Idle time / disconnection

Roadrunner · 25-06-2003, 16:34

I keep getting disconnected after 15 mins despite being on an Unlimited scheme , thereby basically making downloads & larger e-mails a waste of time .
That little catch must have been in the VERY small print - is there a way of extending or eliminating this time-out ?

Regards

{FU}Fubar · 25-06-2003, 16:36

Are you on dial up or are you on Broadband ? if your on dial up i think disconnection is every hour, if your on broadband it should be only when theres a problem ...

if your on dial up and getting disconnected every 15 mins id phone CS and ask them to help

Roadrunner · 25-06-2003, 16:51

I'm on dial up , and guess what ? No advice from NTL . Someone at the call centre said there was a solution but wasn't allowed to tell me what it was !

Mick The Gwailo · 25-06-2003, 20:43

Quote:

Originally posted by Roadrunner
I keep getting disconnected after 15 mins despite being on an Unlimited scheme , thereby basically making downloads & larger e-mails a waste of time .
That little catch must have been in the VERY small print - is there a way of extending or eliminating this time-out ?

Regards

Er.... isn't the ONLY time you "get dis-connected after 15 mins" if you don't use the PC for that time .... I can go the full 2 hours while downloading without problems ?!?!

(I AM on the ÃƒÆ’Ã†â€™ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…Â¡ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£10 a month 0800 No., too) ?!?

25-06-2003, 20:51

Quote:

Originally posted by Roadrunner
I'm on dial up , and guess what ? No advice from NTL . Someone at the call centre said there was a solution but wasn't allowed to tell me what it was !

IIRC the 15 minute cut-off applies to Outlook Express, so you time out while composing e-mails on-line. The workaround is to set your mail to "auto check" at intervals of less than 15 minutes.

Gaz

patrickp · 25-06-2003, 21:29

It's not specific to OE, Gaz, it's just that ntl world cut you off on dialup if you're inactive too long (can't remember the actual cutoff time). This is a common practice with 24/7 ISPs.

The solution, as Gaz said, is to set your mail reader to check for messages before the cutoff time elapses. You're not allowed to do this, of course, and I didn't say it, and I wouldn't advise you to do it, but who can complain because you want to check your email?

Er, Mick, if you're downloading, your connection _is_ active.

peterska2 · 25-06-2003, 21:56

k guys i'm here.

being on dial up meself i can answer this one.

to keep on line till the maximum cut off time of 2 hours you need to keep outlook open with a frequent send and recieve cycle. mine does it every minuite and this is great for me but i would recommend a cycle of about 5 mins depending on the amount of mail that you receive. this needs to be less than 15 mins so i would go to a maximum of 10 mins between send and recieves. all you do then is keep OE open and hey presto connected for 2 hours.

it cannot be extended past this cut off. i know coz i have tried alsorts but i have found that it always dials straight back in again so it shouldnt cause a major problem.

any more q's just ask me.

i'm usually around here somewhere.

Mick The Gwailo · 25-06-2003, 22:14

Yeah, I'VE tried putting the Lap-top CLOCK 'Back' an hour 'an things to TRY and stop getting dis-connected, but it's .... probably ?!? .... impossible

peterska2 · 25-06-2003, 22:18

you cant kid it unfortunatley.

believe me i've tried everything.

Mark D · 26-06-2003, 20:51

There are a fews to keep connected if you have been idle for 15 minutes:

set OE to check for email every few minutes and leave it open
open a self refreshing internet page (make sure it refreshes before 15 mins though )
Download a stay connected program (you can set these to send/recieve packets of data every so often)

There maybe other ways but that is all i can think of so far

Robert Dark · 10-07-2003, 19:43

I had this problem after I downloaded the ntl-freedom package. I 'phoned the helpline and the trained monkey on the other end told me that it's now set to disconnect if you're idle for ten minutes and that there's no way of stopping it.
Although he did give me the tip about setting outlook to check mail every five mins or so.
Do ntl actually want anyone to use their service?

peterska2 · 10-07-2003, 20:10

Hi Robert

Welcome to nthw.co.uk

It is a pain with the idle time disconnection but as long as you have outlook open all the time doing a send and recieve every 2 or 3 mins then you stay connected just fine.

Sometimes I even manage to stay online for more than the 2 hours but it is not often and there is no pattern to it.

I went 6 hours one time without being disconnected.

If you want to discuss this further then give me a shout.

Martin · 10-07-2003, 21:18

I thought you couldn't purposely keep the connection alive? I'm sure you can't use a stay connect programme. But checking Email you would probably get away with.

peterska2 · 10-07-2003, 21:21

Checking email you do get away with.

Geez - do people not read your posts

I have said this now how many times

Oh well

Jonboy · 10-07-2003, 21:54

when i was on dialup i used to set outlook to check emails every
5 mins and then drop outlook to the task bar

so if your cut off time is ten mins set to check emails every 8 mins worked for me