4th modem & still no dial tone

Are you on a digital phone system?  Something is taking out your modems.

Here is what was eliminated:
antivirus (Norton & AVG), Ad-aware & Spybot S&D run immediately at the onset
new lines (3x)into jack at wall
dial up to different ISP's (3x)
driver versions checked & updated as needed for each modem manufacturer
checked with hyperterminal, each time
msconfig & reduced the start up and processes to the bare minumum
ran modem helper, dialtone present-modem can't detect dial tone
system restore to 45 days ago
reinstall O/S, nothing else installed but the modem driver...right back to the basics

After the Nth call to support tech, we are now at the point where the Dell tech is being sent out to replace the mainboard & yet another modem.

I know it seems insane to have done all the leg work this many times, but that's what it took to get this far. Like Dr. Suess says 1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish. To get to the end, follow all the steps in the prescribed solution path.

BTW, this machine & other laptops I work on are taken to remote areas (ie Baja, backcountry Idaho & Alaska) where the world is still flat & DSL, cable or satellite connections aren't available. A lot of my customers are pilots who use their laptops to check the web for weather before doing flight planning.

I had never had so many problems with a modem and wanted to check in here to see if I had overlooked something.

Thanks for the ideas and your time.

Make sure you don't use the digital phone line because the analog modem would not detect the dial tone.  If the phone line is analog, when you run Hyperterminal, make sure you select the right modem name in the modem select option.  One way to test that phone line is to use a regular analog telephone to check for the dial tone.  If you cannot here it then modem would not be able to run.

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@tly9 wrote:
Make sure you don't use the digital phone line because the analog modem would not detect the dial tone. If the phone line is analog, when you run Hyperterminal, make sure you select the right modem name in the modem select option. One way to test that phone line is to use a regular analog telephone to check for the dial tone. If you cannot here it then modem would not be able to run.

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The line was not digital. Hyperterminal and the rest of the diagnostic procedures were followed to the letter.

After the last round of diagnostic 'coaching' over the phone, Dell decided that the thing to do was bring this unit home and replace it with another.

All the suggestions that were given were worthwhile, but ultimately there are lemons that must be picked.

This was apparently one of them.

The difficulty is that when something goes this far Dell's warranty doesn't cover enough of the time, effort or expense that the customer (& their friends) incur.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Have you tried on that same phone line with a different computer to see how well it connects and what the connect speed is?  Try the Hyperterminal on that machine also.  When you replace the modem on the Dell Inspiron, make sure that the little modem cable inside is plugged to the modem connector.  If this cable is not in, it will not detect the dial tone.  One other important thing is the driver for the replacement modem has to be installed successfully.  Remember to uninstall the previous modem driver.  If you use Hyperterminal, you need to select the available modem hardware in the system because this software is not smart to pick it for you.  It might be default to something else.

If you connect to an ISP using the ISP setup software, remember to select the correct modem in the menu.