Connect to the Internet

DSL at Happy Trails

There are now two dial-up / DSL-broadband work stations in the library for residents and visitors to use.

Kiva Networks provides DSL service at Happy Trails. Technical Support: Call 4 Pair Networks at 602-235-0591 for all installation requests, customer care and customer service issues.

You can login to your Kiva account at the 4Pair website.

Qwest -- 1-800-247-7285 -- also provides DSL service at Happy Trails. This is the way to go if you can also get Qwest where you go during the "off season".

You don't need a "land-line" phone account to get DSL at HT as we own the phone lines out to each lot. However, the Quest association with Happy Trails is a complex situation. I'd check with the HTCA Office before trying to deal with any phone line problems. The Qwest telephone repair number is 1-800-573-1311.
Here's a recent notice from HTCA:

NOTICE! If you are a Qwest customer....please be aware that as of November 2008, Qwest will charge you for telephone repair for the telephone line going to your lot. Please call Qwest 1-800-573-1311 if you have any questions.

Cox Internet at Happy Trails

David Jarovik is the direct customer contact for Happy Trails. Call him to learn more or to sign up (I've always needed to leave a message, but he calls back in a few hours). He also handles seasonal changes for you, particularly when you want to reactivate your service.
[602-694-1813] [  ] [http://cox.net/]

The Cox Communications repair number is 623-594-1143.

WiFi Hotspots

All public Internet access points — Wifi hotspots (not just free ones), Ethernet connections at hotels, public computers and computers at libraries or hotel "business centers" — pose secutity threats. See my WiFi class notes for more information. You'll find a good answer there for serious road warriors too.

Northwest Regional Library -- Surprise Branch

16089 N. Bullard Ave. (South of Bell Road)
Surprise, AZ 85374
623-544-6371

There is no charge to use the computers there. Present a driver's license (any state) and something that shows your name and address in Surprise, e.g., utility bill or a piece of forwarded mail (the envelope). 9-9 Mon.-Thur.; 9-5 Fri.-Sat.; 1-5 Sun.

OpenDNS — fast, safe, helpful.

Domain Name Service (DNS) is just the "Phone Book of the Internet": Before your computer can go get a website, it must look up the site's *numerical* Internet Address. Then it can place your call, so to speak. :-)

I've switched to OpenDNS: Your DNS server is a critical your Internet security. The DNS server that your ISP provides is usually just an afterthought. It is seldom up to date, and often not secure. The OpenDNS.com service is run as a business, not a burden, and the operators are passionate about what they do. OpenDNS also speeds up website acquisition, and pro-actively improves security by blocking phishing and other malicious sites. Real people there examine suspected phishing sites to determine if they are legitimate or scams. [instructions] [more] [video]

Get OpenDNS

"OpenDNS is a new (free) DNS service that provides blazing speed. Normally your ISP provides the DNS for you. The DNS your ISP provides is almost certainly not as agile." [instructions] [video] [PC World article] [more]

Test and improve your connection speed

Speakeasy Speed Test

Connection speeds vary a lot from moment to moment, and hour to hour. Repeat your tests several times, and at different times of the day, to get the real picture. It's essential to record your test results or you'll get hopelessly confused. Here's an easy way to create a log file for recording your results:

Although it is a no-frills text editor, Notepad does offer a handy logging feature. If you need to record notes, telephone conversations, or projects by time and date, Notepad can generate this information for you. To log the date and time, position the cursor in the document where you want the information to appear and press F5. You can have Notepad insert the time and date automatically every time you open the file by positioning your cursor at the beginning of the first line of the file and typing .LOG. Be sure to include the period and use all uppercase letters. Each time you open the document with this entry on the first line, Notepad automatically inserts the time and date at the end of the document.

From PC Today

Speedtest.net, Speakeasy, CNet, Broadband Reports and Numion will test your connection speed, but improving connection speed is a bit tricky.
TweakMASTER is the best way for mere mortals to do it. It's not hard to use, but it requires patience, persistence, and maybe paper and pencil to succeed. :-) And you need to go through the process again if your connection type changes, say from dial-up to DSL.

Picking a dial-up ISP

There are thousands of ISPs to choose from. You could even become an ISP yourself. :-) Most dial-up ISPs just retail services from one of the wholesale ISPs. Juno, Earthlink, AOL and MSN are still independent ISPs. Some of their services, for example security and spam filtering are worthwhile too.

Decide what you want as your permanent email address before you pick an ISP. Pick a strategy that fits your situation. Then pick your ISP.
I prefer an ISP that does not force you to use their own proprietary software, including Microsoft's Internet Explorer. I consider it essential to be able to use an alternative browser like Firefox.
Mike Diamond and I have had good service from A1above.com, which morphed into POPDial.com a while back. They have plans as low as $6.95 per month. They have pretty broad coverage across the country.
Juno's software is minimally invasive. They offer acceleration of your connection, great email and other pluses. Several people that I know get good results with Juno.
MSN provides a MSN version of Webroot's "Spy Sweeper", which is one of the best. You also get virus protection for email, plus spam and pop-up protection. MSN supports Firefox.
AOL comes at a premium price, but they now offer real value for your money. Their recent "9.0 Security Edition" offers a firewall, on- and off-line antivirus and spyware detection, parental controls, pop-up blocking, as well as protection from Spam and SpIM. AOL supports Firefox.
Earthlink offers Norton AntiVirus and Norton Personal Firewall as well as spam protection and pop-up blocking. Earthlink supports Firefox.
You can find oodles more ISPs with a Google search.

Connection problems

Does your Internet connection randomly shut down? Does it work OK during the morning and intermittently after dinner? You're probably seeing a telephone system problem, not a telephone line or ISP problem. This system problem is caused by overloaded telephone circuits between here and your ISP.

Some of the overload may just be people chatting, but I suspect most of it is the number of people online at that time of day. There's not much you can do about this problem. Some people report that a true "hardware" modem works better than a "Win modem" (which virtually all computers come with). I don't know -- I may try it someday.

If you see the problem at all times of the day, then it's most likely your ISP or a noisy line. I don't think that's my problem. I currently have two ISPs, one in the 602 area code and one in the 623 area code. I have trouble with both of them during the evening, fortunately it's rarely at the exact same time. Give your ISP a call if you think they can help.

But first check your phone line noise: Pick up the phone, dial a digit (to kill the dial-tone) and listen. If you hear noise (crackling or popping) call the Happy Trails telephone maintenance crew. Do NOT call Qwest -- it will cost you $80 if they find the problem is between your lot and the Town Center.

Sometimes your connection may just stop working. The easiest thing to try for dial-up is just disconnect and reconnect. For DSL, right-click the connection and click "repair".