Windows can quickly walk you through
setting up the connection from your modem to your ISP. In this section,
I show you how to set up the connection the first time, and how to
modify it later on if that should be necessary. The subsequent sections
tell you how to use the connection to connect to the Internet.
1. Creating a New Dial-Up Connection
To
set up a new connection to your dial-up Internet service, click Start,
Control Panel, View Network Status and Tasks (under Network and
Internet), and select Set Up a New Connection or Network. Select
Connect to the Internet and click Next. Click Dial-Up.
If
you already have an account with an Internet Service Provider (ISP),
you need to fill in the information provided by your ISP when prompted.
The
first field asks for the local access telephone number for your ISP.
Enter the local number, optionally preceded by any other codes needed
to dial the call. For instance, in the United States, if you enter an
area code, you must first enter a 1, then the area code, as shown in Figure 1. You can enter parentheses or dashes (-) between the parts of the number, if you want; the modem ignores them.
The next two fields ask for your ISP username and password, as shown in Figure 1.
If you select the Show Characters option, the Password field displays
the characters in your password instead of the black circles. This can
be useful if you need to verify that you are typing in the correct
password.
Caution
Be sure to use a local number. Your ISP will not help pay your phone bill if you choose a toll number by mistake! |
If
you want to have Windows remember the password for your ISP account so
you don’t need to type it in each time you connect to the Internet,
select the Remember This Password option.
The
last field asks for a connection name. Type in a name that will help
you identify what the connection is used for. The name of your ISP is
always good.
Tip
If
you will be traveling, you’ll probably accumulate several of these
dial-up connections, one for each location you visit, so it would be
helpful to add the location to the connection name, as in “Earthlink -
Chicago.” |
The
last option, Allow Other People to Use This Connection, is not enabled
by default. Select this option if you want the Internet account
information to be useable by anyone who uses the computer. Uncheck this
if you don’t want other users to connect to the Internet with your
dial-up account.
Click Connect. Windows 7 immediately dials your ISP. Check to be sure that the connection works before proceeding.
The
last step in setting up a dial-up Internet connection is to clean up
the new connection’s settings such the area code and call waiting
control. We’ll do that in the next section.
Note
If
you have several ISP accounts, ISP access numbers for different cities,
or both personal and business dial-up connections, you can add
additional connections by repeating the Connect to the Internet Wizard
process for each access telephone number or account. |
