I don't hear my modem dialing.
Several things need to happen successfully on your computer before you can begin using YKC On-Line and the Internet.
Your computer must be able to properly communicate with your modem. If your modem is factory installed, this is already configured for you. If you have installed your own modem please refer to the documentation that was packaged with your modem. If you have difficulty installing and configuring your modem, please contact the technical support number listed in your modems documentation.
Some modems allow you to turn off the dialing and whistling noises that modems create. If you are having trouble connecting to YKC, please turn your modem sounds up loud enough to hear the sounds. Also, some modems play these sounds through the system speakers attached to your computer.
When you instruct your computer to connect to the Internet you should first hear the following sounds:
Telephone dial tone
The dialed digit tones (seven distinct tones)
The ringing sound
The whistle sound from the answering modem
Silence after a successful connection
If you are not hearing all of the above steps, please use a regular telephone to dial your local internet number. Most modems have a second telephone jack that allows you to plug in a regular telephone and dial out.
Using a normal telephone, it is possible to hear one of the following error conditions.

The number rings but never answers.
This can indicate a modem on our equipment that needs to be reset or an equipment failure. Please dial the number more than once. If it fails to answer all calls please contact our business office.

I get a busy signal when I call.
YKC is working very hard to make sure we have an ample number of modems to answer your call. Please be aware that there are two different busy signals - the normal busy and a fast busy (a fast busy signal is twice as rapid as a normal busy tone). A fast busy indicates that the call is being blocked by telephone company equipment. Either way, please let us know which signal you received and what time it was when you received it.

I get a recorded message when I call.
YKC's equipment will not deliver a recorded message. This message is delivered from the telephone company and indicates that there is a problem understanding the number you have dialed or a problem in reaching its destination. Some areas require you to dial the area code while others do not. If you are unsure of how to dial into our system, please contact our business office.

I can hear the modems whistle back and forth, but it will not connect.
This usually indicates that the two computers (yours and ours) can not agree on a language to speak. Please check your network configuration to verify the proper configuration. See our support page for details.

I can connect but I get disconnected often.
This is by far the hardest to solve.
Please check the following items:
Do you have Call Waiting on your telephone service? If so, you should use the telephone company provided code to disable call waiting for your Internet calls. This is usually accomplished by adding "*70," in front  of the number that your computer dials to connect to the Internet. Please be aware that some telephone companies must add a feature to your phone service before you can temporarily disable call waiting. Please contact your local telephone company for details.
Is it possible that someone picked up an extension phone somewhere in the house while you were connected to the Internet?   Are there any devices connected to your phone line that attempt to dial out at regular intervals (such as satellite systems reporting their Pay-Per-View purchases)?  This will almost always drop your connection.
Is there any static or noise on your phone line? Please check by connecting a regular telephone to the line you use to place Internet calls. If you hear any static, noise, popping or frying sounds - this could be causing your trouble. Contact your local telephone company for service.

I seem to get disconnected about every 20 minutes or so.
YKC uses an inactivity timer on our system. This timer will disconnect your session if you have not sent or received any information to the Internet for a period of 20 minutes.
We added this timer to save resources such as phone lines, modems and equipment. Some users don't understand that each call to our system requires a phone line, a modem and a channel in our system. While we encourage customers to spend as much time using the Internet as they wish, we had many occasions where users were leaving their computers connected to the Internet while unattended. This ties up the above mentioned resources and requires us to add additional equipment that is actually not needed. The bottom line is that we are trying to deliver the best value possible to our customers. We can do that by keeping the usage of our equipment efficient.

My connection is slower than normal.
Slow connections are often hard to diagnose. Please check several different sites on the Internet and see if all sites seem slow. It's possible that there is an equipment malfunction at YKC that is slowing down access, but normally it's an issue with the nature of the Internet.
Many variables figure into the speed of the Internet, such as:

My Computer suddenly locks up while I'm using the Internet.
This can usually be traced to a computer issue and not an internet issue. A computer locks up when it has received an instruction it can not process. This is usually caused by a software conflict, a hardware conflict, bad or insufficient memory.
Have you added any new hardware lately?
Have you upgraded any hardware lately?
Have you added any new software lately?
Have you downloaded any new software?
Have you upgraded any software?
Have you deleted any programs?