Back to Articles

Article by Sam Martin, PE, CVS, President of OfficeOnWeb, Technologies. 1/3/2000 (mods to links made in 4/2002)

So you got that shiny new computer for you or your family for Christmas and you are ready to get online and join the web revolution. Here is a guide for what it takes and a little background about how it all works.

If you bought a new Windows or Mac computer you have all the software you need to get online. However, you need a dial up provider to make a link from that software to the Internet. A dial up provider is called an ISP (Internet Service Provider). The ISP has a computer (server) which receives the phone call from your computer modem, checks to make sure you are authorized to use the service, and connects you to the Internet backbone (a high speed communication line to the rest of the world).

Select your provider based upon reliability and service that you can obtain. Generally, local service providers tend to be more reliable than large ones and have service centers that can handle service calls more personably than larger providers. I recommend looking in your local paper for ads by local providers. I am only aware of two in the Colorado Rocky Mountain area, Office On Web and Purple Mountain (out of business in 2002). Beware any provider that has a price under about $15 per month (out of business too, 2000). They probably are overloading their lines and are unlikely to give very good service.

Next, make sure you have the equipment. You need your computer, a modem, and a telephone cord. You new computer probably came with all of these (unless your have DSL or T1 services). Insert the phone cord in the modem connection where it is labeled "line" or has a little triangle looking symbol. Don't put it in the connection that says "phone", this connection is for plugging in a handset so you can use the phone from your desk when you are not online with your computer. If you have more than one phone line, plug into the one that you expect the least number of calls to be received from outside.

Now you are ready to get an account with an ISP. You will need to select a user name and password. A user name needs to be at least six characters and a password usually needs to be at least eight. You will also need an e-mail (electronic mail) name, e.g., sam@officeonweb.net. It helps to try and select these before you call. Since there can only be one name per server, the name you first choose may not be available. At any rate, you will have gone a long way towards getting yourself online if you have thought about these names.

Once you have made your selection and talked with the ISP, they will create your account on their server (the computer you will dial into) and give you information on how to access their system. The procedure varies slightly for different providers, but it is not too difficult and your ISP will talk you through it step by step.

People are rarely on the phone for 6 hours at a time. You are likely to be on the Internet for that long and you are using your phone to do it. Expect to have intermittent telephone noise and even disconnects because he phone system was not designed for such long conversations. That's it. Enjoy your new found treasure of worldwide information and conversations. I recommend you begin your journey by visiting the "portals" yahoo.com, altavista.com, lycos.com, and google.com (note, in 2002, only google remains a a real service).

Back to Articles

Did you know that in 1998 more than 95% of OfficeOnWeb's new customers made a profit from their web site within their first year of operation? Sad, but it is true. This compares to less than 20% industry wide ever even breaking even. Why? Professional and directed expertise. This industry average for people leaving their current web service provider is 4% per month! That's nearly 50% over a year! Ours is less than 1% per year. That is because we endeavor to make our clients money and don't just offer a "pat solution" that we know has a low probability of ever making our client a profit. Some of the features that make up the level of success that our clients enjoy are:

 Five redundant backbone connections

 99.999% up time on UNIX servers

 Redundant OC-3 connect to all five backbones

 Full data center services

RAID 5 system with weekly backup of critical systems

 True Web Developer Services

 Large support site for clients and visitors

 Four level or higherencryption on all e-commerce solutions designed by Office On Web (this is the government standard required if Government people are to use a site)

 We NEVER host a commercial site on an access server (that is really bad, but common in dial up providers)

Back to Articles