Chapter 1: Getting on the Internet

In This Chapter

Selecting an Internet service provider

Understanding how your Mac gets on the Internet

Setting up your Internet connection

I’ll be honest — the Internet is a terribly complex monster of a network. If you tried to fathom all the data that’s exchanged on the Internet and everything that takes place when you check your e-mail for Aunty Joan’s fruitcake recipe, your brain would probably melt like a chocolate bar in the Sahara Desert. A shoebox full of archaic things is tucked under the Internet: communications protocols, routing addresses, packets, servers, and other hoo-hah that are beyond the grasp of just about everyone on the planet.

Luckily for regular folks like you and me, OS X Mountain Lion closes the trapdoor on all these details, keeping them hidden (as they should be). You don’t have to worry about them, and the obscure information that you need to establish an Internet connection is kept to a minimum. In fact, the happiest computer owners I’ve met think that the Internet is a little blinking light on their DSL or cable modem: If the light blinks in the proper manner, all is well. (I don’t argue with them.)

In this chapter, I provide help and advice to those who are prepared to play games, download music, and chat with their friends — and I lead you through the procedure of adding an Internet connection under OS X. (In other words, you’ll get your light blinking properly.)

If you entered your Internet configuration information while you were in the Setup Assistant during the initial configuration of OS X, you can skip this chapter! The information contained herein is only for those who add or change their Internet connectivity after installing OS X.

Shopping for an ISP

Before you can connect to the Internet, you must sign up for Internet access. (You may be able to find a location with free wireless Internet in your area, but this certainly won’t satisfy your long-term need for Internet access in your home.) If you already have an ISP (acronym-speak for an Internet service provider) or your company or school provides Internet access, smile quietly to yourself and skip to the next section. Otherwise, hang around while I discuss what to look for in an ISP and how to locate one in your local area.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, an ISP is simply the company you contract with so that you can connect to the Internet. You may be contracting with a cable company, such as Comcast, Bright House, or Mediacom, or you may be using a service such as AOL, Juno, or EarthLink. All these are ISPs.

ISPs are as thick as Louisiana mosquitoes these days, and often they’re judged solely by the amount that they charge for basic access. Cost definitely is a factor, but it’s not the only thing that should determine your choice in a service provider. Consider these guidelines when choosing or switching ISPs:

Broadband service: Virtually all local ISPs, phone companies, and cable companies now offer digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem access. Collectively, these connections are called broadband because they offer the fastest method of transferring information to and from the Internet. If you have a home business, a large family, or students — or you telecommute to your office — using broadband can make your life much simpler.

Quality technical support: A 24-hour/7-day telephone support line is a godsend for the Internet novice; don’t settle for voice support during business hours. Forget e-mail and web-–based support, too; your e-mail and web browser applications will be dead and gone if your Internet connection gives you problems. (Sound of your palm whacking your forehead.)

Static IP addresses: A static IP address — the unique number that identifies your computer on the Internet — allows you to set up a professional web server or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server. Most ISPs charge an additional amount for a static IP address (considering it as a business account instead of a residential account), so it’s not really a good idea for a typical Mac owner at home. Suffice it to say, however, that a business or commercial organization running a web server or FTP server will benefit from a using static IP address.

E-mail accounts: Investigate how many individual accounts you receive with various ISPs. Also, find out whether you can maintain them yourself through a website. If so, that’s a good sign. Additionally, if the prospective ISP provides a website where you can read and send e-mail messages, you can stay on top of your e-mail even while you’re on the road or vacationing halfway across the globe.

Local calling rates: If you live in a rural area and you’re using a dialup modem, check to make sure that all prospective ISPs offer local calling rates. Believe me, no matter how much fun and how useful the Internet is, it’s not worth hours of long-distance charges. (Oh, and don’t forget to make sure that your ISP has local access numbers in the cities that you visit regularly.) To use a dialup connection, you’ll need to add an external Mountain Lion–compatible USB modem, which also allows you to send and receive faxes using Mountain Lion.

Web space: If you want your ISP to host your website, this is a no-brainer: The more space you get, the better. A minimum of 2GB is acceptable, but most ISPs provide 5GB or more these days. Also, beware of ISPs that charge you for your website if it receives a large amount of traffic: It can be expensive to host a popular website if you join one of these ISPs.

Domain name service: Finally, the better class of ISP also offers a domain name service, which allows you to register something like yournamehere .com. For the most professional appearance, you can usually pay a yearly fee, and the ISP takes care of all the details in setting up your own .com or .org domain name.

Locating an ISP is easy in the modern, Internet-savvy world. In the order that you should try them, here are the tricks that I recommend for finding your local ISPs:

Check with your cable or telephone companies. If you’re already subscribing to cable service in your area, you’re likely to be a candidate for cable Internet access. Also, many local phone companies offer DSL access, but that access area is often limited to certain locations. Call the customer service numbers for these companies and check out what they offer — and don’t forget that a broadband cable or DSL connection is always more expensive than an old-fashioned, dialup connection. (“Maude, did you see the Internet bill this month?”)

Get recommendations from friends and neighbors. Folks love to give free advice. Ask them how much they’re paying, how reliable the connection has been, and how well they rate the ISP’s technical support.

Check your phone directory. Check the phone book for Internet service.

Investigate ISP websites. If you have Internet access at work, a friend’s house, or your local public library, you can surf to My ISPFinder (www.myispfinder.org ), where you can search for ISPs within your ZIP code.

Investigating Various Types of Connections

Consider the types of connections that are available under Mountain Lion to link your Mac to an ISP (see the previous section for more about ISPs). You can choose among five pathways to digital freedom:

A dialup connection: Old-fashioned, yes. Slow as an arthritic burro, indeed. However, an analog (or telephone modem) connection is still a very viable method for reaching the Internet for most computer owners. It’s the cheapest method available, and all you need for this type of connection is a standard telephone jack and a modem. Apple used to include a modem with every computer, but no longer. These days, you’ll have to buy an external USB modem to make the dial-up connection. (Any OS X Mountain Lion–compatible USB modem will work fine.)

A broadband connection: Be it through DSL (which uses a typical telephone line) or cable (which uses your cable TV wiring), broadband Internet access is many times faster than a dial-up connection. Plus, both these technologies are always on, meaning that your computer is automatically connected to the Internet when you turn it on and that connection stays active. With DSL or cable, no squeaky screeching whine accompanies your modem while it makes a connection each time you want to check your movie listings website. Both DSL and cable require a special piece of hardware (commonly called a modem, but it really isn’t); this box is usually thrown in as part of your ISP charge. Broadband connections usually require a professional installation, too.

A cellular connection: If you own a cellphone, you may already be using the Internet on your phone over a 3G or 4G connection. That same type of Internet connection is available for your desktop or laptop Mac from the major cellular providers. Sure, it’s pricey compared to a typical broadband connection, but if you’re a road warrior with a laptop — or if, for some reason, you can’t get cable or DSL service in your area — then cellular Internet may be the option for you.

A satellite connection: If you’re really out there — miles and miles away from any cable or DSL phone service, and even out of the range of a 3G/4G cellular network — you can still get high-speed Internet access. The price for a satellite connection is usually much steeper than a standard DSL or cable connection, but it’s available anywhere you can plant your antenna dish with a clear view of the sky. Plus, a satellite connection is actually faster than other types of broadband access. Older satellite technologies required you to also use a dialup connection — and the antenna could only receive, not send — but most ISPs that can handle satellite connections now offer satellite systems that both send and receive through the dish.

A network connection: The last type of connection concerns those Macs that are part of a local area network (LAN) either at the office or in your home. If your Mac is connected to a LAN that already has Internet access, you don’t need an ISP at all, and no other hardware is required: Simply contact your network administrator, buy that important person a steak dinner, and ask to be connected to the Internet. On the other hand, if your network currently has no Internet access, you’re back to Square One: You’ll need one of the previous four types of connections.

After you connect one of your computers on your network to the Internet, you can use an Internet sharing device to allow all the computers to share that Internet connection. Book VI, Chapter 4 goes into all the details on sharing an Internet connection on a network.

Setting Up Your Internet Connection

Okay, so you sign up for Internet access, and your ISP sends you a sheet of paper covered with indecipherable stuff that looks like Egyptian hieroglyphics. Don’t worry; those are the settings that you need to connect to your ISP. After you get them in OS X, you should be surfing the web like an old pro.

Before you jump into this configuration, make sure that you’ve configured the Internet Accounts settings within System Preferences, as I discuss in Book II, Chapter 3. That way, you’ll already have entered your default e-mail and web settings. You’ll also need to be logged in using an Administrator account.

Using an external modem

Follow these steps to set up your Internet connection if you’re using an external USB modem:

1. Click the System Preferences icon on the Dock and choose Network.

2. Select External modem from the list at the left side of the pane.

3. Enter the settings for the type of connection that your ISP provides:

• If your ISP tells you to use PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol): Click the Configure IPv4 pop-up menu and choose Using PPP. If your ISP provided you with DNS Server or Search Domain addresses, type them now in the corresponding boxes.

• If you’re using AOL: Click the Configure IPv4 pop-up menu and choose AOL Dialup. If AOL provided you with DNS Server or Search Domain addresses, click in the corresponding box and type them now.

• If you’re using a manual connection: Click the Configure IPv4 pop-up menu and choose Manually. Then click in the IP Address, DNS Servers, and Search Domains fields and enter the respective settings provided by your ISP.

4. If you need to enter PPP settings, click the Advanced button.

5. In their respective fields, enter the account name, password, telephone number, and (optionally) the service provider name and an alternative telephone number provided by your ISP.

I always like OS X to connect automatically when I’m using a modem. I hate excess cursor movements as much as the next technowizard. To automate your dial-up connection (allowing Mountain Lion to call your ISP whenever your system needs the Internet), select the Connect Automatically When Needed check box.

6. Press +Q to exit System Preferences and save your changes.

Your external USB modem must use a 64-bit driver to work with Mountain Lion, so make sure the modem you buy is listed as specifically supporting OS X Mountain Lion (10.8).

Using broadband or network hardware

Follow these steps to set up your Internet connection if you’re using a network, cable modem, or DSL connection:

1. Click the System Preferences icon on the Dock and choose Network.

2. Select Ethernet from the list on the left of the pane to display the settings that you see in Figure 1-1.

3. Enter the settings for the type of connection that your ISP provides:

• If your ISP tells you to use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP): Choose Using DHCP from the Configure IPv4 pop-up menu, and your ISP can automatically set up virtually all the TCP/IP settings for you! (No wonder DHCP is so popular these days.)

• If you won’t be using DHCP: Choose Manually from the Configure IPv4 pop-up menu. Then enter the settings provided by your ISP in the IP Address, Subnet Mask, Router, and DNS Servers fields.

4. If your ISP uses PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet), click the Configure IPv4 pop-up menu and choose Create PPPoE Service.

a. Type an identifying name for the PPPoE service.

b. Click Done.

c. Enter the password for your PPPoE connection.

5. Press +Q to exit System Preferences and save your changes.

Mountain Lion can get down-and-dirty in the configuration trenches as well! To launch an assistant to help with the configuration process, click the Assist Me button and then click Assistant.