Quick,
quick, slow
Assuming your
hardware is shipshape and Dial-Up Networking is correctly
configured. You should be able to connect to your
ISP. But what if nothing happens when you try to load
a web page or collect your email?
First off,
are you really online? You should see an icon of two
blinking computers in the system tray, but that’s
far from foolproof. To make sure. Click Start-Run
and type ‘winipcfg’. So long as you have
an IP address, and so long as it’s not o.o.o.o,
all is hunky-dory.
Perhaps your
ISP is simply on a chronic go-slow. This happens to
them all from time to time. You could phone the helpdesk
to find out, but that would be silly. Better by far
to connect with an alternative ISP and see if you
can surf unhindered.
A
pox on that proxy
Let’s say you have managed to get online by
hook or by crook but things still isn’t what
they used to be.
What now? If
you use your ISP’s proxy server for {allegedly}
speedier surfing, try going solo instead. In Internet
Explorer 5, click Tools-Internet Options-Connections;
in Netscape 6, follow Edit-Preferences-Advanced-Proxies.
Highlight the connection in question and click Settings.
Now uncheck the proxy server box or click Advanced
to see what’s listed. Clear it out and try again.
Sometimes, proxy settings maybe added by other software
on your system, most likely an Internet accelerator,
so get shot of the lot and see if that helps. Also
try experimenting with Netscape if IE proves troublesome,
and vice versa. (You can get the latest versions by
following these links: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.htm
and http://www.netscape.com
., but beware it takes a lot of time to download on
a dial-up connection.
Mail
Email servers occasionally crash so don’t panic
if your messages aren’t coming through. Your
ISP should certainly have some notice to this effect
on its home page unless the problem is strictly short-lived.
But if you suspect that something else may be awry,
check the settings in your email program. In Outlook
Express, for example, click Tools-Account-Mail-Properties-Servers
and see what’s written there. You do know the
correct settings, don’t you? If not, then go
to your ISP’s home page this very instant, seek
out the FAQ and make a note of them now.
If your email
client shows willing to pick up your mail but gives
up the ghost empty-handed, try increasing its timeout
settings (ie, how long the program waits for the email
server to respond). In outlook express, click Tools-Accounts-Mail-Properties-Advanced
and move the slider to long end of the spectrum.
One common call
to help lines concerns sending and collecting email
from multiple ISP accounts. Well, the bottom line
is that most ISPs will not let you collect or send
messages from their server happen to be connected
to the Net through their free Internet Number, but
they won’t necessarily advertise the fact (and
who can blame them?). Just set up each account in
your email client and tell your default connection
to collect messages from all servers simultaneously.
However- and here’s the rub – you can
only send email through whichever ISP you are currently
connected with.
Ping pong
You might occasionally
find it impossible to connect to one particular Web
site, perhaps even your own ISP’s, so try pinging
it to see if it’s up, down or indifferent. While
online, open a DOS window and type ‘ping mysite.com’
(where mysite.com is the domain name of the site in
question). If you get an error-free response then
all is well, so just keep trying. If symptoms persist,
type ‘tracert mysite.com’ in the DOS window
to track the route between your computer and the domain.
Is it getting stuck somewhere? If you get the same
results consistently over a day or two, and if you
can connect to the site normally using an alternative
ISP, send an email to your ISP’s technical support
and ask if anything can be done to help.
