Stop Mac OS Disconnecting from the Internet

Article by Amit Chawla 

Getting frequently disconnected from the Internet?

Your Mac computer may drop the Internet connection after a period of inactivity due to Idle-disconnect options. In order to turn off idle-disconnect and stop your computer from disconnecting, try the following steps:

Macintosh OS X

  1. Open <System Preferences> and Click on the <Network>.

  2. Click on the <PPP> tab and Click on the <PPP Options> button.

  3. Uncheck <Disconnect if idle for [ ] minutes>.

  4. Click on the <OK> button.

  5. Close the <System Preferences> and save the changes.

The new settings will take effect the next time you connect.

Macintosh OS 7-9

  1. Click on the <Apple menu>, go to the <Control Panel>, and select the <Remote Access>. Note: In earlier versions of Mac OS, Remote access is also known as PPP (Point to Point Protocol).

  2. Click on the <Options> button and select the <Connection> tab.  

  3. Uncheck <Prompt every [ ] minutes to maintain connection> and <Disconnect if idle for [ ] minutes>.

  4. Click on the <OK> button.

  5. Close <Remote Access> and save the changes.

The new settings should take effect the next time you connect.

If this doesn’t work, you may have call waiting. If you do, every time someone is trying to call, it will disconnect you.

To disable call waiting while you’re on the internet, add a “*70,” before the phone number. Do not include the quote marks, just *70, . The comma is important, as it tells the modem to pause to give the dial tone time to come back.

So if you were in <City>, for your phone number you’d have *70,9156862457 .

Frequent disconnects can also be caused by line noise, either inside or outside your house. Line noise will also cause slow connection speeds. If you’re out in a rural area, phone lines in your neighborhood are quite possibly old or low-quality. Moisture in the phone lines — that is, the weather — can also cause problems. In the house, potential problems include:

  • Old or low-quality phone cord,

  • Phone cord longer than 12 feet,

  • Phone cord getting stepped on or kinked, or crimped under furniture,

  • Splitters and phone line surge protectors,

  • Sources of interference close to phone cord (radio, speakers, power supplies)

  • Internal wiring in the house

You can eliminate these possible problems by replacing the phone cord, and making sure the new cord is reasonably straight, short, and is connected directly to the wall jack with no splitters or surge protectors.

 

If your connection is still dropping a lot, or if you’d just like to try improving your speed and stability, you might wish to download the third party programs for connectivity.

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