Background...

I have had the same Earthlink dialup account/username/password for approximately 10 years....same phone number and phone company for years My computer is a HP Pavilion just over 3 years old. I used Windows XP and mostly Explorer 6.0 or Firefox


So....Last Tuesday morning I logged in early and stayed online until about 7:30 AM...no problems at all. I logged out and did some stuff around the house...no power outage or phone problems...around 9 Am I decided to finish up some stuff, and could not get on line. It seemsed to dial and connect just fine, but when it came to verifying my username/password, I got the 691 message: I really didn't give it too much thought at the time, because I've had similar messages in the past (usually the one about the remote computer not responding) and they have resolved themselves in a few hours. So I went shopping, & when I got back, I tried to dial in (563-886-3706) and got the same message...

I called Earthlink and first got a fellow who thought the access number I dial into was OOS...he suggested I try again in 24 hours...I told him that was not acceptable...he gave me a Davenport number...I told him that was not acceptable as it is long distance...he said all he could suggest is keep trying and he would email me when he found out something...so I asked to speak to a supervisor...he did not know why I was getting the message, but did give me a couple of 1-800 numbers to try...same message...frustrated, I called it a day...

Wednesday I went over to our church to use their computer...Just for fun, I tried logging into my Earthlink Webmail and that very same user/name password worked just fine....I went to Earthlink online help...the CSR I ended up with said I was probably logging in incorrectly...was I using caps??? I told him/her that wasn't the case...so he/she looked something up and gave me a link that was supposed to fix it via DOS commands...I just printed what he/she sent and went home without it reading it...Well, what they sent was for Windows 98, not XP and there's no way those instructions can be followed...I have given up on them for the present.

DS has tried to figure it out with no success...he hasn't worked with dial up much at all...he did check all the settings, and tried to set up a new connection...with the same results...he has looked @ my files and such and doesn't see anything abnormal...I can do anything I usually do on my computer other than logon to the net...play games I've loaded, get to my Corel, change colors, run virus & spyware scans....At first DS thought it might be my modem, but then it would seem that it wouldn't dial properly or connect...that I'd get some other kind of message. Now if I couldn't access my email on other computers, I'd think someone hacked my account, but it looks like nothing like that has happened.

Any ideas???....All I can think of @ this point is to have Earthlink send me a new disk...or call a geek that I'd have to pay....I probably won't be online again until sometime tomorrow, but DS said he'd look here if he had a chance...

Thanks

Have you tried setting up a dial-up connection within Windows without using the Earthlink software?

only thing that I could even imagine is that since you were able to log on into your account at church, is there any possible way that may your keyboard is goofing up/ even on 1 of the keys using your user name or password, if you have a spare keyboard around you may want to try that just for giggles, may only be 1 of the keys on the board but it may be one that you need to enter the info to get on

http://www.earthlink.net/software/

maybe if DS sees this he can download and burn the CD for you so you won't have to wait to get it

Kegg may have a point - open up notepad and type your user ID and password just like you were logging in to Earthlink and see if everything looks kosher.

One of my friends mentioned that she had the same kind of problem and it did turn out to be her keyboard, but I haven't tried it yet...I had to go in to the city to get some shopping done this morning before the next storm comes in...I did find an Earthlink disc from 2004, so maybe we can work on that over the weekend...

Thanks all for the suggestions...

if it's not a username/password issue, I would try borrowing someone else's dial up non-earthlink service and see if it'll work.

Now where's all those free AOL discs when you need one??? I will have to see who I can dig up, so to speak...

The library has lent me a keyboard so I shall try that...

Kar, I wish I had known about this before, my DH works for Earthlink, he says that you have to DELETE your dial-up connection and recreate it. Not copy the one you already have, but re-create it. Hope this fixes your problem...

If you have any other questions, please PM me with your phone # and I'll have my DH call you!

We've tried that (I think)...but maybe we'll try again...if not, I'll contact you after the new year...Thanks so much...

Well I tried her account from my laptop using the same access number and received the same error message. I tried a different number and it worked fine with her account. I also checked the earthlink website to see if the number had changed and they do not list any number in the area anymore. I am thinking they may have pulled service out of our area.

Yup...I tried the Muscatine number and it connected...right now I am so irritated with Earthlink...All they had to do was notify me upfront that they were pulling out of the area, and I could have found another ISP right away...plus the fact that they have had no problems billing my CC...

Have you tried reporting to Earthlink that the number is not connecting - they may have some bad equipment at that location.

I told them that the first day I had problems...they said it was the phone company's problem...but now it's been over 3 weeks...and they've taken the access number I used off their list...