802.11a

Windows 95, 98, and ME

Unfortunately, Windows 9x (which is built on an entirely different operating system 'chassis' than Windows 2000 and XP) does not make its network configuration data quite as easy to find, because it doesn't display it all in one tidy window. Here's how to show it:

Click the Start button. Scroll up to the Settings item and across to Control Panel. From the list of Control Panel applets that appears, double click on Network. The Network applet displays a list of both hardware adapters and protocols, which can be confusing. What you need to find is the TCP/IP protocol for your network adapter. Look for something that looks like this:

TCP/IP -> DazzleCom 100-Base T Network Card

Highlight the appropriate line and click the Properties button. The TCP/IP Properties window for that adapter will appear. It's a tabbed window with seven different tabs, and the information you want is present on three of those tabs: The IP Address tab, the Gateway tab, and the DNS Configuration tab.

Look at the IP Address tab first. If the Obtain an IP Address Automatically option is selected, you know your Internet connection is configured for dynamic address configuration using your ISP's remote DHCP server. If this is the case, you don't need to look at the other two tabs.

However, if Specify an IP Address is selected, your configuration information is static, and you must copy information from (or take screen shots of ) all three tabs. Figure C.2 shows the three tabs side by side.

Figure C.2: Windows 98's TCP/IP Configuration Tabs.

That's all there is to it. Fortunately, static configuration is now quite rare for home office broadband Internet connections, and you will almost certainly have to do nothing more than select 'Obtain Address Information Automatically' in the proper place in your router appliance or wireless residential gateway. This is explained in Chapter 9.