I can receive my email, but I can't send anything anymore. Why is that, and how can I fix the problem?

There can be a number of reasons why you cannot send, as described here. But most likely, and especially if you are a dialup customer or have been with Earthnet for many years, you might be using an outdated Outgoing mail server. Earthnet's outgoing server now requires SMTP authentication, and is named smtp.earthnet.net.

Click on your email program to find out how to update your outgoing mail server:
Outlook Express | Outlook 2000 | Outlook 2003 | Mozilla Thunderbird | Netscape Mail 7.0
Eudora 6 | Entourage for Mac | Apple Mail for Mac OS X

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My connection is working, but I have trouble displaying web pages sometimes. What can I do?

If you can download your mail for example, but cannot display some pages on your web browser, first try to restart your computer. If you still experience the same problems, you might need to update your DNS servers addresses and either use the most current settings (66.151.173.1 and 65.116.4.130) or simply select "automatically assigned name servers addresses".

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How do I change my DNS servers addresses?

The procedure depends upon your operating system and your type of connection.

To change your DNS settings directly on your computer's connection settings, click on the appropriate link underneath.
Windows 2000/XP - Windows 95/98/Me - Mac OS 9 - Mac OS X

If you have entered your DNS settings into your DSL modem, click on your type of modem below.
Actiontec Modems - 675 Single Static IP - 678 Single Static IP - 678 Dynamic IP

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How can I determine the speed of my connection?

You can determine your connection speed by running our bandwidth monitor web application.
You can also search Google for "DSL speed test" for example, there are lots of speed testers on the web.

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I have a 256 kbps DSL line, but I cannot download faster than 32 kB/s, why is that?

There is a big difference between kbps - kilo-bits-per-second - and kB/s - kilo-Bytes-per-second.
In the computer jargon, bits and bytes are both units used to measure file sizes, but 1 byte = 8 bits. Therefore, your DSL speed, which is 256 kbps (kilobits per second), is also 256 / 8 = 32 kB/s (kilo Bytes per second).
Most of the time, your computer displays download speeds in kB/s, not kbps. So, if you are downloading a file at 32 kB/s, you making full use of your 256 kbps DSL line.

Here's a correspondance table for your information:

*one more thing: the "M" in 1 Mbps stands for 1 Mega bits per second. We all learned at school that k stands for kilo, which is 1,000 ; and M stands for Mega, 1 Million, therefore, 1 M should be 1,000 k, right? Right...but since computer engineers and marketing agents are definitely not willing to make your life easy, they decided 1 M would stand for either 1,000k or 1,024k. In our case, for DSL speeds, 1 Mbps = 1,024 kbps, so 3 Mbps are 3,072 kbps (which translates to 384 kB/s, are you still following?). For the hard drives, it's the contrary, which is why, when you buy a 250 GB hard drive, your computer tells you it's only got 232.8 GB of available space.

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I have a DSL connection with Earthnet, and I am going on a trip, can I use my account to dial up from my laptop?

Yes. Our DSL accounts come with 10 hours of free dialup access per month.
Click here to find out if there is a local dialup access number near the city you are going to visit.
Click here to see how to create a dialup connection on your computer. After those 10 hours, you will be charged 10 cents per minute if you're still using your dialup connection.

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Can I check my Earthnet email from the library or the local cyber cafe?

Yes, but in most cases, only the messages you haven't already seen on your regular computer.

All you need is an Internet connection and a web browser (such as Internet Explorer, Netscape, Safari, Firefox, etc.). You will be using our web based email program called Webmail. Just open your web browser, and type in the address bar: webmail.earthnet.net, then log in with your username (the first part of your email address) and your password. Click here for detailed instructions.

Please note: depending on how your home computer's email program is set up, you might not be able to see from webmail the messages that you have already received on your main computer. But you should still be able to see the messages you haven't retrieved on your main computer yet, and to send out messages. To make sure that you will be able to see the new messages, please turn off your main computer before you leave.

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What is the difference between IMAP and POP3?

In a nutshell:
POP3 downloads the messages onto your computer and removes them from the server. Once you've received a message, it only exists on your computer's hard drive, and it won't be accessible from any other computer.
IMAP leaves the messages on the server and gives you direct access to the mail server. All your messages 'live' on our mail server, and are accessible from any computer at any location. It is very similar to Webmail.

POP3 works great when you use only one computer, it's fast and easy. IMAP works great for people on the go who use different computers from different locations to check their mail.

Read more about the difference between POP and IMAP here.

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Do you have a 1-800 toll free dialup access number?

No, unfortunately, we do not offer any 1-800 toll free dialup access number. To connect to dialup and not be charged long distance, you need to find a local dialup access number for the place you will be connecting from. Click here to search dialup access numbers.
We do have a toll free number, 1-888-EARTHNT (or 1-888-327-8468), but this number is a technical support number only, not a dialup access number.

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