Add a Delay to a Dial Up Modem Before It Dials Out

I haven’t configured a dial up modem in quite awhile so I forgot a number of the tips and tricks that I used to use back in the good ole modem shotgun days, etc. I was working to get a dial up connection working properly through an SPA-2000 over a VoIP connection. In doing so I was thinking that the modem was actually dialing out to quickly and it might help the situation if I added a delay before the modem actually dialed out. Below I describe how to add a delay to a dial up networking connection on Windows XP.

Add Delay to Dial Up Networking Connection on Windows XP:

Open Network Connections: Click the Start button in the lower left hand corner of your Windows XP computer, then right click on “My Network Places”, and select Properties to open the Network Connections window as shown below.
Double Click Dial Up Connection: Now double click on the dial up connection, which is HIWAAY(named after a dial up Internet service provider) in the example above, to open your dial up connection as shown below.
Modify Dial In Number: Modify the number in the Dial field, which in the example above begins with 1205xxxxxxx, by adding comas to the beginning of the number. The more comas you add the longer the delay in dialing the number will be. In the example below three comas have been added.
Make Dial Change Permanent: Now click the Dial button which will pop open a confirmation to make the number change permanent as shown below. Click Yes in the pop up to save the change.
Start Dial Out Connection: After clicking the Yes button above the dial up connection wil go ahead and dial out to connect to your dial up service provider.

So really all you need to do is add comas to the beginning of the dial in number for your dial up connection. Add more comas to add more of a delay before your modem actually dials out.