IDLE TIME-OUT: If you are “on-line” with RiverNet and you haven’t either sent or received any data (web page, email, etc…) for a period of 15 minutes, our system will assume that you are not at your computer and will log you off.  This type of disconnect is necessary to keep system resources available for all customers and to prohibit customers from accruing excessive hours of usage.

SESSION LIMIT: RiverNet establishes session limits for its customers in order to keep resources available for all who want to use the system.  This allows people to connect to the internet instead of getting busy signals, caused when all of the resources are used up.  The current session limit is 4 hours for a standard customer.  For customers who purchase our services above the standard rates, session limits may be greater.  If you get disconnected after being “on-line” for 4 hours, you have probably been disconnected by your session limit.  You can logon immediately after a session limit disconnect.  This type of disconnect is necessary to keep system resources available for all customers and to prohibit customers from accruing excessive hours of usage.

PHONE LINE FACTS: RiverNet offers internet connections up to 56K speed.  However, these speeds are not attainable due to copper telephone lines.  Remember, the phone lines were only made for voice communications, so we can’t expect perfection in data transmission.  The closer your house is to a telephone “switching station”, the better your chances at getting a high speed connection.  My connection at “Mollusk” connects at 28.8K (not 56K), but that’s as good as I can get due to my distance from Lively where the switching station is located.  Some customers attain 44K or 46K connections, and that’s about as good as it gets.  Sometimes we must just be patient and wait a little for a screen to load or a download to finish.

NOISY PHONE LINE: Although the telephone line may sound perfectly clear to the human ear, it may be very “noisy” to a modem.  A “noisy” telephone line can cause many problems, ranging from not allowing you to logon (get “on-line”) to very slow response times when “browsing” the internet and/or sending/receiving email.  What happens with a noisy phone line is that the data must be sent over and over again between the modems (yours and ours). You see the result as SLOW performance.  Here’s an analogy: Imagine standing on one side of a busy street during “rush” hour, and your friend is on the other side.  You’re trying to tell them items on a grocery list.  How many times do you think you’d have to repeat an item.  Now imagine the same thing at 3:00am when it’s very quiet.  You wouldn’t have to repeat yourself as much, so you could transfer the list much quicker.  If you are having problems due to a noisy phone line, the only thing to do is have the telephone company test your line.  To do this properly, they must send a technician to your house to test the quality of the signal from their connection at your house to their switching station.  There are other things that can cause these same symptom, so don’t just assume that the problem is with the telephone line unless you’ve exhausted all other possibilities.

INTERNET CONNECTION OPTIONS: Windows allows you to set numerous options with regard to connecting to the internet.  One of the most common reasons for disconnects is that your computer is set to disconnect.  It could be set to disconnect after sending an email, or it could be set to disconnect after being idle for 5 minutes.  If your computer always disconnects after sending an email, then you have an option set to “disconnect after sending/receiving email”.  If you get a window on your screen that says “you will be disconnected in ….. seconds, do you wish to stay connected”, then you have the option set to disconnect after a certain number of minutes of idle time.  See the “Checking you setup” section for help with checking these options on your computer.

MODEM SETTINGS: You modem settings must be set properly to establish a good connection.  Port settings, speed settings, etc….

DIAL-UP NETWORKING SETTINGS: These settings must be set properly to establish a good connection.  Especially important is the selection of the proper protocol.

Click on the SUBJECT for Instructions