Unless you are connecting to Concentric Network's servers from a Local Area Network at work, chances are that you are using a modem to make a dial-in connection to the Internet. This section of the New Subscriber Handbook reviews what modems are and how to configure them.
What is a Modem? Steps to Configuring Your Modem Give Me Just the Settings Troubleshooting
A modem is a device your computer uses to send and receive electronic data through your phone line. It connects your computer to your phone line, giving you access to the internet and the World Wide Web. The modem may live inside your computer (internal modem) on a "modem card," or may be connected by serial cable outside your computer (external modem). Your telephone line plugs into the modem on one end, and into a telephone wall (RJ-11) jack on the other.
Your modem also plugs into one of your computer’s communications ports such as "COM1" or "COM2" (often labeled "serial 1" or "serial 2"). If your computer has only one serial port, it most likely is COM1; if it has two, one will be COM1 and one will be COM2. Computers using a serial mouse often will plug it into the "COM1" port (unless the computer is equipped with a special mouse port), leaving only the COM2 port for connecting a modem.
When you set up your computer, you must tell the operating system which "COM port" you are using for your telephone line, the type and speed of modem you are using, and other information about using the communications port (many software products can now do this for you).
Although the Windows 3.x operating system does not include any built-in capability for automatically detecting your brand of modem, the CNC Internet Access Kit's installation program comes equipped with a vast list of modem configurations and is usually capable of automatically setting one up for you.
You should need the following steps for configuring your modem ONLY if Concentric's installer had difficulty automatically detecting and configuring your modem for you.
CNC’s Local Access Numbers operate at a maximum standard baud rate of 28,800, which, with data compression set, can exceed throughput speeds of 56,000, with occasional burst speeds up to 115,200 baud. Standard Modem Settings Are:
Baud Rate: 14,400 or higher
RTS/CTS Hardware Flow Control: Enabled (superior to XON/XOFF (software) control).
Data bits: 8
Stop bits: 1
Parity: N
Additional modem considerations:
[Back to the Handbook Home Page / Introduction to the Web / Intro to Concentric Network ]
[Connecting to Concentric Network / Troubleshooting / Talk to Us / Launch Me to the Network!]
(C) 1996 Concentric Network Corporation / www@concentric.net