Inspiron 2500 Speeds Really Slow

PeterinCO,

I would think that whatever software problem you were previously having is the cause of the problem and that your best bet is to backup your personal data, format the harddrive, and then reinstall the Operating System. Modems generally either work or don't work.

Thank you for choosing Dell.

First I would make sure you are using the Lucent 8.30 driver linked below for that modem.  It is the latest and best for speed.  I would also look at the quality of the internal wiring at your place, and the wire from the notebook to the wall, as a source of slower connects where you were faster.  Also to noise on your line from your phone company.  Can you connect faster at a different location (work or friend's house)?  When you go to load 8.30 driver, go to Start - Run first and put in ltremove.exe and start it.  Then run the modem830.exe file you downloaded.

Thanks John(s), but I'm still searching.  Cleaning off the entire hard drive is a difficult option and not a guaranteed cure anyway.  I already cleaned off a couple of gigs because it needed it and it helped in my overall virus/spyware clean-up process, but to get rid of everything would be very hard.  Plus, reloading 2 1/2 year-old software?  There are probably 200 MB of XP updates alone.

Besides, recently I bought the larger battery and installed the newer/newer bios.  And, I have already installed the new modem driver and that didn't help.  I've tried different phone jacks and short, direct cords in my house and that also makes no difference.  Again, my new desktop using the same phone lines and cords is twice as fast.

If anyone's interested I could post the links with my "logs" from www.spywareinfo.com and www.atribune.org.  Again, I am pretty certain the machine is "clean."

I'm still searching and researching, but to be honest, my theory at this point is 'limited modem life' or 'planned obsolesence.'  I was/am still hoping for a more definitive diagnostic approach and/or solution from Dell.

 

John M.

I can tell you right now that reformating his hard drive is not the solution for this guys modem problems. I don't know what is yet but I hope to find the answer. I have had the same problem with my wife's Inspiron 2500 laptop with Lucent Modem. She had been getting excellent speeds for 1 1/2 years using a combination of Win ME and Win2k. Then about 6 month's ago (Approximation - Time flies when you are having fun), her modem speeds dropped by up to 50%. She now hits 14.4 to 28.8 all the time. We have 2 phone lines and it is the same on both lines. My computer hits the mid 40's most of the time. I am using a 3 Com external modem and I have hooked it up to her laptop with the same results. I have since reformatted her machine twice. Once with a reload of Win2K and most recently(Last Weekend) with WinXP. Same results.

My advise...don't reformat. Wait for an answer.

 

 

 

Wow!  I am happy to have any sort of "discussion" here!!  It is still on my mind.  In a last ditch effort to try and use this forum I was considering posting something on a page that might get some more traffic. 

Actually, I did reload Windows a while ago but I cheated in that I didn't clear off the whole drive first.  In the meantime I've reloaded or reset everything that should affect the speeds.  Thanks--sorry I didn't write down your name and I don't know how to spell it--or rather, sorry, that you have the same problem.  I'm still looking too.

 

 

Peter;

Actually, I don't think I put my name down. (work related) Good luck in your pursuit! I hate modem problems. I have never been able to troubleshoot them properly. I'm really starting to believe that it is a Windows O/S problem with the driver. As the driver that comes with XP and the driver that comes with Windows Update are provided by Microsoft. I did try stepping back the driver version a while back. I might try it again now that I am using XP.

Good Luck!

 

 

My primary theory at this point is that my laptop needs a new modem.  I know I can go to local stores (e.g., COMPUSA) and get an answer to what that entails, but I was hoping Dell/the forum moderators or hosts would do that.  Are they addressing issues until they're resolved or what?  There ought to at least be a definitive way to "bench" it.

Dell--the people here or elsewhere--could answer or address it if they wanted to.  When I bought my new desktop I only barely considered Dell.  Most of my opinion/experience with them stems from when I first bought the laptop.  I was using it and there was a storm and somehow it fried the motherboard.  The computer was maybe two months old.  First they argued and basically said 'that's too bad,' insisting they would do nothing.  Then they finally said OK, send it back and their service was great:  an express delivery company showed-up the next day complete with packing boxes, the computer went to Texas, and about four days later I received a fixed machine at my door.  All under warranty and free of charge.  Their expertise was impeccable once they employed it.

This modem thing seems like an issue that should be diagnosable.

 

 

 

Message Edited by PeterinCO on 09-15-2004 09:24 AM

i agree, dell really does need to address this problem with their laptop modems.  I too have been having the same problems of only connecting AT BEST 31.2kb/s  while my other pc's and laptops connect at higher speeds on the same phone line.   it has nothing to do with "noise"  , or line load or anything since i've tried all proposed solutions on this forum site.   However  , i have tried connecting at a different location , at my friends house (not in my area)
and it worked  normally.    so i thought maybe it had to do with something in the area. ? but then why would my Pc's work normally.   i think someone at dell needs to investigate this "slow speed" phenomena asap . i however use a BCM v92 modem

i agree, dell really does need to address this problem with their laptop modems.  I too have been having the same problems of only connecting AT BEST 31.2kb/s  while my other pc's and laptops connect at higher speeds on the same phone line.   it has nothing to do with "noise"  , or line load or anything since i've tried all proposed solutions on this forum site.   However  , i have tried connecting at a different location , at my friends house (not in my area)
and it worked  normally.    so i thought maybe it had to do with something in the area. ? but then why would my Pc's work normally.   i think someone at dell needs to investigate this "slow speed" phenomena asap . i

i agree, dell really does need to address this problem with their laptop modems.  I too have been having the same problems of only connecting AT BEST 31.2kb/s  while my other pc's and laptops connect at higher speeds on the same phone line.   it has nothing to do with "noise"  , or line load or anything since i've tried all proposed solutions on this forum site.   However  , i have tried connecting at a different location , at my friends house (not in my area)
and it worked  normally.    so i thought maybe it had to do with something in the area. ? but then why would my Pc's work normally.   i think someone at dell needs to investigate this "slow speed" phenomena asap . i however use a

Peter;

 

I wouldn't be running out and buying a modem just yet. I'm not 100% sure the modem is the main issue here. I think it might be partially, if not completely, the laptop that is causing the problem. I say this for this reason: I have attached an external 3Com Sportster 56K modem to the Inspiron 2500 with the same results speed wise. I believe that the speed issue is inheirent to the composition of the laptop. All my tests have been performed over 2 different phone lines with 2 different modems.

Cheers

J&K

 

Thanks, J&K and wolfey.  Sorry, I misunderstood--I thought the "same results" meant same fast speeds with the different modem.  So there's something about the COMPUTER preventing higher speeds...  FYI, I used to work for the local phone company here (actually spent years in cellular) and I've researched the situation with my local phone lines pretty thoroughly; I think I got to the right person and am fairly satisfied that's not related.  The post about working faster elsewhere brings that to mind.  But hey, the same thing seems to be happening with others elsewhere.  And here's a coincidence--if I'm really, really lucky I can get exactly 31.2 also.

And yeah, those of us who took the time to search and post here are trying to solve the problem.  This forum seems really popular but there ain't much happening with this page or thread.  I'm gonna see if maybe I can change that.

 

Message Edited by PeterinCO on 09-15-2004 09:42 AM

  haha i contacted dell's support and explained the problem to me ,they offered to send me a new modem...but i said no ,since it makes no sense.  trust me though 31.2 kb/s isnt  glorious.  NOTHING loads!  they did say however they would start an investigation into this problem. (which we all know was just a line to get me to say goodbye)  so for now, i'm gonna drive over to my friends and use his line .

The 2500 certainly can support 52k+ connects - my 4000 when it had a 600Mhz cpu would connect at that speed with the Actiontec mini-PCI modem only card when I was at work - at home all I could get was 26-33k at best, even after I rewired with better cabling to the modem connection I used, had the phone company rewire to the house and put in a new interface box, and even replace the main cable down our street (not just for me - the lines were from the 1930s and we had some houses with major crosstalk between lines).  These soft modems Dell uses do not drive the line hard enough to overcome loads and noise to achieve fast connections.  There is a long history of posts supporting this if you care to take the time a search.