Installing ADSL for TurboNet (Static IP Address)
Windows Vista

These instructions assume that the computer has an installed, properly functioning network card.  If it does not, one can be purchased at Cactus Computer or elsewhere.  If you are using more than one computer, you may also need a switch, cables, and additional IP addresses.

In Windows Vista, go to the control panel (click the Start button, then the Control Panel.  In the upper left corner, click Classic View if there are fewer than about 20 icons showing.)  Double-click on the Network and Sharing Center  icon. 

On the left, click on Manage Network Connections to see the icons.  Double-click the Local Area Connection and pick Properties to get the screen at right.  Scroll down until you see the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) icon.  Highlight it and click the Properties button.  


Click Use the following IP address, and enter the numbers you were given.  If you do not have your unique numbers, phone (208) 883-5500 or email Monica@TurboNet.com.

In order to enter the DNS numbers, click Use the following DNS server addresses.  Then click OK.

Hint:  If this is a notebook computer, you might want to click the Alternate Configuration tab at the top and enter the numbers there.  It's a bit slower connecting at home, but you won't have to remove the numbers when you go somewhere else.

If you have been using this computer for dial-up Internet, it will also be necessary to tell it to quit dialing the modem to gain Internet access.  In the control panel under  Internet Options, click the Connections tab.  Under Dial-up Settings, click Never dial a connection or Dial whenever a network connection is not present.  

Common Problems

If all three lights on your ADSL modem are on, your circuit has probably (but not definitely) not been activated yet. If  you think the circuit should be active, unplug the ADSL modem's power and wait 30 seconds before plugging it back in.  This "return to sanity" will often cure otherwise perplexing problems.  Some reasons why the modem and data light aren't on, or aren't steady include:

  1. Verizon hasn't yet activated your circuit. Check your install date.  They sometimes take until midnight on that day to complete the job.
  2. You haven't installed filters on all of the phones connected to that phone number.  This includes telephones in other rooms, modems and answering machines.
  3. You have installed a filter on the phone cable that goes to the ADSL modem, or have run it through a surge suppressor.
  4. You have used a flat telephone cable instead of the twisted-pair cable which came with the ADSL modem.  You can purchase longer twisted-pair cables at Cactus Computer, but we haven't found any store in Pullman which carries them.  Sometimes a flat phone cable will give you all three lights on the modem, but it will slow down or stop your connection.

If your computer simply won't talk to the Internet, re-check the numbers above.  It's very easy to reverse them, or otherwise make a typographical error.  (This is the voice of experience talking.  Computers are totally unforgiving in this regard.)  Also check the phone cable between the ADSL modem and the wall.  It must be a twisted-pair cable like the one they sent, not a flat cable.  I've looked around the Palouse and the only place to buy a long twisted-pair phone cable seems to be Cactus Computer Co.

Advice from the Moscow Police Department:  Write down the serial number of your computer and the MAC address of its ethernet card and keep this info in a safe place.  It will help in recovery if the computer is ever stolen.