Unwanted Dial-Up Connections

Unwanted dial-up connections refer to a customer's computer attempting to connect to the Internet using a dial-up connection when they didn't prompt the computer to. If your computer's Internet configurations are not set properly, your computer will continue to do this. Thus, you will need to make a few modifications to prevent your computer from initiating a dial-up connection when you do not want it to.

Internet Options Configuration

Follow these instructions even if you do not use Internet Explorer. Otherwise, you would have to navigate to your computer's Internet Options (Windows) or System Preferences (Mac) and find where you can select Never dial a connection. If ever you want to use your dial-up connection, you would have to manually prompt your computer to do so.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Tools then Internet Options.
3. Click on the Connections tab.
4. Select Never dial a connection.
5. Click OK.

Check Firewall Settings

If you are using a third party firewall, e.g. ZoneAlarm, your computer may be trying to initiate a dial-up connection upon startup. You can either visit your firewall's Web site or do a search to get instructions on how to prevent your firewall from initiating a dial-up connection upon the startup of your computer.

Check Recent Installations

If this problem has occurred recently, check to see what programs you have installed that may be contributing to this issue. You may have to uninstall the program or visit the program's Web site to make configuration changes within it.

Check for Malware, Spyware, or Viruses

You may have contracted a form of malware, spyware, or virus on your computer that causes your computer to initiate a dial-up connection at any given time or when you only select a certain program or folder. If you haven't done so already, do a full scan of your computer using your anti-virus protection program.