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Customer Support Information
Most Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ)
| What
is your Dialup Access Number? |
We
have national numbers available throughout
the US and Canada. Our dialup
number in Greenwood is 538-0038. If
you're travelling contact
us for help.
We can find you access numbers all over
the country! |
| What Software do I need to connect
to MetaNet? |
Most Windows operating
systems, including Windows 98, Windows
XP, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows
2003 and some versions of Windows
95 already include all the software
you need to get online with MetaNet.
This is also true of most MacIntosh
systems. Once you've subscribed to
our service, you can either call us
and we'll walk you through setup or
you can do it yourself - refer to
the
Setup Instructions
page.
Of course, your computer
also needs a working modem connected
properly to your phone line to get
online! For DSL, you will need either
a working ethernet (LAN) port or USB
port.
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| How do I change my Home Page
(start page)? |
In
Internet Explorer, click on Tools at
the top and then Internet Options. Near
the top you'll see a white box called
Address: in the Home Page section. Change
it to whatever start page you like (www.metanetis.com
is a good one!). Then click OK at the
bottom and it will open that page the
next time you launch your browser. |
| What if my computer keeps crashing
or my modem doesn't work? |
We'll
try and help you over the phone with
basic software issues that might prevent
Internet access, but if we determine
the problem is hardware related or related
to major software problems with your
Windows system (caused by corrupt or
missing files, viruses or hardware driver
conflicts) we may recommend taking your
PC to a computer repair center. |
| Why does my browser say "Page
cannot be displayed"? |
Your browser (usually
Internet Explorer) may show this message
for a number of reasons:
-
The
particular web site you are trying
to access is down or the site address
in the address bar at the top is
mispelled. Try going to another
site and to see if the problem happens
on all sites.
-
Your
connection to the Internet may have
dropped. Make sure you still see
the little green computers in the
system icons area at the lower right
of your screen near the time stamp.
-
Your
TCP/IP setup is damaged or misconfigured.
TCP/IP is the language used by your
computer to talk to the Internet.
Try this: go to a command window
(Start/Run/ then type "cmd"
in XP/2000 or "command"
in Win95/98/ME - click OK) and in
the black box type: ping 64.35.170.17
{Enter}. If you get 4 replies, your
computer's TCP/IP is probably OK.
If you get request timeouts, destination
unreachable, or other responses,
you may need to reinstall the TCP/IP
setup from your Windows CD (unless
you have a personal firewall) -
consult with us or a computer repair
center for help with this.
- If all of the above
works and you still can't browse the
Internet, you may have a problem with
your browser, it's security settings,
or an overly secure personal firewall.
If you have a personal firewall try
disabling it or contact support for
more help. There are MANY causes of
this particular problem.
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| Why does my 56K modem only connect
at 26K (or 33K or...) ? |
This is a common question
because many things can cause this.
First off, it is important to remember
that while 56K is the theoretical
limit a modem can connect on a normal
analog phone line, NO modem ever connects
at 56K. About the best a modem could
ever achieve is 53K and a modem that
connects at 40K or better in most
cases is doing pretty well. Causes
of slower connection speeds include:
-
Unconditioned
or poor quality phone lines. The
copper phone lines running from
your phone jack to our digital modem
banks often run through many phone
switching stations and paths of
potentially old wires. Any glitches
or static caused by these paths,
even if you can't hear it on a voice
phone call, can be enough to reduce
the speed at which your modem can
communicate with us. While it's
a good idea to have your local phone
company check the condition of these
lines (if all else fails), they
will not guarantee connections clean
enough to support speeds higher
than 28K (and in some cases lower).
- Line intereference
caused by a phone line splitter or
other device like a fax machine or
portable phone in your home. Try disconnecting
these other devices or plug your computer
into another phone jack in the home
to help diagnose the cause.
- An out-of-date or
faulty modem driver. Your modem needs
a driver, a piece of software that
tells it how to talk to Windows, in
order to function. Often these drivers
have bugs or get updated to fix problems.
Check with your modem manufacture
for an updated driver which you can
install on your computer. The manufacturer's
website often has these or you can
search for the driver at www.google.com
or a search page.
- A modem problem or
incompatibility. Some modems just
don't work well with other modems
- often replacing the modem will give
you a much better connection speed.
If you don't know how to do this,
have our computer repair center do
it for you. Most modems are inexpensive
and our computer repair center can
test it for you before you bring it
home.
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