Last month I posted the following:

>This one is driving me nuts.  I hope someone can point me in the
>right direction.
>I have a new Compaq Presario, 1.2ghz, 512mb RAM, 40g HD, Windows
>XP Home. The modem is a factory installed PCTel Platinum v.90.
>I have two ISPs (one is free and I use it as a backup).  Most of
>the time when I dialup, the connection is clear and I connect at
>50.6K.
>However, about every 10th. attempt at dialup, I get the most
>awful crackling noise you have ever heard and I cannot connect
>using either ISP.  When I pick up  the telephone receiver and
>listen, the line is clear.   And when I go to my other computer
>(HP Pavilion, 550mhz, 128mb RAM, 15g HD, Win98SE, Conexant
>Soft
K56 PCI modem) and I dialup to either ISP,  I connect at
>50.6K with no problems and no crackling noise.  I have tried a
>USB external modem and have had no crackling problems although
>the connection is so slow you can actually hear your arteries
>hardening!
>I am pretty much convinced that I don't have a phone line
>problem.  However, if I were a betting man my money would be on
>the internal modem.
>Any thoughts?
>Ted/

Recently I stumbled on the solution to the problem.  Niether the phone line
nor the modem was the culprit.  The fact that I had my second computer (HP Pavilion) connected into the same telephone jack as my new Compaq Presario turned out to be the problem, even though the HP Pavilion was never powered up when I was attempting to connect with my Compaq Presario.  As soon as I disconnected the cable from the HP Pavilion to the telephone jack, no more connection problems and no more crackling noi
ses.  It has been over a week now and the problem hasn't resurfaced.  I would like to thank all those who responded with their solutions.
Ted/

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