Broadband connection problem

A few days ago I attempted to connect to to the internet in the usual fashion, clicking on the broadband icon on my desktop. After 'Verifying Username and Password' I got the following message, and have continued to receive it since then:

Disconnected - Error 31 - A device attached to the system is not functioning.

The USB/DSL lights on the modem are 'On' as usual, but I simply cannot connect to the internet. I uninstalled and re-installed the ZyXel modem, using the disk provided, but the situation remained the same. I also examined the devices on my computer in 'Device Manager' but found no problem there. I contacted Dell support who spent some time examining my system but found no problems. The computer works perfectly.

What I did tonight, after a few days of continuous attempts at solving the difficulty, was disconnect the modem and return to ordinary 50kb dial-up with my old provider's configuration. Everything works perfectly (apart from being agonisingly SLOW - and costing me money). So, is it my broadband modem that's at fault? That's the only 'device attached to the system' which is 'on' while I'm trying to connect to the internet. I've spoken by phone to the operators on my Broadband Support but they can offer no solution, which is why I'm contacting you. Broadband is simply no longer available to me

Your help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

No errors whatsoever in 'Device Manager', Steve. Reverting to ordinary 50kb/sec dial-up everything works fine.

 

Lugwalker--Since you have talked to both Dell and your ISP's support people, I assume they have suggested you do a repair on the modem's connection. Start|Control Panel|Network Connections|right click on Local Area Connection|Repair.
P.S.

And they expect you to keep on paying them for no internet service??? If you have any broadband options, I would certainly switch.

 

There was a suggestion in a thread here to make a connection to a mobile phone to test your modem. If that's an option for you, take a look.

 

Hi,

If you get to a dead end, try setting it up on another computer. At least that will pinpoint the modem itself or the settings/drivers in your computer. If the computer is the cause you may have to remove all references to it and the connection then reinstall everything.

Doulble check the drivers for the modem and the NIC are for the correct model.

Matt

 

Thanks, folks. If I get any results regarding this problem I'll post back immediately. By the way, WelshJim, I'm not connected to a LAN. At the moment I'm just using a local dialup connection (because of the unavailability of broadband) from another ISP. I have a suspicion that my problem might be the broadband modem supplied by my provider. I've contacted the 'higher ups' in the broadband provider company and am waiting.... and waiting..... for a reply. From 512kb/sec to 50kb/sec is so painful