While the problem seems like a bad modem, the logs indicate that the
problem is somewhere else.  Thursday between 12:45 and 1:10 almost all of the
modems disconnected.  (We are trying to find the cause for this)  During the
next 15 - 20 minutes everyone was trying to get back into the modems.  (I can
only assume that a lot of direct connect terminals were also trying to get back
in during this time also)  The Gandolf data switch can only support 8 or so
simultaneous connection attempts.  When a large number of connection attempts
are being made at the same time, the first 8 or so get service.  The rest have
to wait for an "operator" to become available.  During this time the modem
times out and you have to call again.  Normally this is not a problem as the
"operator" hardware is only busy until you answer the enter class prompt
(usually a matter of only a few seconds) and we normally have fewer than 8
connection attempts per minute.  However whenever a large group tries to
connect in a short period of time we get the problem you have described.
   Before someone criticizes the Gandolf data switch, this is a problem found
in most switches.  As an example when MUCARES brought down the telephone
system.
it was because there were too many simultaneous call attempts for the telephone
switch.
   Currently people are working to identify the cause of the "good bye's".  We
will be watching to see if there are too many connection attempt peaks.  Watch
for future posts as we find out more about what is going on.  When we think we
have everything working again, I will ask for more reports to help us find
future occurances of this or other problems.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.