OK I don't know much about laptops especially mine which I believe runs windows vista. But in order to watch videos it said I needed to download adobe flash player 10 so I did and it installed an adobe flash player10 plug in or something.. I can watch videos but they are choppy and stall and it takes forever just to finish one video.. what can I do to where I can watch my videos without interruption?

This is more likely to do with your own internet connection.
Does it say Buffering on the actual video ?

Might be worth reinstalling Flash player, available here: Adobe - Adobe Flash Player

Yes.. well sometimes.. even when the video is fully loaded and it doesn't say its buffering it still plays choppy and stalls..

I'd like you t go here: Speakeasy Speed Test and pick a city close to you and do a speed test.

What do you get?

What is your internet speed supposed to be?

DSL, Cable or FIOS?

What data rate are you supposed to have?

Wired or wireless connection? If wireless, does it happen with a wired one?

I just did a test and got 2.81 down and .67 up. Supposed to have 3 and .75. That's respectable.

OK I went to that site and my location isn't one of the choices.. will it work if I choose the closest location to me?

OK it worked with Los Angeles I think.. it said my download speed is .12 mbps and my upload speed is 0.07 mbps..

OK I called my internet provider and I followed their advice and got a "Y" cable. After that I did another speed test and dowloading went up to .28 mbps but uploading went down to 0.05 mbps.. and my videos are still choppy and stalling

That's yucky. And you are supposed to use the closest location,

DSL or cable?

Wired or wireless connection to computer?

Then I'll ask some more questions.

It's a dial up with a small modem that connects to a usb port. I even just bought a PC cleaner and optimizer called reginout or something and it still didn't help

It's not likely to help.

You might be able to increase the speed. Can you monitor how the modem connects. Usually you can although I'm rusty now with PPP connections.

DO you know the modem initialization string. Like ATDT<phone number> and a bunch of other stuff. Don't care about the phone number, just the other stuff.

You can also configure Hyperterminal (Was free on other versions of Windows under accesories) and use the string ATX1DT<phone number of your ISP> to connect and see what speed you connect at. Leave the <> out. e.g.. ATX1DT15555551212 for dialing 1-555-1212

I think that without being there, I'll have a hard time describing what to do.

It sounds like a 28.8 connection and it likely can be made better with the right init string.

See: Hayes AT Commands

AT+MS? Will tell you what the settings are in terms of what it tries to connect at.

OK I'm kind of lost... but before it starts dialing up I just type in ATX1DT before the numbers?

OK.. I tried that and it won't connect.. it dials #777 should I take out the #?

#777 doesn't seem like a correct number at all.

I don't think I'm going to be able to help you because I don't have Vista and I don't have dial-up and it's too much of a pain to try to set up debugging mode and I don't know Vista at all.

Hyperterminal is your best bet, but #777 doesn't seem like your ISP's number. I did forget that you need to get an "OK" response from AT<enter key> first before issuing the ATDT command. The AT means ATtention and the DT means Dial using Tone.



See if your Modem control panel has a "Properties dialog" with an option to "Show Terminal Window". Check it and see what happens.

I need to have a dial tone for it to work for me.