NSCEE

NSCEE's PPP setup for Windows 9x

A PDF version of this document is available here. pdf

Configuring your system for dial-up networking isn't all that difficult. This reference steps you through the process. If you you are experienced in setting up dial-up networking and just need the appropriate networking "numbers" they are listed here for quick reference.

Preparation

Hardware

You should start out with a well-configured modem. Follow the manufacturers instructions when installing your modem. Make sure that a telephone line is attached to it.

Verify your modem To check if you have installed a modem in Windows 9x:

  1. On Desktop, double-click My Computer.
  2. Open Control Panel.
  3. Double-click Modems.
  4. You should find your modem in
    The following modems are set up on this computer.

If no modem shows up, you may try the following (We recommend following your modem manufacturers instructions if available):

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add New Hardware.
  3. Windows 9x will detect your modem automatically.
  4. After it successfully detects the modem, it will install a relevant modem driver for it.

Note that it is not unusual to have a modem other than the one shown on left, and so your Modems Properties dialog box may differ from the example. Also, it will be shown later how to finely configure it.

Networking Components

The next step is to check if you have installed the following two network components:
  1. Dial-Up Adapter
  2. TCP/IP

Network Components To verify if you have installed these two components, you may:

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Network.
  3. You should find these two components (or more components) appear under The following network components are installed: as shown in the figure.

If they do not show up, then you have to add them.
To install Dial-Up Adapter:

  1. In the Network dialog box, click Add... button.
  2. Double click Adapter.
  3. Under Manufacturers column, select Microsoft.
  4. Under Network Adapters column, choose Dial-Up Adapter.
  5. Click OK.

To install TCP/IP Protocol:

  1. In the Network dialog box, click Add... button.
  2. Double-click Protocol.
  3. Under Manufacturers column, select Microsoft.
  4. Under Network Protocols column, choose TCP/IP.
  5. Click OK.
Again, you may have more network components, and so your Network dialog box may differ from the one on left. However, you must have the above two network components before proceeding.

Dial-Up Networking

Besides, for software, you should have installed the Dial-Up Networking during the Windows 9x installation.

My Computer To verify if you have installed Dial-Up Networking, you may:

  1. On Desktop, double-click My Computer.
  2. You should see a yellow folder named Dial-Up Networking.

If not, then you have to reinstall it with your Setup CD-ROM:

  1. Open Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
  3. In the second sheet tab named Windows Setup, check the third item Communications.
  4. Click Details. Make sure that Dial-Up Networking is checked in the Communications dialog box.
  5. Click OK twice.
  6. After a while, a Dial-Up Networking folder will be created in the root folder My Computer.

Security Agreement

You should have your security agreement ready for the next section. It contains some of the information needed for the following configuration.

Set-up

 In this section we are going to set up a dial-up connection, configure it and its related properties as follows.

Make New Connection

Make New Connection To make a new connection, you may:

  1. On Desktop, double-click My Computer.
  2. Open Dial-Up Networking.
  3. Double click the icon Make New Connection.
  4. This will open a dialog box named Make New Connection, like the one below.
 

Make New Connection dialog box 1

  1. Under Type a name for the computer you are dialing, type NSCEE.
  2. Under Select a modem, select your modem in the pull down menu.
    Do not click the Configure button now; we will configure it later.
  3. Click Next button.
    If you have done something wrong, you can click Cancel instead of Next to start over again.
 

Make New Connection dialog box 2

  1. Ignore Area code, since we do not Use country code and area code.
  2. Telephone number:
    Type 8954154.
  3. Click Next button.
    If you have done something wrong in previous dialog box, you can click Back instead of Next.
 

Make New Connection dialog box 3

  1. Click Finish button.
  2. If you have done something wrong in previous dialog box, you can click Back instead of Finish.
By now you have successfully created a New Dial-Up Networking connection called NSCEE.
We are going to edit the properties of this connection.

Edit Connection

New Connection Inside the Dial-Up Networking folder in My Computer,
you will now see a new connection called NSCEE.

Edit Connection To edit the connection, you may:

  1. Click once to select it.
  2. Click the File menu.
  3. Click Properties.
This will open a dialog box named NSCEE,
with a sheet tab called General.

General sheet tab of NSCEE General sheet tab dialog box for connection:

  1. Use country code and area code
    UN-check this option since we dial in local area inside Las Vegas. The Area code and Country code should go dimmed.
  2. Connect using
    You have selected your modem before.
We are going to Configure the modem and server type in following sections.

We shall configure the modem first:

  1. Click Configure... button.
This will open up the Properties dialog box for your modem as follows.

Configure the Modem

The Properties dialog box for your modem consists of three sheet tabs, namely, General, Connection, and Options.
Note that the changes you make will affect the global modem settings for all dial-up connections, not only the NSCEE connection.

General tab of modem Properties General sheet tab dialog box for modem Properties:

  1. Port
    If you have successfully installed your modem, this should show your correct port setting. So you don't have to change it.
  2. Speaker volume
    It seems that changing the volume here has no effect. Instead, you change the Speaker volume using modem Extra settings shown later.
  3. Maximum speed
    You may choose 115200 in the pull down menu, and UN-check the box Only connect at this speed.
Then you click on the Connection sheet tab as follows.

Connection tab of modem Properties Connection sheet tab dialog box for modem Properties:

  1. Connection preferences
    Data bits: 8
    Parity: None
    Stop bits: 1
  2. Call preferences
    Check the option Wait for dial tone before dialing.
    Check the option Cancel the call if not connected within __ secs and set it to 30 seconds.
    UN-check the option Disconnect a call if idle for more than 30 mins.
  3. Port Settings...
    You probably do not have to bother about this.
  4. Click the Advanced... button.
This will open up the following dialog box.

Advanced tab of modem Properties Advanced... sheet tab dialog box for modem Properties:

  1. Check Use error control.
    UN-check Required to connect
    Check Compress data.
  2. Check Use flow control.
    Check Hardware (RTS/CTS).
    UN-check Software (XON/XOFF).
  3. Modulation type
    Select Standard in the pull down menu.
  4. Extra settings
    You may leave this field blank. For advanced settings, please refer to Extra Settings.
  5. Record a log file
    You may UN-check this option. Check this option only if you want to log the connection details. The details are logged under the name ModemLog.txt in your windows directory.
  6. Click the OK button.
    This will close the Advanced... dialog box and bring you back to the Connection tab of the modem Properties.

Option tab of modem Properties Options sheet tab dialog box for modem

  1. Click to choose the Options sheet tab if you have not done so.
  2. Connection control
    UN-check Bring up terminal window before dialing (may already be unchecked).
    UN-check Bring up terminal window after dialing (may already be unchecked).
  3. Dial control
    UN-check Operator assisted or manual dial.
    Enter 8 seconds for Wait for credit card tone:.
  4. Status control
    Check the option Display modem status if you want to monitor the modem activity of your connection.
    Once you connect successfully, a small modem icon will appear in the tray area of your taskbar.
    Whenever there is a data inflow or outflow, the modem lamps will twinkle accordingly. If you rest your mouse pointer on it, a pop-up window will tell you the number of bytes received and sent.
  5. Click the OK button.
This will close the modem properties dialog box, and bring you back to the NSCEE Properties General sheet tab.
You have successfully configured your modem, and we are going to configure the Server Type.

Server Type

General tab of NSCEE connection In the General sheet tab of the Properties dialog box for the NSCEE connection, click the Server Type... button to configure the server type of the connection.

This will open the Server Types dialog box for your NSCEE connection.

Server Type tab of modem Properties Server Types dialog box:

  1. Type of Dial-Up Server:
    In the pull down menu, choose PPP: Windows 9x, Windows NT 3.5, Internet.
  2. Advanced options:
    UN-check Log on network.
    Check Enable software compression.
    UN-check Require encrypted password.
  3. Allowed network protocols:
    UN-check NetBEUI.
    UN-check IPX/SPX Compatible.
    Check TCP/IP, then you may change the TCP/IP Settings.
  4. Click the TCP/IP Settings... button will open the following TCP/IP Settings dialog box.
 

TCP/IP tab of modem Properties TCP/IP Settings... dialog box:

  1. Check the option Server assigned IP address.
  2. UN-Check the option Specify an IP address.
  3. Check the option Server assigned name server addresses
  4. Check the option User IP header compression.
  5. Check the option Use default gateway on remote network.
  6. Click the OK button of the TCP/IP Settings dialog box.
    This will close the TCP/IP Settings dialog box and bring you back to the Server Types dialog box.
  7. Click the OK button of the Server Types dialog box.
    This will close the Server Types dialog box and bring you back to the NSCEE Properties General sheet tab.
  8. Click the OK button of the NSCEE Properties General sheet tab dialog box.
    This will close all related dialog boxes and bring you back to the Dial-Up Networking folder.
    You have successfully configured your NSCEE connection and we are going to configure the general connections.

 

Completion

Dialing Up to NSCEE

Connect to dialog box When you are ready to dial, double-click the NSCEE connection in the Dial-Up Networking folder. This will open up the Connect To dialog box:
  1. User name:
    Enter your username from the security aggreement.
  2. Password:
    Enter your password from the security aggreement. note: only *'s will show.
  3. Save password
    Do not check this option. Unless you are sure no one else will have access to the machine. (the password is readable where it is stored)
  4. Click the Connect button.
Windows 9x will then start dialing.
Network Icon Network Icon Finally, the Connected to dialog box will appear. If you are running later versions of Windows 95 or Windows 98, this window will disappear to the taskbar. You may access this window by double clicking on the network icon on the far right of the task bar. You may click the minus sign button to minimize the dialog box. From now on you may start your favorite Internet applications, ie, Netscape Navigator.

Trouble Shooting & Extra Settings

 Having trouble with your PPP connection? These clues may help you track down the problem:
  • If you continue to get a "DNS entry not found," try restarting your computer (exit Windows) and then dialing again.
  • Reread the above... Are you sure you entered everything in correctly?
  • Is your modem working correctly? In particular, if you've setup PPP to use Hardware Flow Control, make sure your cable supports it.
  • Any background applications running on your Mac/PC? In particular, screen savers and FAX programs can cause problems with the modem port. Try disabling them to see if it helps.
  • It's possible that your modem isn't being initialized correctly. In particular, you may want to check your modem guide and make sure that the following features are enabled:
  • If you have an US Robotics Sportster, you may need to convince your modem to disable only V.42bis... There is a bug in some early USR models. There are also bugs in even the latest Sportster ROMs that cause the Sportster to prefer a V.Fast connection over a V.34 one. To setup the Sportster to power-up in the "best" mode, send the following commands to the modem: After this, you can use ATZ as your modem Initialization string.
  • Do you occasionally just get "kicked-off"? It's possible that this was due to noise on the phone line; this can be especially true if you have had a second phone line installed and the internal wiring isn't "up to snuff." Cross-talk from the other phone line can be confusing your modem. If your modem is on your regular house line, make sure no one picks up one of the other extensions when your connected. To allow your modem to "ride out" occasional noisy lines, tell your modem to allow for "retrains" by adding %E1 to your modem INIT string, if it supports it. Finally, if you have Call Waiting, be sure you disable it as described above (basically, you need to add '*70' to the phone number).


    This page last modified on: Friday, 10-Oct-2003 14:22:18 PDT