Icon Shows DSL Connection, But Apparently Not Connected: Thoughts On ?

Hello:

This regards a problem my son has been having on his PC which runs XP.

He's not in my area, so I can't look at his machine, or really provide too
many details.
But, I thought, I'd at least ask this much.

He is using Verizon DSL.

Sometimes everything works fine, and at other times he can't connect to the
internet or his verizon-mail account.

But: this is the interresting thing. He has an icon on the bottom of the
screen that when clicked on, shows
that he is (apparently) connected just fine.

The screen that then comes up shows connect time, bytes transmitted, etc.,
and seems to indicate that he's actually connected.

What would be next thing to check ?

Might it just be that Verizon DSL in
his area (Canton, Mass.) is just "flaky" ?
But then again, there's that icon that seems to show connection. Hard to
explain.

Any thoughts would be most appreciated.

Bob

 

Well, that icon at the bottom just means that the wire is physically
connected and that there is a connection between the two devices. That
doesn't mean that the modem is making a good connection to the station. My
guess is that the location of the computer is too far away from the
sub-station where the DSL is provided. The only thing I can think of is to
call out Verizon or whoever the provider is to inspect the lines as it is
possible that the incoming connection is bad. As I said, the location may
be too far from the sub-station and there really isn't any fix for this.
That is the same reason some people can't get DSL at all.

-NHL

 

I have that problem with my DSL sometimes as well - the 2 moitors are down
in the taskbar so I know I'm connected, but I can't actually do anything.
I'm guessing I'm not connecting to the server (probably it is saturated).
I'd call Verizon and explain the problem - it's probably something at their
end.