Section 9.5. Details on Dial-Up: All Versions | Windows Vista: The Missing Manual

9.5. Details on Dial-Up: All Versions

If you enjoy a full-time Internet connection like a cable modem, DSL, or some wireless variation thereof, you're constantly online. Skip to the next chapter.

If you have a dial-up modem, however, connecting and disconnecting are manual operations.

9.5.1. Manual Connections

In general, the quickest way to tell your PC to dial into the Net is to choose Start Connect To. The dialog box shown in Figure 9-1 (top) appears; double-click the connections row in the dialog box.

UP TO SPEED
IP Addresses and You

Every computer connected to the Internet, even temporarily, has its own exclusive IP address (IP stands for Internet Protocol). When you set up your own Internet account, as described on these pages, you're asked to type in this string of numbers. As you'll see, an IP address always consists of four numbers separated by periods.

Some PCs with high-speed Internet connections (cable modem, DSL) have a permanent, unchanging address called a fixed or static IP address. Other computers get assigned a new address each time they connect (a dynamic IP address). That's always the case, for example, when you connect via a dial-up modem. (If you can't figure out whether your machine has a static or fixed address, ask your Internet service provider.)

If nothing else, dynamic addresses are more convenient in some ways, since you don't have to type numbers into the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box shown in Figure 9-4.

The Connect To Dial-up dialog box appears (Figure 9-3, bottom). Just press Enter, or click Dial, to go online.

Tip: You can also create a desktop shortcut for your connection. Right-drag its icon out of the window shown in Figure 9-6 (top) and onto the desktop. When you release the mouse button, choose Create Shortcut(s) Here from the shortcut menu. Now just double-click the shortcut whenever you feel the urge to surf. (You can even drag the resulting icon onto your Quick Launch toolbar (page 101).

9.5.2. Automatic Dialing

It's important to understand that when your PC dials, it simply opens up a connection to the Internet. But aside from tying up the phone line, your PC doesn't actually do anything until you launch an Internet program, such as an email program or a Web browser. By itself, making your PC dial the Internet is no more useful than dialing a phone number and then not saying anything.

Therefore, using the Internet is generally a two-step procedure: First, open the connection; second, open a program.

Fortunately, Windows offers a method of combining these two steps. You can make the dialing/connecting process begin automatically whenever you launch an Internet program.

To turn on this option, just open your Web browser and try to Web surf. When the PC discovers that it's not, in fact, online, it displays the Dial-up Connection dialog box at top in Figure 9-6. Turn on the "Connect automatically" checkbox, and then click Connect.

From now on, whenever you use a feature that requires an Internet connection, your PC dials automatically. (Examples: specifying a Web address in a window's Address bar, clicking the Send and Receive button in your email program, clicking a link in the Windows Help system, and so on.)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION
Laptop's Lament: Away from the Cable Modem

When I'm home, I connect my laptop to my cable modem. But when I'm on the road, of course, I have to use my dial-up ISP. Is there any way to automate the switching between these two connection methods ?

If there weren't, do you think your question would have even appeared in this chapter?

The feature you're looking for is in the Control Panel. In Classic view, double-click Internet Options, click the Connections tab, and then turn on "Dial whenever a network connection is not present."

From now on, your laptop will use its dial-up modem only when it realizes that it isn't connected to your cable modem.

9.5.3. Disconnecting

Unless you intervene, a dial-up connection never hangs up (unless your ISP hangs up for it). It will continue to tie up your phone line until the other family members hunt it down, hours later, furious and brandishing wire cutters.

Therefore, it's worth taking a moment to configure your system so it won't stay online forever.

Disconnect manually . When you're finished using the Internet, the quickest way to end the phone call is by right-clicking the little connection icon on your taskbar. Now choose Disconnect from the shortcut menu (Figure 9-5, bottom).
Disconnect automatically . You can also set up your PC to hang up the phone automatically several minutes after your last activity online.

To find the necessary controls, right-click your connection icon. (A quick way to get to it: Choose Start Connect To.) From the shortcut menu, choose Properties. Authenticate yourself (page 191).

In the resulting dialog box, click the Options tab. Near the middle of the box, you'll see a drop-down list called "Idle time before hanging up." You can set it to 1 minute, 10 minutes, 24 hours, or whatever.

9.5.4. Advanced Modem Settings

Because so many people consider the Internet such an important PC feature, Windows Vista lets you fine-tune its dialing, modem, and Internet settings to within an inch of their lives. You should consider the rest of this chapter optionalor power-userreading.

To adjust the settings for your modem's dialing patterns, choose Start Control Panel. In Classic view, double-click Phone and Modem Options. (See Chapter 8 for more on the Control Panel window.)

The very first time you open this box, you're asked to supply your local area code. When you click OK, you wind up in the dialog box shown in Figure 9-7. It has three major tabs, each serving important functions.

Figure 9-7. This dialog box has two priorities: to establish rules for dialing out, and to define as many different sets of rules for dialing as you need. If you're setting up dialing properties for a desktop computer, you won't need to change these settings after the first successful call .

Here, for example, you can set up dialing rules that automatically dial a 1 or a 9 for an outside line, depending on where you are in your travels . You can even plug in calling-card numbers so that your Internet calls are billed to your boss.

For a complete description of these fairly obscure controls, visit this book's "Missing CD" page at www.missingmanuals.com and download the free bonus PDF document, "Dialing Rules.pdf."

9.5.5. Modems Tab

The second tab in the Phone and Modem Options program, called Modems, is simply a list of the modems currently connected to your PC. (Most people not in Oprah's tax bracket see only one modem listed here.)

Double-clicking a modem opens its Properties dialog box, which bursts with technical parameters for your modem. In general, you'll need to visit these dialog boxes only when troubleshooting, following the instructions of some telecommunications geek from your modem company. Two of them, however, are more generally useful:

Change the speaker volume . The modern modem may have revolutionized computer communications, but the squealing sounds it makes could wake the deador, worse , the spouse. To turn the speaker off so you no longer hear the shrieks every time you dial, click the Modem tab, and then drag the Speaker volume slider to Off.

Tip: The slider affects the speaker volume only while it's dialing and making a connection to another computer. After the connection is established, the speaker always goes silent, so you don't have to listen to all the squawking noises that indicate data transmission.
Wait for the dial tone before dialing . This checkbox (also on the Modem tab) is normally turned on. If you travel abroad with your laptop, however, you may experience trouble connecting if the foreign country's dial tone doesn't sound the same as it does back home. Turning off this checkbox often solves the problem.