14. Getting Connected

If your computer is part of an existing local area network (LAN) with Internet access, you can skip this chapter entirely because Internet access comes as part and parcel of your LAN connection. In fact, if you are part of a corporate LAN, it is most likely a violation of your company’s security policy to establish your own independent connection.

If you have or are willing to set up a LAN for your home or office, you can provide Internet access to all your computers through one connection. You should read Chapter 19, “Connecting Your Network to the Internet,” and decide whether you want to connect to the Internet through a LAN. Use the instructions in this chapter to set up the initial connection, and Chapter 19 tells you how to share it with the rest of your workgroup.

(If you don’t already have a network, and you have two or more computers, you should seriously consider creating one. Chapter 18, “Creating a Windows Network,” tells you how.)

If you have already selected your ISP and connection technology, you can skip the introductory sections of this chapter and go right to “Installing a Network Adapter for Broadband Service,” later in this chapter.

If you need to make a clean start with the Internet, read on!

By the way, we don’t have room to describe using dial-up Internet service in great detail, but, if you have to use it, we do give you some pointers.

For information on using dial-up Internet service, see “Dial-Up Internet,” p. 307.

Let’s take a look at the basic Internet connection technologies that are appropriate for an individual user or workgroup, in increasing order of performance and usability. After describing each one, we show you roughly what each costs to set up and use.

DSL has at least one Achilles heel: its availability and speed are restricted by your distance from the telephone company’s equipment in your neighborhood or in their central office, and it isn’t available when the distance is more than a couple of miles (as the wires run, not as the crow flies). DSL’s reach can be extended by optical fiber lines and special equipment, but this is expensive for the telephone companies to install. DSL might never make it into rural areas.

DSL modems come in two varieties: external units connect to your computer through a network adapter or a USB cable, whereas internal units plug right into your computer. If your ISP uses external adapters, before you buy a network adapter, check with your DSL provider because often one is included in the installation kit. In addition, before you decide to pay extra to get service for multiple computers, read Chapter 19 to see how all your computers can share a single connection.

Some external DSL modems include a built-in connecting-sharing router that lets you share the Internet connection with several computers over a wired or wireless network. If your modem includes a router, you just need to connect your computers to the router, and you don’t really need this chapter at all. Instead, see Chapter 19.

Cable modem service has none of the distance limitations of DSL. One early criticism of cable service was that data speeds could drop during high-use times, such as the early evening, because everyone in a given neighborhood shares a single network “pipe.” That may have been true when cable service was first introduced, but cable vendors seem to have built up their networks considerably, and this seems to happen less frequently now. Surveys show that cable subscribers usually get several times the download speed of standard DSL subscribers. VDSL and VDSL2 can now match its speed, but cable is still a good option.

Cable modems generally are external devices that connect to your computer through a network adapter or a USB cable. Before you buy a network adapter, though, check with your ISP; one might be included in the installation kit. Some ISPs charge extra to lease the modem. The price of a cable modem is $30–$60 new and about $1 on eBay, so leasing one from your cable company isn’t such a great deal. Also, if you have more than one computer and your cable ISP wants to charge you for extra connections, read Chapter 19 to see how all your computers can use a router to share a single connection.

Some cable companies now provide a cable modem that includes a built-in connection-sharing router that lets you share the Internet connection with several computers over a wired or wireless network. If your modem includes a router, you just need to connect your computers to the router, and you don’t really need this chapter at all. Instead, see Chapter 19.

Satellite’s one advantage is that it’s available where DSL and cable haven’t yet reached, wherever there’s a good view of either the southern sky in the Northern Hemisphere or the northern sky in the Southern Hemisphere. The disadvantages are numerous: The equipment and service plans can be expensive, you’ll have to sign a long-term contract to get discounts on installation and equipment, the system slows when many people are using it, you can lose the signal entirely when it’s raining or snowing, and if you download more than your monthly quota allows, you’ll be punished by having your download speed cut to a crawl for the remainder of the month. Despite all this, many people beyond the reach of cable and DSL say that satellite service beats dial-up, and it’s worth the hassle.

Satellite service requires you to purchase a dish antenna, a transmitter/receiver, and a satellite modem. Your ISP should furnish these devices and will provide professional installation service. Professional installation is an FCC requirement because of the transmitter.

After the dish is installed and its connecting cable has been run in to your home or office, installing the satellite modem is not terribly tricky, but the procedure is specific to the type of hardware you’re using. Therefore, unfortunately, we have to leave you at the mercy of the manufacturer’s instruction manual and can’t provide specific instructions in this book.

Several types of service are available:

3G, 4G, and 4G LTE cellular data—Wireless phone providers sell data service as a standalone service or as part of a bundled service package that includes voice and text messaging, for devices such as tablets and phones with built-in cellular data modems. Download speeds vary from place to place depending on the type of cellular network you are able to reach, but 40Mbps is not unheard of, which is as good or better than home DSL or cable Internet service. However, coverage of the higher-speed 4G and LTE networks is patchy: it’s available in some cities and some parts of the country, and not at all in large swaths of it.

The hardware to support this type of service is usually built in to a phone or tablet. You can also purchase cellular modems for laptops to give them Internet connectivity where Wi-Fi isn’t available.

WiMax—WiMax is a cellular service with speeds that can range from tens of Mbps for mobile devices to 1Gbps for fixed modems. WiMax service is not widely available, but its use is growing in some parts of the world. On the other hand, at the time this was being written, Sprint is in the process of shutting down its 6,000 WiMax service sites in favor of 4G LTE.

Hotspots—Some cellular data providers sell or lease small “hot spot” devices, which contain both a cellular data modem and a Wi-Fi networking adapter. The hot spot takes care of the cellular part, and you can connect one or more computers to the hot spot via standard Wi-Fi networking.

Tethered data service through a cell phone—Some cell phones and tablets with built-in cellular data capability can share their Internet data service by serving as a mobile Wi-Fi hot spot for nearby computers. This capability is more common with Android-based devices, but apps may be available for Windows devices.

The primary limitation of wireless service is that most data plans are metered—you pay for a maximum amount of data transferred per month, and if you exceed the limit, it can get very expensive. There are some unlimited data plans to be found, but you might find in the fine print that after a certain amount of data has been transferred in any given month, the data rate will be cut way back. You also tend to have to sign up for long-term contracts. You might be able to find data plans that let you buy service on a day-by-day basis rather than committing to a long-term service contract. This can be very cost effective when you travel.

Because the setup and usage steps are specific to each provider, we can’t provide instructions in this chapter.

To use standard dial-up Internet service, you need a modem and a telephone cable. Modems are no longer standard equipment on modern computers. Your best bet today is most likely using an external USB modem from a reliable manufacturer, such as USRobotics, although internal, external serial, and PC card models are available from a number of vendors. Due to space limitations, we don’t have room to describe how to set up dial-up Internet service in much detail. We can tell you that the procedures for setting up and using a modem connection are essentially the same as they were in Windows 7 and 8. Your ISP will be able to provide additional assistance. The process is described at the end of this chapter, under the heading “Dial-Up Internet.”

Remember that you have several costs to factor in:

The cost of hardware required to make the connection

The cost of installation and setup

The cost of canceling service if you terminate it before a long-term contract has expired

The savings you’ll get if you can bundle several separate data plans into a family or group plan

In addition, if you travel frequently, ask prospective ISPs to tell you whether they provide free Wi-Fi hot spot service when you’re on the road. These costs can add up quickly if you select an ISP that makes you pay extra for this service.

For more information on selecting an Internet technology and to help choose an ISP, check out these sites:

For information on DSL and cable, see www.dslreports.com.

For information on satellite service in North and Central America, check out www.dish.com, www.starband.com, www.hughesnet.com, and www.exede.com. I don’t have any direct experience with these providers, but Exede advertises download speeds up to 12Mbps. If that is true, it’s terrific. Satellite services are often resold through regional companies. For example, my ISP sonic.net resells satellite service. You might get better customer support if you buy through a regional ISP.

For information on wireless service, see www.mobilebroadbandnetwork.com or contact your area’s cellular providers.

Broadband service requires a modem that your ISP will either provide, sell, or lease (rent) to you. DSL modems are sold to you as part of the setup price in some cases, but the trend is to encourage or force you to rent. They want to ding you every month—and it adds up! You might be able to get a new or used DSL or cable modem independently, and very cheaply, but be sure it will be compatible with the equipment your ISP uses. Broadband modems connect to your computers and other devices via Wi-Fi, USB, or through an Ethernet network adapter.

If you want to share your Internet connection with other computers via a LAN, read Chapter 19 before making any hardware purchases; you’ll find information on some special hardware setups.

Above all, be sure any hardware you have to plug in directly to the computer appears in the Windows Compatibility Center list (www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility). All brand-new equipment should be compatible with Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7, but something you buy used might not be. Check the list before you make any purchases.

If you want to purchase or install a network adapter yourself, the process will go something like this:

For an internal adapter in a desktop computer, shut down Windows, unplug the computer, and install the card. Then power up the computer and log on.

For a USB adapter, install any software provided by the adapter’s manufacturer first; then plug in the USB networking adapter.

The Plug and Play system should take care of the rest for you. The driver software will in all likelihood install itself automatically.

After installation, confirm that the network adapter is installed and functioning by following these steps:

1. Press Windows Logo+X, and then select Device Manager. (Alternatively, from the taskbar’s search box, search for manager, and in the results under Settings, select Device Manager.)

2. The list should show only “first-level” items. Under Network Adapters, you should see no items listed with an exclamation mark icon superimposed.

If the network adapter appears and is marked with a yellow icon with an exclamation point, follow the network card troubleshooting instructions in Chapter 22, “Troubleshooting Your Network.”

If you’re using cable Internet service, skip ahead to the “Configuring a High Speed Connection” section not far ahead.

Alternatively, and virtually always for VDSL service, the service installer might connect your telephone line to a device called a splitter inside or outside the house and will install a separate cable to bring the DSL signal to your modem or router. These devices separate the high-frequency DSL carrier signal from the normal telephone signal before it reaches your house’s internal phone wiring.

If your broadband service uses a network adapter (that is, an Ethernet adapter) to connect directly to a cable or DSL modem that has no built-in router, you must start by taking the following steps to secure your computer against hackers.

1. Right-click the network icon in the notification area of the taskbar, and then click Open Network and Sharing Center.

2. In the section titled View Your Active Networks, there should be an entry named Network, and at the right, after Connections, should be the name of your Ethernet adapter, as shown in Figure 14.1.

Be sure that the label under the network name says Public Network, not Private Network. Because the connection hooks up directly to the Internet, it must be designated as a public network.

If the label says Private Network, click the network icon in the taskbar, then select Network Settings. At left, if Ethernet is not already selected, select it. Then to the right, click the network name, then turn off Find Devices and Content.

3. Now, for additional insurance, back in the Network and Sharing Center, select Change Adapter Settings. Locate the icon for the Ethernet adapter that goes to your DSL or cable modem, right-click it, and select Properties.

4. Under This Connection Uses the Following Items, uncheck File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks and then uncheck Client for Microsoft Networks.

5. If your ISP requires you to set a specific IP address for the network adapter, highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties. Check Use the Following IP Address and then enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway provided by your ISP. You may also be instructed to enter DNS server addresses. Most of this step is not necessary.

6. Click OK.

After the adapter has been configured and attached to the DSL or cable modem with a network cable, you configure the connection. The procedure you should use depends on whether your ISP uses PPPoE or an always-on connection. The following sections describe these procedures.

If you have a simple modem with no router and your provider uses PPPoE to establish its connection, you might have to set up the connection manually. If this is necessary, your provider should give you clear instructions. We can give you the general procedure here, though.

After you connect your computer’s network adapter to the broadband modem, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the network icon in the taskbar and select Open Network and Sharing Center.

2. Click Set Up a New Connection or Network. Select Connect to the Internet and click Next. If Windows says you are already connected to the Internet, click Set Up a New Connection Anyway. If Windows asks, “Do you want to use a connection that you already have?” click No, Create a New Connection and then click Next.

3. Select Broadband (PPPoE).

4. Enter the username and password assigned by your ISP. You might want to check Show Characters before you enter the password, to make sure you enter it correctly.

5. Check both Remember This Password and Allow Other People to Use This Connection.

6. Click Connect.

At this point, you’re prompted to sign in.

From now on, you can you just click the Network icon in the taskbar whenever you want to connect or disconnect from the Internet.

Some ISPs require you to give them the MAC address of your broadband router or your computer’s network adapter. This is an identification number built in to the hardware that uniquely identifies your particular device. To find this number on a router, look for a label on it with a number like 00-03-FF-B9-0E-14. For a computer, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the network icon in the taskbar and select Open Network and Sharing Center. (Alternatively, in the taskbar’s search box type center and select Network and Sharing Center from the results.)

2. Select Change Adapter Settings. Locate the icon for the network adapter that leads to your cable or DSL modem. This might be named Ethernet or Local Area Connection (or Ethernet 2 if you’ve installed an extra adapter). If you have multiple adapters and can’t tell which is which, unplug the network cable from all but the one that goes to the modem and then look for the one that doesn’t say “Disconnected.”

3. Right-click the icon and select Status, Details. Find the line titled Physical Address. It will be followed by six pairs of numbers and letters, as in 00-03-FF-B9-0E-14. This is the information to give to your ISP.

Your ISP can then configure their equipment to communicate with your device.

1. Right-click the network icon on the right side of the taskbar, and then click Open the Network and Sharing Center window.

2. Under View Your Active Networks, click the Connections name. In the Status window, select Properties to open the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box.

3. Select the Networking tab, select the Internet Protocol (either Version 6 or Version 4, depending on the IP provided by your ISP), and click the Properties button.

4. Select Use the Following IP Address and then enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway information provided by your ISP, as shown in Figure 14.2.

5. Select Use the Following DNS Server Addresses, and enter the two DNS addresses provided by your ISP.

6. Click OK to return to the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box.

When you have completed this procedure, return to the PPPoE setup steps. Alternatively, if you have always-on service, open Internet Explorer to test-drive your new connection.

Your computer will need an analog modem. With modern computers, about the only option is to use an external USB modem plugged in to a USB port on your computer. When you buy one, it will typically come with a disc containing required software. We suggest that you install the software first, before plugging in the modem for the first time.

When it’s installed, press Windows Logo+R, type telephon.cpl, and then press Enter. (You can also get here through the Control Panel by searching for the phrase Phone and Modem.) The first time you open this, you will be prompted to enter your current location and telephone area code information. Enter the required information, and then click OK to close the dialog box.

1. Right-click the network icon at the bottom-right corner of the taskbar, and select Open Network and Sharing Center. (You can also get there from the Control Panel by searching for the word Sharing.)

2. Select Set Up a New Connection or Network, Connect to the Internet, Next, Dial-Up.

3. Fill in the information provided by your ISP. The first field asks for the local access telephone number for your ISP. Enter the local number, optionally preceded by any other codes needed to dial the call. For example, in the United States, if you enter an area code, you must first enter a 1, then the area code, as shown in Figure 14.2. You can enter parentheses or dashes (-) between the parts of the number; the modem ignores them.

The next fields record your username and password. You can check Show Characters to verify whether you are typing the password correctly.

Check Remember This Password unless you want Windows to prompt you for it every time you connect. If other people who use your computer use the same ISP account, check Allow Other People to Use This Connection.

4. The last field asks for a connection name. Type in a name that will help you identify what the connection is used for. The name of your ISP is always good. If you will be traveling, you’ll probably accumulate several of these dial-up connections, one for each location you visit, so it would be helpful to add the location to the name, as in “Sonic-Oakland.”

5. Click Connect. Windows immediately dials your ISP. Check to be sure that the connection works before proceeding. If it doesn’t, click Skip and continue anyway.

As set up by the Connect to the Internet Wizard, your dial-up connection will not correctly handle area codes in the number it dials. If you entered just a seven-digit number and you never intend to travel with your computer, you don’t have to worry about this. However, if the number has an area code or you travel, you’ll have to fix this.

Right-click the Start button and select Network Connections. Right-click the icon for the dial-up connection you just created and select Properties.

The General tab lists modem properties and the ISP telephone number. If you travel with your computer, or the dial-up number has an area code, check Use Dialing Rules and be sure that the ISP’s area code appears correctly in its own box and is not entered in the same box as the phone number. Then, click the Dialing Rules button to be sure that your local area code is set correctly.

If your telephone line has call waiting service, click Dialing Rules. Check To Disable Call Waiting, Dial; then select the code used by your telephone company. In most parts of the U.S., this is *70. Click OK twice to return to the connection properties dialog box.

Click OK to save your changes.

1. Click the Network icon in your taskbar.

2. Click the desired connection name near the top of the panel.

3. Windows displays a connection dialog box. If you previously let Windows remember the password, you can simply skip ahead to step 4. Otherwise, enter the password assigned by your ISP. You can check Save This User Name if you want to use this information the next time you dial, and you can select Anyone Who Uses This Computer if it’s OK for other people on this computer to use your dial-up account.

4. For a dial-up connection only, Windows shows you exactly how it’s going to dial the number. Double-check that the prefix and area code are correct. You might need to click Properties to correct your current location (Dialing From) and/or Dialing Rules if the prefix or area code isn’t correct.

5. Click Dial to make the connection.

Windows then dials your ISP and establishes the connection.

Some external USB modems give no audible feedback that they’re dialing. Even if you don’t hear anything, wait a bit and watch the connection dialog box to see whether it succeeds.

When you finish using your Internet connection, click the Network icon in the taskbar to view the Networks panel. Click the name of your Internet connection, and then click Disconnect. Windows will hang up the connection.