The first thing I would try is increasing the time you allow your modem to
connect with your ISP. Go to control panel, Modems, properties, connection
and next to the check box that says Cancel the call if not connected within
....secs .....increase the number by 25 percent....if that doesn't work try
increasing it by another 25 percent.

I know the USR Sportster is a very popular and highly praised modem but my
experience with one was very negative. Two weeks after I purchased it I had
to send it in for a chip replacement.........this repeated itself in four
months ...after the second chip replacement ....under warranty...the modem
worked OK but I kept running into compatibility issues such as my Sportster
would not work well with Winfax 8.0 unless I severely crippled it's
performance parameters. Both USR and Delrina were aware of this and neither
were in any hurry to solve the problem so I ended up buying a new Zoom
voice / speaker phone / modem and now I never have any problems.

mark

>My ISP swears up and down that they don't have any dead modems, and that
>I'm the only one reporting this problem.  Of course, I have no way of
verifying
>the veracity of their claim.  :(  My ISP has grown enormously over the past
>couple of years . . .
>So, what to you more knowledgeable types hypothesize?  :))
>(USR Sportster 28.8 internal)
>>Tia,
>Lance