INews Newsletter - Apr 07, 2000
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* * * I N e w s * * *
A publication of Internet Nebraska, composed and distributed by
* * * manager@inebraska.com * * *
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Volume 3, Number 5 April 7, 2000
Welcome to another issue of INews, Internet Nebraska's customer
newsletter. This monthly newsletter communicates service bulletins,
announcements and other useful information to our customers. Please let
us know what you think of it. Archives of INews are located at
http://www.inebraska.com/inews
In this issue: Where We Are
Summertime Dues
AOL: Get It Off Me!
Am I Clean?
We Could Use a Hand
Mr. Internet
*** POPs ***
In the interest of keeping our clients informed of goings on at Internet
Nebraska, we'd like to take a moment to update everyone on the status of our
various locations, or as we call it internally, our "POP Status."
Lincoln
-------
Users may experience short periods of busy signals on our 56k bank. New
lines were installed this week, however the equipment we received for
these new lines is faulty, so these lines have not been activated at this
time. New equipment is en route, and these lines should be activated
during the first part of next week.
Omaha
-----
We moved our equipment from one location to another last month. Although
the move was not without problems, everything is working correctly at the
present time.
Hastings
--------
Users may experience short periods of busy signals. New lines are on
order in this location and are expected to be installed shortly.
O'Neill
-------
After several long delays and many battles with US West, additional
capacity has again been installed in O'Neill. This should have alleviated
the busy signals that users had previously been experiencing. We
appreciate your patience while we struggled with US West to get this issue
resolved.
Grand Island
------------
With our recent acquisition of BTS, there are now two modem pools in Grand
Island. Although we are working to consolidate these pools, one of these
pools is currently busy while the other has available lines. If you
receive busy signals while attempting to dial the Grand Island pool at
(308) 398-0500, please switch to the other Grand Island number at
(308) 389-4638. (Yes, one is prefix 398, and the other is 389.)
Valentine
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Users may experience busy signals at peak times. More lines are currently
on order, however a due date for the installation of these lines is not
currently available.
North Platte
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New lines were installed in North Platte earlier this week. This has
lessened the number of busy signals North Platte customers receive, but
not eliminated the problem. New lines are already on order, although no
due date is currently available.
Beatrice
--------
Beatrice users may experience infrequent busy signals during periods of
extremely peak usage. These lines are being monitored closely, and lines
will be added as necessary.
Clay Center
-----------
New lines and additional backbone bandwidth are currently on order in Clay
Center.
Doniphan
--------
Doniphan users are currently experiencing busy signals at peak times. We
are working on getting this problem fixed, but in the mean time, we need
to have those users who can call Grand Island locally (such as users
actually in the town of Doniphan) calling the Grand Island modem pool at
(308) 389-4638.
Geneva
------
New lines and additional backbone bandwidth are currently on order in
Geneva.
Sioux City
----------
New lines are currently on order to cure the infrequent busy signals in
our Sioux City location. (Consider it consolation for our Stars knocking
your the Sioux City Musketeers out of the playoffs.) :)
York
----
New lines are on order in York. We continue to have many switch-overs
from another ISP in York, and this is causing us to grow faster than we
can get additional lines.
*** That Time of Year Again ***
Those of you students heading home for the summer who will not have local
dial-up access may want to suspend your accounts until you return in the
fall. We normally require 30 days notice for account deactivation, but we
realize how hectic life gets as finals week approaches, and we're a pretty
lenient lot anyway. Drop us a line requesting your account be "turned
off" for the summer, starting at your next renewal date. We'll see that
you don't incur charges for the months you can't enjoy the service. Past
due balances will not be suspended, however, so you might ask about your
balance when you request deactivation.
If you're going to be in one of our many dial-up locations, you'll be
able to log in the same as always. Phone numbers for these locations are
available at http://www.inetnebr.com/access.html
Write accounts@inetnebr.com, or give us a call at 434-8680 to request your
account be "summerized."
*** Schaefer's TV & Appliance Center - Advertisement ***
Schaefer's is an independently owned and
operated television, appliance, and home
theater retailer in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Born out of a small corner drugstore four
decades ago, Schaefer's TV & Appliance is a
22,000 square-foot "superstore" today,
specializing in commercial/professional-grade
appliances, whole house sound systems, home
theater and central vacuum systems. The
success of Schaefer's is key to repeat
business. If a customer happens to have a
problem with a product, Schaefer's will bend
over backwards to get it solved. Our service
center is the largest in the city, and has been
voted Lincoln's #1 servicer for 10 years in a
row! A knowledgeable sales staff, express
delivery, easy financing, and our customer
service representatives are just a few of the
ways in which we at Schaefer's distinguish
ourselves from the rest. Stop by our showroom
at 48th and R in Lincoln, or call us at
402-464-8888, and see for yourself.
-- http://www.schaeferstv.com/index2.htm
*** AOL ***
Windows users who have installed AOL 5.0 have reported difficulty
establishing connections to other providers. The following steps will
allow you to enjoy the higher-quality connectivity that is Internet
Nebraska without incinerating your box and buying a brand new one:
Control Panel --> Settings --> Device Manager --> Network
find the AOL Adapter, choose Properties
Un-click the Original Configuration box.
*** The Capital Soccer Association - Advertisement ***
Capital Soccer Association specializes in
teaching soccer. However we recognize that
soccer, or any other youth sport is merely
one tool in the development of a young
child. Teamwork and sportsmanship through
knowledge and proficiency of the game are
our main goals.
-- http://www.capitalsoccer.com/
*** Line Noise ***
How do I determine if there is noise on my telephone line?
Basic Listening: First you need to get rid of the dial tone so you can
really listen to the line. The easiest and most common across all areas
is a '1'. Is your dial tone gone? Now start listening very hard, because
you'll get the off hook recording in about 30 seconds. This is the first
step to checking if you have a good line for a modem or not. Is it quiet?
It should have no pops, bangs, crackles, creaking, or faint voices in the
background. All or any of these noises will cause you a problem on a high
speed modem. Causes for this type of noise are quite numerous. It can be
something as simple as a loose screw on a connector block somewhere
between you and the telephone company's central office. You could also
have a bad connection in your house somewhere, and not necessarily on the
line extension that's feeding your modem; any phone jack on the line could
be the culprit. Other people's conversations (called 'crosstalk') are not
so easy to pin down, and are usually more likely to be further 'into the
system' before the source becomes apparent. If you hear crosstalk, it's
usually best to contact the phone company.
The Phone itself: If you experience any of the above mentioned line
noise, you have to work on narrowing down the source. First, check the
phone that you heard the line noise on. After all, if it's just the phone
causing the noise, it won't affect the quality you get from the modem now.
Take another phone, plug it into the same socket and repeat the noise
check. If you've only got one phone, it may be worth heading to the local
electronics store to pick up an inexpensive phone.
Checking the Modem connector: Let's assume now that you are happy with
the perceived 'quietness' of the line. Now you move to the modem. How
can you check if you have a loose plug or failing socket associated with
the modem? Well, surprisingly, it's reasonably simple but you'll need to
be fairly quick in carrying out the next 'test'. What you are going to do
is to get the modem to go on line, but not actually dial out a full number
(similar to what you did just now but using the modem instead). To do this
you'll also need to have a phone plugged in, too, that's fairly near to
where your PC/Modem are, but don't pick it up at this point. You're about
to enter a command string to the modem, so you'll need to have the PC
powered up and talking to the modem with whatever piece of communication
software you use. Don't dial out a number. The following steps will
require AT commands to be sent to the modem. Now type this: 'ATX0D1;'
(without the quotes) and what you should hear (if you have the modem's
speaker on) is that the modem will pick up the line (dial tone heard),
then dial a 1 and finally drop back to command mode (OK prompt on your
screen) while holding the line open. The next bit is easy or more
difficult depending on the accessibility of your modems' leads. i.e.
internal or external modem. Now pick up the phone and listen. This time,
it's going to be your modem that may 'time out' before your phone line
does. Check the modem's lead, plugs and sockets by physically getting hold
of them and just gently pushing and pulling on the lead at both ends.
You'll find on these type of plugs that there is possibly a couple of
millimeters of moment even when the plug is fully seated in it's socket.
This is OK, so don't pull too hard. It won't take a lot of movement before
it becomes apparent in the phone you are listening to. No noise? If the
modem hasn't already timed out, drop the line send the 'ATH' command. If
you did hear some crackling from that, then you'll need to get that lead
replaced. It could be just the contacts of the plugs that have become a
little tarnished. In this case, it usually is a good idea to replace the
phone cord between your modem and the wall.
Test for Line level and Eye Quality Monitor.
Modems With a Rockwell Chipset: You've carried out all the above and you
are still getting poor speed connections with your modem. Now it's going
to matter exactly what type of modem you have, and whether it has a
Rockwell chipset in it or not. How do you find out? The easiest way (and
most standard) is to type either AT&V or ATI4. If you have a Rockwell
chipset, you'll see a complete configuration dump starting with 'Active
Profile' then 'Stored Profile 0' followed by 'Stored Profile 1' and
finally 'Telephone Number Stores'. The latter should return a couple of
rows of checksum digits (up to 4 rows) which are the capabilities of the
modem in 'hex.' If you have a Rockwell chipset, follow this procedure:
1. Dial into another modem [a BBS or other service provider] from a
terminal screen (not automatic with a script - manually)
2. Do whatever you need to get your Login prompt [if your service
does immediate PPP or immediate TELNET, use a different service].
3. Pause (do nothing) for at least 1 second.
4. Type '+++' (without the quote marks - just the plusses)
5. The modem should now have dropped back into command mode and you
should be looking at an 'OK' prompt *but* you will still be online.
6. NOW you can type AT%L%Q [Return].
The modem should return 2 figures on successive lines like 20 8 or
something. These are the Line Level (%L) in -dbm and the Eye Quality
Monitor (%Q) index. In the example above, that would be -20dbm
(reasonable) and 8 (also reasonable). Higher figures mean worse
connections. Anything higher than about -24 with the first, and you'll be
seeing bad connections or possibly none at all. Higher than 15 on the
second, and you've got real line problems on your circuit that your Telco
should be able to sort out.
When you've finished, you might like to go back online with ATO (the
letter 'O' not zero) and then log off normally. You may find you get
logged off anyway after you've got the response to %L%Q. If you do get
bad figures from these tests, you'll need to contact your telephone to try
and get your line improved. Explain to them that you are using a modem on
your line, you are getting poor 'cct quality' figures from your modem, and
that the line level is low. You are entitled to have this problem
corrected. Make sure that you say there is nothing wrong with your normal
voice communications (if that is the case), otherwise they will just do a
normal line check.
*** User Support Specialist ***
Interested in an exciting, fast-paced position in a rapidly growing
Internet company? Internet Nebraska is looking for you. We provide a fun,
friendly, challenging work environment with benefits. We have openings in
the following position:
Support specialists provide first-level customer support via telephone and
e-mail. Verbal and written communication skills are a must for this
position. Experience with Windows and Macintosh computers is required, and
experience with UNIX, basic networking, and modem technology is preferred.
Full and part-time positions available, with flexible scheduling of days,
evenings and weekends.
Please e-mail resumes to sweaver@inebraska.com, fax resumes to (402)
436-2660, or send via US Mail to Steve Weaver, 1719 N Cotner, Ste B,
Lincoln, NE 68505.
*** Mr. Internet ***
Q: We received and email from a seven year old girl stating that if we
sent her letter on to several email addresses they would receive five
cents for each forward. The letter did not have the wording of a five
year old and ended with " if you do not send this on, well what comes
around goes around". The subject was "Cancer". Is this a real email and
can they keep track of forwards and give moneys to organizations based on
them?
A: No. It is junk mail with no higher purpose than "hot stock tips" or
"hot babes" e-mail. In fact, it is worse because _nothing_ will happen if
you act; with the others, at least, you might get a bogus stock tip or
access to porn that you probably don't want. The cancer mail you got
preys on your sympathy for those who are excruciatingly unfortunate, and
it doesn't get much lower than that. If you want to donate to the
American Cancer Society, IN will be happy to help you find a bona fide
collector. We suggest you ignore all jokes, prayers, easy money offers
and anything else that hasn't been sent to you by someone you know.
Mr. Internet is a regular feature of the INews, and he welcomes questions of
any kind. Just mail them to mrinternet@inebraska.com, and he'll answer one
or two each issue. Those he doesn't use will not necessarily be answered,
and you should still use 'manager' and 'accounts' for regular business.
*** Advertise on Our Home Pages ***
What better way to advertise your business than on a Web page that is seen
tens of thousands of time every month? None, if you're paying as little
as we charge for it!
We are now offering banner advertising that rotates on all our pages, and
which is priced based on the number of impressions (viewings) per month.
Your banner can reach thousands of Nebraska residents, and this is a
unique way to advertise your Nebraska business to residents in the area.
Prices for banner advertisement can be found at:
http://www.inebraska.com/ad.html
We will also be selling links from our main page. Please contact
manager@inebraska.com, or give us a give us a call at our office,
402-434-8680, and ask how you can reserve banner spots on some of the
hottest URL's in the state. The advertisers in this issue did, and we
recommend them highly.