DSL Internet FAQs

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is high-speed internet and is delivered simultaneously with landline telephone service. This is possible because DSL uses a higher frequency. These frequency bands are subsequently separated by filtering. Therefore, you can be talking on your telephone and surfing the internet at the same time.

First, try hitting the refresh icon on your screen. This is typically to the right of your web address browser bar.

If your web page still does not display, try properly rebooting your entire system (see #4).

First, reboot your system properly (see #4).

Second, call our 24/7 toll-free technical support line at 1-877-465-1721.

Third, call our office.

We can send a technician to check our equipment. Charges may apply, if the connection failure is due to something beyond equipment failure.

1. Shut down your computer(s) by clicking on Start and Shutdown.
2. Turn the power off to your wireless router (if applicable) or you can unplug the power cord from the electrical outlet.
3. Locate your DSL Modem box and unplug the power cord from the electrical outlet.
4. Wait 30 seconds before moving on to the next step.
5. Plug in the power cord that connects to the DSL Modem box.
6. Wait 30 seconds.
7. Restore power to the wireless router (if applicable) or plug in the power cord to the router.
8. Wait 30 seconds.
9. Restart the computer(s).

Kbps and Mbps are measures of speed and measure how fast data is sent to or received from the internet.

• Kbps: Kilobits per second (1,000 bits per second)
• Mbps: Megabits per second (1,000 bits per second)

Any data that is sent or received in a digital format, such as email or web pages, has a specific size measured in bits. The larger the piece of data, the more bits it comprises. Every connection on the Internet is capable of moving a specified amount of data in a specified timeframe. For example, a 768 Kbps is a DSL connection capable of transmitting 768,000 megabits per second.

Bandwidth is the rate of data transfer measured in bits per second (bps). To test your download speed, visit www.speedtest.net.

You may see a speed of 100 Mbps show up on your task bar (lower left corner of your computer screen). Typically 100 Mbps is what you will see, but this speed can vary from 10 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, depending on your computer and the equipment it is connected to.

Do not confuse this speed with your Internet Providers speed. This speed only signifies the capability of your Network Interface Card (NIC/Ethernet Card) in your machine and the next piece of equipment it is connected to, such as the DSL modem or wireless router.

Internet traffic can be a factor in the speed of your download. Internet traffic is the amount of people currently surfing the internet and when the traffic is high it could slow your download speeds.

Types of downloads can also be a factor. Peer-to-peer sharing and update programs are some of the bandwidth hogs that can be running in the background unaware to us as we browse, such as downloading from I-Tunes or YouTube.

Website graphics and specifications can also determine how fast you can download that particular site.

Popular sites with heavy internet traffic can also determine slower download speeds for that particular site.

Yes! With all the access on the internet today, we highly recommend you have a good, quality firewall/virus program installed on each of your computers/devices. There are many good programs out there that offer different levels of protection based on your needs. We offer SecureIT Plus for $5.95/month per computer. For more information, call our office at 618-736-2211.

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a number that is assigned to each computer or other device’s network interface which are active on a network supporting the IP, in order to distinguish each network interface from every other network interface anywhere on the network.

1. Click Start, then click Control Panel, then click Network or Network Connections, then click Local Area Connection, then click Properties. (For Windows 2000/XP, click Start, then click Settings, then click Network & Dial-Up Connections, then click Local Area Connection, then click Properties.)
2. Double-Click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
3. Click Use the following IP Address.
   1. Enter your assigned IP Address.
   2. Enter your assigned Subnet Mask.
   3. Enter your assigned Default Gateway.
4. Click Use the following DNS Server Address.
   1. Enter your assigned DNS Server Address.
   2. **Your DSL installer should have left a copy of these four addresses with you during your initial DSL installation. If you no longer have this information, please call our office at 618-736-2211 to obtain your assigned addresses.**
5. After entering the correct address, Click OK.

Example for a Linksys Router:

1. To login into your wireless router, open your internet browser.
2. In the Web Address field, type 192.168.1.1 to get to the login screen.
3. Leave the Username field blank and type the following password: admin
4. Click OK.
5. On the main page, click the drop-down menu and select Static. This is the location you would type in your IP Address, SubNet Mask, Gateway, and DNS addresses.
6. Scroll to the bottom and click Save.

With a wireless router network, your information is traveling through the airwaves, not physical wires, so anyone within range can “listen in” on your network. There are three essential security measures you should take to secure your wireless network.

• Change the factory-set default password. You will be asked for a password when you want to chage their settings. (The Linksys by Cisco default password is admin). Hackers know these defaults and will try them to access your wireless device and change your network settings. To thwart any unauthorized changes, change the password so it will be hard to guess.
• Change the factory-set default SSID (Service Set Identifier or the name of your wireless network). Linksys by Cisco default SSID is linksys. Change your network’s SSID to something unique, and make sure it doesn’t refer to the networking products you use. As an added precaution, be sure to change the SSID on a regular basis, so any hacker who may have figured out your network’s SSID in the past will have to figure out the SSID again and again. This will deter future intrusion attempts.
• Enable WPA Encryption which allows protection for data that is transmitted over a wireless network. Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Areas (WPA) offer different levels of security for wireless communication. WPA is considered to be more secure than WEP, because it uses dynamic kep encryption. To protect the information as it passes over the airwaves, you should enable the highest level of encryption that is supported by your network equipment.

When accessing the router’s web-based setup page, a log-in screen will appear asking for the router password. The router default password is “admin“.

If you are unable to log in to your router, or have lost, or forgotten your router’s password you will need to reset your router.

To restore the router configuration to factory defaults, hold the reset button on the unit for 30 seconds. Once your router is hard reset, you will need to login and reconfigure it again.

To reconfigure your Linksys router see #4.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a Wi-Fi standard that was designed to improve the security features of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy).

1. First, access the router’s web-based setup page. To login into your wireless router, open your internet browser. In the web address field, type in 192.168.1.1 to get to the login screen. Leave the username field blank and type in your password and Click OK.
2. When the router’s web-based, setup page appears, click Wireless and select Wireless Security.
3. Select WPA Personal under the Security Mode drop-down menu.
4. Select TKIP on WPA Algorithms.
5. Enter your desired WPA Key on the WPA Shared Key field such as “MySecretKey.” This will serve as your network key whenever you connect to your wireless network.
6. Click Save Settings.

1. Access the router’s web-based setup page. To login into your wireless router, open your internet browser. In the web address field, type 192.168.1.1 to get to the login screen.
2. Leave the Username field blank, enter your password, and Click OK.
3. When the router’s web-based setup page opens, click Wireless.
4. Click Basic Wireless Settings.
5. Select the Manual option.
6. Look for SSID and change it to your desired name for the wireless network.
7. Click Save Settings.