If you have an always-on DSL, cable, or fiber connection, your computer should already be connected to the Internet. If you’re setting up a dial-up connection or a nonpermanent cable connection, take the following steps:

1.  Choose Start   Connect To. Windows launches the Connect to a Network Wizard, which displays its Select a Network to Connect To screen if it can find a network or its Windows Cannot Find Any Networks screen if it can’t.

2.  At the bottom of the window, click the Set Up a Connection or Network link. The wizard displays the Choose a Connection Option screen, as shown here. 3.  Select the Connect to the Internet item, and then click the Next button.

4.  If you haven’t identified the country or region and area code that you’re in, or your phone and modem options, Windows displays the Location Information dialog box to prompt you for them.

•    Select your country or region in the What Country/Region Are You in Now? dropdown list.

•    Type your area code in the What Area Code or City Code Are You in Now? text box.

•    Type any necessary carrier code in the If You Need to Specify a Carrier Code, What Is It? text box.

•    Type any number needed to get an outside line in the If You Dial a Number to Access an Outside Line, What Is It? text box.

•    In the Phone System at this Location Uses area, select the Tone Dialing option button unless you know the location uses pulse dialing in which case, select the Pulse Dialing option button. Tone dialing uses a different note for each key on the telephone keypad; pulse dialing uses a different number of clicks.

•    Click the OK button. Windows closes the Location Information dialog box, returning you to the wizard.

5.  Click the Next button. The wizard displays the How Do You Want to Connect? screen, as shown here.

6.  Click the appropriate button.

Broadband PPPoE Click this button if you’re setting up a broadband connection connected to this computer - for example, a cable modem or a DSL.

Dial-up Click this button if you’re setting up a dial-up connection that uses a standard telephone line or an ISDN line.

7.  The wizard displays the Type the Information from Your Internet Service Provider ISP screen. The following illustration shows the screen for a dial-up connection, which includes the Dial-up Phone Number text box. The screen for a broadband connection doesn’t have this text box but otherwise has the same controls.8.  Enter the information for the connection:

Dial-up Phone Number Type the phone number your ISP provided. If you need to set up dialing rules, click the Dialing Rules link, and then work in the Phone and Modem Options dialog box. See the section “Creating a New Location” in Article 14 for a discussion of dial- ing rules.

User Name Type the username your ISP assigned you.

Password Type the password for the connection. Select the Show Characters check box if you want to see the characters you’re typing rather than the dots that Windows displays for security. Select the Remember This Password check box if you want Windows to store the password so that you don’t need to enter it in the future.

Connection Name Type a descriptive name for this Internet connection.

Allow Other People to Use this Connection    Select this check box if you want to make this connection available to other users of your computer to use the Internet connection. If this is your main Internet connection, you’ll probably want to select this check box. Authen- ticate yourself to User Account Control.

9.  Click the Connect button. The wizard attempts to establish the connection, as shown here:

10.  When the wizard has established and tested your Internet connection, it displays the You Are Connected to the Internet screen, as shown here.

11.  Click the Browse the Internet Now button if you want to launch Internet Explorer. Otherwise, click the Close button. Because you’ve connected to a new network, the Set Network Location Wizard launches and displays the Select a Location screen .

12.  If you’ve connected directly to the Internet via a dial-up connection or a cable connection, click the Public Location button. Otherwise, click the Home Network button. The wizard displays the Successfully Set Network Location screen.

13.  Click the Close button. The Set Network Location Wizard closes. To close the Internet connection, right-click the network icon in the notification area, click the Disconnect From item to display the submenu, and then choose the name you assigned to the Inter- net connection. Once you’ve set up your Internet connection, you can connect as described in the “Establishing a Connection” section. But first you may want to change some of the default settings that the Con- nect to a Network Wizard applied to the connection, as described in the next section.

Configuring the Connection Manually

Most of the default settings that the Connect to a Network Wizard applies to Internet connections work well, but in some cases you may need to adjust the settings in the connection’s Properties dia- log box for better performance. Take the following steps to open the Properties dialog box:

1.  Choose Start   Connect To. Windows launches the Connect to a Network Wizard, which displays the Select a Network to Connect To screen.

2.  Right-click the connection, choose Properties from the context menu, and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control.

General Page Options

The General page of the Properties dialog box for a dial-up Internet connection contains the following controls:

Connect Using list box   Select the modem or other device to use for the connection. If you have multiple dial-up devices, select the check box for each that you want to use.

Configure button Click this button to display the Configuration dialog box for the selected dial-up device. For example, on some modems, you can turn off the speaker on or off.

Phone Number group box Specify the phone number for the dial-up device to dial and choose whether to use dialing rules.

•    When you select the Use Dialing Rules check box, Windows enables the Dialing Rules button, the Area Code drop-down list, and the Country/Region Code drop-down list. Click the Dialing Rules button to display the Dialing Rules page of the Phone and Modem Options dialog box, in which you can create dialing rules as discussed in the section “Creating a New Location” in Article 14.

•    If your ISP provides more than one dial-up number for this location, click the Alternates button. Windows displays the Alternate Phone Numbers dialog box . To add a number, click the Add button and work in the resulting Add Alternate Phone Number dialog box. To edit an existing number, select it, click the Edit button, and work in the Edit Alternate Phone Number dialog box. To delete an existing number, select it and click the Delete button. Once you’ve added the phone numbers, use the up and down buttons to shuf- fle them into the order in which you want Windows to dial them. Windows automatically selects the If Number Fails, Try Next Number check box, and usually you’ll want to leave it selected. If you have no preference among the numbers, you may want to select the Move Successful Number to Top of List check box to allow Windows to promote successful numbers to the top of the list on the basis that they’ll be the best ones to try next.

Options Page Options

The Options page of the Properties dialog box for a dial-up connection  contains the following controls:

Dialing Options group box    This group box lets you specify whether Windows should display message boxes showing its progress as it establishes dial-up connections the Display Progress while Connecting check box, prompt you for your name and authentication the Prompt for Name and Password, Certificate, Etc. check box, include the Windows logon domain in the logon information it sends the Include Windows Logon Domain check box, and prompt you for the phone number for the connection the Prompt for Phone Number check box. Make sure the Include Windows Logon Domain check box is cleared for a dial-up Internet connection. The other three check boxes are cleared by default, but you may want to experiment with turning off some. If you turn off all these check boxes, when you double-click the connection, Windows dials it without displaying the Connect dialog box.

Redialing Options group box    This group box lets you control how Windows redials the connection if it can’t connect at the first attempt or if the line or connection is dropped. Use the Redial Attempts text box to specify the number of times Windows should attempt to establish the connection and the Time between Redial Attempts drop-down list to specify the pause between attempts. You can set values between 1 second and 10 minutes. In the Idle Time before Hanging Up drop-down list, specify what length of inactivity Windows should allow before dropping the connection automatically. You can set values from 1 minute to 24 hours, or you can choose Never to maintain the connection as long as possible. Select the Redial if Line Is Dropped check box if you want Windows to automatically redial the connection if it’s dropped at the other end.

Maintaining a Dial-up Connection to the Internet

To maintain as permanent a connection as your phone line and ISP permit, select the Redial if Line Is Dropped check box on the Options page and select Never in the Idle Time before Hanging Up dropdown list.

Security Page Options

The Security page of the Properties dialog box for a dial-up connection  contains controls for specifying how to authenticate and secure the connections you made. In the Security Options group box, you have a choice of two option buttons for specifying a category of security settings:

the Typical Recommended Settings option button and the Advanced Custom Settings option button. By default, Windows selects the Typical option button for a dial-up Internet connection and selects the Allow Unsecured Password item in the Validate My Identity As Follows drop-down list. This setting allows Windows to validate your identity by using an unsecured password if it’s not able to validate it by using a secured password. Windows tries the secured password first, then drops back to the unsecured password if necessary. For increased security, select the Require Secured Password item in the Validate My Identity As Follows drop-down list to prevent Windows from using the unsecured password. For this to work, your ISP must support secured passwords for your connection - if your ISP doesn’t, Win- dows won’t be able to establish the connection. Once you select the Require Secured Password item, Windows makes available the Automatically Use My Windows Logon Name and Password and Domain if Any check box and the Require Data Encryption Disconnect if None check box. Select the former check box only if your dial-up account uses the same username and password as your Windows user account. Select the Require Data Encryption Disconnect if None check box if your ISP supports encryption and you need a secure connection. If you have a smart card for the connection, select the Use Smart Card item in the Validate My Identity As Follows drop-down list. When you select the Use Smart Card item, Windows makes available the Require Data Encryption Disconnect if None check box. Select this check box if you need encryption. If you know which security protocols you can or must use for your Internet connection, select the Advanced Custom Settings option button, click the Settings button, and work in the Advanced Security Settings dialog box. Article 30 discusses these options, which are typically used for con- necting to company networks.

Networking Page Options

The Networking page of the Properties dialog box for a dial-up connection lets you choose which networking protocols and features to use for a dial-up connection. Normally, the Internet Protocol Version 6 TCP/IPv6 check box, the Internet Protocol Version 4 TCP/IPv4 check box, and the QoS Packet Scheduler check box should be selected. Make sure that the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks item is not selected, because you don’t want to be sharing your files and printers automatically with everyone on the Internet.

Advanced Page Options The Advanced page of the Properties dialog box for a dial-up connection lets you share an Internet connection via Internet Connection Sharing ICS. See Article 28 for coverage of ICS.

Establishing a Connection

To establish a connection, take the following steps:

1.  If not, choose Start   Connect To. Windows launches the Connect to a Network Wizard, which displays the Select a Network to Connect To screen.

2.  Click the connection, and then click the Connect button. Windows displays the Connect dialog box for the connection .

3.  If necessary, type your username in the User Name text box and your password in the Password text box. You won’t need to enter these if the person who set up the connection chose to store the username and password in the connection.

4.  If you want Windows to store the username and password, make sure the Save This User Name and Password for the Following Users check box is selected. Then select the Me Only option button or the Anyone Who Uses This Computer option button as appropriate. If you click the Anyone Who Uses This Computer option button, authenticate yourself to User Account Control. 5.  Click the Dial button for a dial-up connection or the Connect button for a broadband connection. Windows dials the connection or attempts to connect and displays the Connecting dialog box to keep you informed of its progress. If it receives an answer, it checks your username and password and, all being well, logs you on. Windows displays a status icon for the connection in the notification area.

Viewing the Status of a Connection

To see the status of your Internet connection, follow these steps:

1.  Click the Network icon in the notification area, and then click the Network and Sharing Center link. Windows displays a Network and Sharing Center window .

2.  Click the View Status link for the connection. Windows displays the Status dialog box see The General page of the Status dialog box for a dial-up connection contains five buttons:

Details Click this button to display the Network Connection Details dialog box, which shows you more detail about the connection and its TCP/IP settings.

Properties Click this button and then authenticate yourself to User Account Control to display the Properties dialog box for the connection.

Disconnect Click this button to disconnect the connection.

Diagnose Click this button to diagnose problems with the connection.

Close Click this button to close the Status dialog box without disconnecting the connection.

Disconnecting a Connection

To disconnect a network connection, take one of the following actions:

•    If you have the Status dialog box for the connection open, click the Disconnect button.

•    If you have Network and Sharing Center open, click the Disconnect link.

•    Choose Start   Connect To, select the connection, and then click the Disconnect button.

•    Right-click the network icon in the notification area, click the Disconnect From item to display the submenu, and then choose the name you assigned to the Internet connection.

Connecting Automatically to the Internet

If you set any of your Internet-enabled programs to connect to the Internet automatically or they set themselves to do so, Windows displays the Dial-up Connection dialog box as shown next when a program tries to connect via a connection that’s not open.

Click the Connect button to let the program connect. If you want the program to be able to use the connection without your intervention, select the Connect Automatically check box first.

Switching Easily between Different Dial-up Numbers for the Same ISP

If your ISP provides you with multiple numbers that you’ll need to use frequently for example, if the ISP has multiple different local numbers in your area code, or if you need to call different numbers when you travel, create an entry for the ISP as described earlier in this article, then copy it by right-clicking it and choosing Create Copy from the context menu in the Network Connections window. Click the copy, press F2, type a new name, and then press Enter. Edit the copy’s properties and change the phone number to the alternate number you want to use.