Support
Phone Line Availability
We currently have an ample number of
incoming lines to service our customer base. You should not have any problems
with busy signals. If you are receiving busy signals at this point it is most
likely due to equipment problems. Please contact
us if you get a busy signal for more than 5 minutes so that we can
investigate the problem.
Configuration Information
Set your computer to dial
713/ 394-0498. If you have call waiting we suggest that you add *70,, in
front of the phone number. The *70 disables call waiting for the
duration of the call and the commas tell the modem to wait a few seconds
before dialing the rest of the number. The phone entry should look like
*70,,713/ 394-0498
Your login name and password is given to you
when you establish an account. Please note that the name and password
are case sensitive and must be entered in small
letters only. Please make sure that "Caps Lock" is not on.
If your software gives you the option of server
assigned DNS please select it (Windows95/98 and NT both have this
option). Should you have to manually enter a DNS number, ours is
216.118.008.135 with the secondary at 216.118.008.136
Our e-mail system includes support for POP3
(Post Office Protocol) which is a specification for how a mail program
communicates with our server and SMTP (Simplified Mail Transport
Protocol).
When configuring your email, the server address is sweep.net - You must use
your account name and password to connect to the mail server. The mail
program will ask for several things when you install it. The most common
questions (and what you enter):
E-mail
address: Enter your e-mail address
(ie., mary@sweep.net).
POP3 Server
Name: pop.sweep.net
SMTP Server Name:
mail.sweep.net
News
Server
news.sweep.net
Account Name:
Enter the first
part of your mail address (ie., mary).
Account
Password: Enter the password you use to
log onto our server.
Troubleshooting a Connection
Modems fail to connect
Check for a dial tone. Is the modem
plugged in (power supply, phone line, and computer)? Is it On?
All modems occasionally fail to
establish a connection - try dialing again. If that doesn't work then
turn the modem off and back on and try it one more time.
Login Fails (The modems
quit squealing and you get a message like "Login Denied")
Check that you entered your user name and
password as small letters (NO CAPS please)
A Message like "Could not negotiate a
compatible protocol" occurs. Check in the "Server
Types" tab of your Dial-Up networking entry that you do NOT have
"NetBEUI" or "IPX/SPX Compatible" protocols
selected. The only one you want is "TCP/IP".
You should also clear the check box marked
"Log on to Network" -- We agree that this sounds like a
strange thing to do but "Log on to Network" in this case means
that you want to log onto a Microsoft Windows network, not at all
what you are trying to do.
Your account expired and we couldn't
contact you! -- Call us
Our authentication server went down (not
good!) - Call us
Slow and Dropped Connections (Modems
connect below their rated speed)
There are a lot of variables that affect
the speed of a modem connection. The quality of the phone line between
your location and the phone company is the most important factor. Most
phone lines in the area are pretty good but if you can hear a strong hum or
crackling on the lines during a regular phone conversation you should have
the phone company check the line. If the line is good then you should
check the modem manufacturers web site to see if there are any driver
upgrades.
There is an update to the dial-up
networking software that was originally supplied by Microsoft with Windows95
that fixes a few of the mystery lockups that seem to occur with the original
dialer. The update can be found at Microsoft's
Web Site. The files refer to ISDN adapters but the update is for
all Windows95 machines including those using standard modems.
No Response from a Website
The remote web server is down -- try again
later.
The Internet has a routing problem and
can't reach the remote site. There is not much that can be done by You
or Sweepnet to fix it.
You asked for a site name that doesn't
exist (or a link you selected did). You will get a message saying that
the site cannot be found.
The DNS server is unreachable. Try
entering http://www.microsoft.com (or
click on the link) to access Microsoft without the name server. If
this works then the name service is causing problems. Try hanging up,
closing the browser and reconnecting.
K56Flex and X2 Modems
We are supporting the US Robotics and
K56 Flex modem standards. If you have a K56 Flex modem you may only be
able to connect to our server at a maximum of 33.6K for now. The
international standards body has decided on a standard for 56K modems and it
is called v.90. There are upgrades released for both X2 and
k56flex modems to meet this standard.
The fallacy of 56K Access (or Marketing hype strikes again)
While both vendors call the technology 56K you can't get full 56K
connections with these modems. The first problem is an FCC (Federal
Communications Commission) limitation on power output from our equipment that
limits the maximum speed to approximately 53K. The second is that you
need a perfect phone line (an elusive item). You may reach 53K but it is
much more likely that you will see speeds between 36 to 50K.
56K modems connect over 33.6K when there is
only one digital to analog conversion between the service provider and your
modem.
Most manufacturers released modems before the K56Flex
standard was finished. These modems were marketed as 56K but
require a software upgrade in order for them to work at speeds over 33K.
To the best of our knowledge modems with software revision numbers lower than
1.0 will not work at K56Flex
rates.
You can check the software revision level in
Windows98 and NT by going to Start | Settings | Control Panel, pick
Modems, click on the Diagnostics tab, select the COM port for your modem
and click "More Info...". Check the text after the ATI3
command which should show the software revision. If you need a software
upgrade you should try the manufactures web site. The K56Flex
web site has links to most manufacturers upgrade sites.
Un-metered
Access
Our un-metered access program allows you to
use your account without per hour charges. This account is not meant for
use as a dedicated 24x7 connection. Currently we have a time limit of 6 hours per session, but we do not have a maximum hourly limit per month. We reserve the right to change this policy.
If you need a 24 hour connection 7 days a week, please contact us.
Sharing of
Accounts
Please do not share your password or your
account with others. Unless you set up an account with us that allows
multiple access we will limit you to a single session at a time. Our
server will check for duplicate logins and will terminate a second session
with the same user name. Since we assume that someone has
discovered your password we will contact you and assign a new password to
protect the security of your account. Continued abuse of an
account by intentionally sharing passwords will lead to the termination of the
account.
Contacting Us
Phone support is available between 9:00am
and 9:00pm. Please note that due to the size of our business it is
not practical to have someone available to answer the phone at all
times. Please leave a message if you reach an answering machine --
the system is set up to page us and we will call you back as soon as
possible. The number to reach us is (713)
522-1718
E-Mail:
support@sweep.net
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