Does your ISP keep cutting you off? Many Internet Service Providers disconnect you if you’ve been idle for a certain period of time. “Idle” means that there has been no data flow across your Internet connection. This can be very frustrating!

A solution for many of you is to keep forcing data to move along your Internet connection. This page does that. If you simply keep one browser window open to this page, there’s a good chance it will keep your ISP connected. Why? Because the page forces your browser to refresh every five minutes. It’s as if you pressed F5 or clicked the browser’s Refresh button every 300 seconds. I’m here to press the button for you! <g>

Some ISPs use a different trick. They time you out after a maximum amount of time, e.g., six hours, regardless of data flow. This page will not keep you from being disconnected; however, it can be used to ensure quick automatic reconnection. Even after you are thrown offline, this page will still attempt to refresh itself on schedule. If your browser is set to dial whenever a network connection is not present, and you have your dial-up client configured to connect automatically, a reconnect will occur the next time the page attempts to refresh. (If you want it to connect even faster, just refresh this page manually!) In Internet Explorer, click Tools | Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and select “Dial whenever a network connection is not present.”