I get home from work (doing nigh
shift!).









Colin Wilson;254032 Wrote:
> Enter service Provider selection: UK_(PPPoA VCMUX) or UK_(PPPoE LLC)-
> Enter Username and password
> Enter service Name (Optional)
> I emailed BT from work and asked the to confirm the correct answers.
> They said I should enter:
> UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> Username should be same as my email address and password
> Service name left blank as its Optional.-
>
> AFAIK every ISP i've ever used uses PPoA - it might be worth asking
> them to re-confirm what you've already been told.
>
> If it gives you any clues, I always found BT tech support to be a
> useless shower of cnuts - one shining example was one guy who didn't
> know how I figured out they were hosting a phishing site on a users'
> personal website.
>
> After going through his supervisor, and then the supervisors' manager
> when the supervisor was clearly out of his depth, having to explain
> how to get the IP address for a domain and how to trace whose network
> it hung off, did the full incompetence come to light


--
confusedbt

confusedbt wrote:
> I hope someone can help me. For the last two days I have been unable
> to connect to my BT Broadband service. I keep getting a message saying
> “Unable to connect to server, please check our connection”.
>
> I am using a Zoom USB ADSL modem. I tried uninstalling the
> software/drivers and disconnecting the modem. I then reinstalled
> everything, but this made no difference.
>
> When re-installing the modem software I was asked the following 3
> questions:
>
> Enter service Provider selection: UK_(PPPoA VCMUX) or UK_(PPPoE LLC)
> Enter Username and password
> Enter service Name (Optional)
>
> I emailed BT from work and asked the to confirm the correct answers.
> They said I should enter:
>
> UK_(PPPoE LLC)


Hmm, Like the others I think its PPPoA, and the BT Broadband help pages
confirm this.


> Username should be same as my email address and password

That is common convention, but if I recall correctly, for BT Broadband
(consumer, not business), it can be any value you like, so BT/BT is
acceptable.


> Service name left blank as its Optional.
>
> I asked them if they could do a line test as well. They advised me
> that seems to be a line fault and I should contact BT Broadband
> Technical Helpdesk on 0845 600 7030 and ask the advisor to refer to
> line faults department.

I'm surprised you got as far as you did with the helpdesks. They usually
insist you put back the BT supplied broadband router/modem.



- Nigel


--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:45:34 +0000, PlusNet Support Team wrote:

>> UK_(PPPoE LLC)
>> Username should be same as my email address and password
>> Service name left blank as its Optional.
>
>That surprises me. I'd have personally gone for UK_(PPPoA VCMUX), your

This brings up an interesting question.
All of the old(or most of the current) exchanges use ATM so you need
PPoA.

Won't the 21CN exchanges be TCP/IP and need PPoE to an ethernet
connection?

If so this will mean that every user in the UK will have to swap over
the type of connection as their exchange is upgraded and that if the OP
is on a 21CN exchange he will need PPoE?

If the OP is on and upgraded exchange then won't he need PPoE? I think
the OP should try the PPoA option and also see if any lights on the
modem flash but if it was me I'd be getting a new router. I was at a
friends on Sunday and they had a BT modem that they were using via USB
but their new computer had a lan port built in and the modem also had
an ethernet port and I switch over to that and it worked perfectly with
the PC now not having to go through the dialup routine. If the OPs
modem has a lan port put the network card back in and switch to
ethernet cable and try it. You need to set the local lan connection to
get it's own address and DNS servers in the TCP/IP properties notebook.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:42:45 +0000, confusedbt wrote:

>Thanks for the suggestions - in answe to the question about modem lights
>- the link light is solid, so is the power (PWR), but the middle data
>light is not lit at all.

That would be expected to mean that the link to the exchange is up and
running so the problem is the link between the PC and the modem. I say
expected because the modem could be faulty and turn on the link light
solidly but I don't think that's likely especially if it flashes while
it is syncing.

>I'll give thinks another go when I get home from work (doing night
>shift!).

Does the modem also have an ethernet port? If so try that other wise I
think your next best step is a different modem/router.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, confusedbt
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes

>In there under “Lan or High-speed
>internet� I had a “Local Area Connection “ which showed that a cable
>was unplugged.

(Possibly not relevant in your case ...)

I have two computers which have LAN *onboard*, but never used
.... (small square socket for an RJ type cable at the back)

these always bitch that the LAN is unplugged if queried as you
did yours ...

and it's not relevant with your external modem


I, too, have an external USB modem; which works when BT and my
ISP permit ...



Also, USB is not *entirely* plug 'n' play ... SOME devices, if
moved (you said you plugged / unplugged your modem ...) don't come back
up again until a complete driver removal / reinstall on the new USB port

It took me a week to discover this with a printer; a friend's
and my scanner also stopped and were recovered this way

Tedious ...
--
Rex M F Smith

My modem does have a ethernet/lan port on it. I tried putting the pc
card with the lan port back in my pc and connecting the modem via that
but still no joy.

BT have sent me a wireless router about six months ago, but I've neve
used it. After all the trouble I had last year, once I got m
connection working again I didn't want to mess around with it b
swapping out my modem and using their router.

I'm a bit confused about the 'dial-up' references. I thought that if
had a broadband service I was not using dial-up? Is this not correct
When I re-installed my modem software, it asked me to select 'always o
broadband connection' rather than 'dial-up'. Is this not correct?







Rex M F Smith;254191 Wrote:
> In message (E-Mail Removed), confusedbt
> (E-Mail Removed) writes
> -
> In there under “Lan or High-speed
> internet� I had a “Local Area Connection “ which showed that
> cable
> was unplugged.-
>
> (Possibly not relevant in your case ...)
>
> I have two computers which have LAN *onboard*, but never used
> .... (small square socket for an RJ type cable at the back)
>
> these always bitch that the LAN is unplugged if queried as you
> did yours ...
>
> and it's not relevant with your external modem
>
>
> I, too, have an external USB modem; which works when BT and my
> ISP permit ...
>
>
>
> Also, USB is not *entirely* plug 'n' play ... SOME devices, if
> moved (you said you plugged / unplugged your modem ...) don't com
> back
> up again until a complete driver removal / reinstall on the new US
> port
>
> It took me a week to discover this with a printer; a friend's
> and my scanner also stopped and were recovered this way
>
> Tedious ...
> --
> Rex M F Smit


--
confusedbt