I have had this ISP since 2002, never really had any problems with it till now. The phone line goes straight from the outside box to the phone [which is never used], then to the modem. I even bypassed the phone and went straight to the modem and it made no difference. There is no static on the phone receiver at all. Clear as a bell. Weather seems to have no effect on whether it stays connected or disconnects.

It's funny, today it stayed connected for several hours [over 4 hours] with the PeoplePC ISP, so I tought I would try my original ISP [Windstream] to see what would happen and it disconnected after about 8 minutes. Went back to the PeoplePC ISP and it stayed connected about 40 minutes then disconnected. Then would disconnected every 10 or 15 minutes for awhile. Now it has been connected for about 2 1/2 hours with no problem. Weird.

it sounds like your problem is with the isp then. it is up to them to keep it working properly so any problems they should work out with you. sometimes they get so many customers on one terminal that it will bump them off as others try to connect. not good. if you have ongoing trouble has them test the line speed. they should be able to tell you what it is. also if you are discussing baud rates with them you may get more attention, so a little research on what they guarantee in baud rate might help.

Good advice

It's always much harder to determine what's wrong when the problem isn't consistent so here's a couple of other things to think about. Firstly, I've found that some ISPs will only ever admit that there is (or was) a problem AFTER they have fixed it! Secondly, as well as hassling the ISP, you might want to get onto the phone company. Although you suggested that you believe that you have a good line, it won't do any harm to try to talk the phone company's tech support into increasing the "gain" on your line - that basically means boosting the signal. They might say that they only do that for digital DSL problems because analog dial-up doesn't need a good signal but, if they can at least turn the dial up a notch, then it might help you out.

...you might want to get onto the phone company.

Well, the ISP & phone company are one in the same, Windstream. The ISP tech still say's there is nothing wrong on their end. As I stated before, the phone company came out and checked the phone lines, they say there is nothing wrong with the phone lines.

I've found that some ISPs will only ever admit that there is (or was) a problem AFTER they have fixed it!

If this is the case, how do you get them to fix the problem, so they can say later there was a problem?

They are checking right now to see if I can get DSL, which will not require a dial-up signal. But I think I am farther than 18,000 feet from the equipment that is required to get DSL. They said if it is over 18,000 feet, it won't work.

Could I have a bad modem?

Well, I guess the ISP fixed what was wrong, because it has been working fine the last two days. Even though they said nothing was wrong. LOL! Also got a DSL modem in the mail, they said they should have me "wired in" next week so the DSL modem will work. Don't know what "wired in" means, but will hook the modem up and wait for next Wednesday to get here, thats when they said I would be "wired in".

Thanks everyone for all the help.

Cool - thanks for the update They need to upgrade your connection at the local telephone exchange so that your line can receive the DSL signal. For them to have that done by Wednesday is quite impressive

Upgrading to DSL is definitely a good move. It's an entirely different experience. Kind of like deciding to replace your old 1970s station wagon with a Corvette ZR1 - it'll do basically the same thing but it will be so much more fun!