___________________________________________________________________________ Northwest Nexus: New User's Guide NORTHWEST NEXUS NEW USERS INFO ------------------------------ Welcome to Northwest Nexus! Our company is focused on providing reliable Internet connectivity to individuals and businesses in the Pacific Northwest. We maintain a full-time professional staff of support engineers and network managers to help you get the most out of your Internet connection. This introduction is meant to provide you with basic information on setting up and using your Personal Shell, Personal SLIP, or Personal PPP service. Because there's not enough space to tell you everything here, we'll also tell you how to get more information and assistance. Getting Started With SLIP and PPP --------------------------------- We strongly recommend The Internet Starter Kit by Adam Engst (Hayden Books, 1995). There are versions for both Macintosh and Windows; it's available in computer stores (in a boxed version that includes a bonus disk) and in bookstores. All versions include the software you need to get started using your SLIP or PPP account, along with instructions on how to set it up. In earlier versions of the books, check Appendix F; if your book doesn't have an Appendix F, see the next section for the setup information you need. Some of the books have outdated information, so check your settings with the next section below. Win95 comes with everything you need to connect; contact us for details. What Telephone Number Do I Call? -------------------------------- For the best connection, use the number highest on the list that is a local call for you: 1) 206 455-8455 (Bellevue) 2) 206 447-4004 (Seattle) 3) 206 513-9459 (Everett) 4) 360 757-1213 (Mt. Vernon) 5) 206 672-4554 (Lynnwood) 6) 360 456-0770 (Olympia) 7) 360 427-0102 (Shelton) 8) 206 927-5834 (Tacoma) 9) 206 735-6579 (Auburn) All the numbers above provide 14.4kbps V.32bis connections. As we upgrade our modem pools, we sometimes add other numbers for special purposes, like longer connect times or different speeds. See our "Phone Numbers" FAQ for the current list of numbers. The FAQ includes 28.8kbps (V.34) and ISDN numbers. If you have a Personal Shell account, you can see this list at the shell prompt by typing: help phones What Will I See? ---------------- If you have a Personal Shell account, after you type your login name and password, you'll see our text-based menu of things to do and see on the Internet. If you have a Personal PPP or Personal SLIP account, though, you probably won't see much of anything, depending on the type of software you're using. Your PPP or SLIP software establishes a connection between your computer and the Internet. When your software tells you that the connection is established, then you need to run another program to actually do something on the Net. Examples of such programs are Eudora for e-mail, Newswatcher for News, or Netscape for the World-Wide Web. Just the Facts -------------- If you're the type who knows what you're doing and you only need the details of our configuration, here they are: Obtain Address/Configure: MacTCP: Server OpenTransport TCP/IP: Manually IP address: MacTCP: Ignore OpenTransport TCP/IP: Leave Blank Windows: Set to dummy address (1.1.1.1) Netmask: MacTCP: Leave as is; n/a for SLIP/PPP OpenTransport TCP/IP: 255.255.255.0 Windows: 255.255.255.0 Domain Name Servers (DNS): Primary: 198.137.231.1 Secondary: 192.135.191.1 Host name: Leave blank Domain name: halcyon.com Login startup command: Leave blank POP mail account name: Same as your login name POP mail account password: Same as your password SMTP Mail gateway: smtp.halcyon.com POP3 Mail server: mail.halcyon.com NNTP News server: news.halcyon.com NNTP News login & password: Leave blank (don't use authentication) World-Wide Web server: www.halcyon.com Anonymous ftp server: ftp.halcyon.com Gopher server: No official Northwest Nexus server, but gopher.seattle.wa.us is recommended Configuring Eudora ------------------ Eudora is a freeware mail program that's the best we've seen. Here's how to configure it for use with our servers: * Install Eudora as instructed. Start it up by double-clicking on the icon; select the Special | Configuration... menu, then alter only the items indicated below. For example, if your name is Mickey Mouse and your login name is mickey: POP Account: mickey@mail.halcyon.com Real Name: Mickey Wombat SMTP Server: smtp.halcyon.com Return Address: mickey@halcyon.com Get Rid of Your Hosts File -------------------------- Some books include files named "hosts" in their configuration; some users created their own hosts file to try to speed up resolving domain names. We recommend using Find or Search to locate and delete all instances of those files. From time to time we change name-to-IP-address mappings; hosts files mostly keep outdated information around, and are guaranteed to cause trouble sooner or later. Usage Guidelines ---------------- Our modems are a precious resource. We ask that you limit your login sessions to two hours, then wait two hours before logging in again. If you log in for an hour, wait an hour before logging in again. This usage guideline gives everyone a chance to log in and make use of their account. If you connect for longer than two hours, you're likely to receive an email message reminding you to log out, and/or to be logged out automatically. Trouble Contacting Specific Sites --------------------------------- The Internet is H-bomb-proof, but that doesn't mean that every single machine is available every minute of every day. Nodes go down for a minute, an hour, a day - and sometimes, for weeks. If you're having trouble contacting a site using your FTP program or WWW browser, wait 30 minutes then try again. If you still can't connect, try the next day. If you still can't get connected, send us an e-mail message with details of what you tried. Please provide as much detail as you can - we'll be able to give you a better answer as a result. How to Get More Information --------------------------- We've prepared a large number of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions list that include detailed answers for those questions) to allow us to give you rapid and complete answers. We sometimes mail these FAQs to you in response to your inquiry if we think the FAQ answers your question completely. We've put all of our FAQs online for access by our customers. Point your Web browser (use Lynx if you have a Personal Shell account) at: http://webfaq.halcyon.com/ Our main Web page is constantly being updated with site-specific and other information, and is worth checking frequently: http://www.halcyon.com/ We sometimes use electronic mail to communicate with you individually regarding your account. This means you should check your mail each time you connect to our systems to be certain of receiving information regarding your account status or features. Keeping Up to Date ------------------ We post all important system announcements to the halcyon.announce newsgroup. You can use a newsreader to follow that group, or you can have postings in that group automatically mailed to you. You can subscribe to the halcyon-annnounce mailing list by sending a mail message to: majordomo@halcyon.com with the following lines in the body of the message: subscribe halcyon-announce end System Status Line ------------------ We maintain a telephone line that provides information about the status of our systems. For updates on scheduled downtime, current system problems, and so on, call: 206 453-8908 You can also reach the system status line through our voicemail system 800 number (800 539-3505) - press 9 on a TouchTone phone as soon as the greeting starts. How to Get in Touch With Us --------------------------- We maintain a large staff to answer your questions, but we don't use a call-queuing system like some larger companies. We ask that if you call, you leave a message with our receptionist or on our voice mailboxes. We return all our voice-mail messages as quickly as possible, but sometimes using electronic mail is faster. * If you can, send e-mail instead of calling: For billing questions: billing@halcyon.com For technical support: support@halcyon.com * You can also send inquries by fax, although this is often slower: Northwest Nexus fax: 206 455-4672 * For less pressing problems, try posting in our newsgroups: For general questions: halcyon.general For SLIP/PPP questions: halcyon.slip For Web (WWW) questions: halcyon.web * If you need to telephone: 206 455-3505 Office hours are 0830 to 1700 Pacific Time, Monday - Friday for billing and administrative staff. Technical support hours are currently: Monday - Thursday: 0900 to 2000 Pacific Friday: 0900 to 1700 Pacific Saturday: 1030 to 1500 Pacific Sunday: 1030 to 1500 Pacific Our voicemail is monitored 24 hours/7 days for urgent system problems. Please leave a message if you get our voicemail system and include your name, login name, a number at which you can be reached, and a brief description of your problem or question. We return all voicemail messages. For technical support, billing questions, and information: 206 455-3505 800 539-3505 (US and Canada only) * If you need to write to us the old-fashioned way: Northwest Nexus Inc. 10800 NE 8th Street, Suite 802 Bellevue, WA 98004 We look forward to working with you and helping you use your Internet connection to the fullest. Happy surfing! (12-Apr-96/nwnnug/WRD) ___________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 1996 Northwest Nexus Inc. All Rights Reserved. This document may not be reproduced nor redistributed in any form without express permission; contact us at support@halcyon.com with questions.