Installing ADSL for TurboNet
Windows 2000 or XP

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 XP, go to the control panel (click the Start button, then the Control Panel.  In the upper left corner, click Classic View.)  Double-click on the Network & dialup  icon.  Double-click the Local Area Connection and pick Properties to get the screen at right.  Scroll down until you see the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) icon.  Highlight it and click the Properties button.  

In Windows 2000, go to the control panel (click the Start button, then Settings, then Control Panel).  Double-click on the Network & dialup  icon.  Double-click the Local Area Connection and pick Properties to get the screen at right.  Scroll down until you see the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) 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 or 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, GTE has probably (but not definitely) activated your circuit. If  you think the circuit should be active, unplug the ADSL modem's power and wait 15 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 you have a network instead of a single computer hooked up to the ADSL "modem", the cable which GTE sends should be plugged into the uplink port of the hub.  If your hub does not have an uplink port, stop by Cactus Computer and get a different cable.  To find out which one you need, check the model number on the bottom of the ADSL modem.  If it ends in "A12" you need a straight-through cable for a hub.  If it ends in "A14" you need a reversing or crossover cable for a hub. With most hubs, you may use either the uplink port or the first port, but not both.

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.

If you use Netscape and it keeps trying to dial and changes your settings in the Control Panel, uninstall Netscape using Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.  Then use Internet Explorer to download the newest version of Netscape and install it.  The problem results from having had the "dial-up" version of Netscape.

If your email program refuses to send email (or refuses to send outside of your old domain) you'll need to change your SMTP server name.  In Outlook Express, go to the Tools menu and click Accounts.  Click the Mail tab.  Highlight the account name and click the Properties button.  Click the Servers tab.  Replace the SMTP server with mail.turbonet.com  Troubleshooting tips for several email programs can be found at

     http://www.turbonet.com/Internet_Service/Support/E-Mail/e-mail.htm

If you're setting up a TurboNet email address, both the POP3 and SMTP addresses should be mail.turbonet.com - instructions are at the above URL.

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.