Over 30,000 IT jobs every day Mobile Technology email newsletter Get ZDNet's mobile news and reviews. The modem dials and the ISP's modem answers, then they squeal at each other for well over a minute before the connection fails. Every once in a while her machine will connect successfully. I brought her entire system to my house, and it always connected. Although the phone company may be correct that the line meets its standards, there may be too much noise for the modem to connect consistently.
Different modems are susceptible to different types of line interference, however.
You might take your computer to her house and see if yours will connect reliably. If so, you might suggest that she get a modem like yours.