My buddy, Claud, the famous chef at a local Pasadena restaurant, called in a panic. "I'm heading off for a few days next week and staying in a house with dialup. How do I connect my notebook to a phone line?" he said.
It's frightening: not setting up dialup, but being without Charter's fast cable connection. I imagine it'd take lots of bottles of Anchor Steam to wait for pages to load.
I thought it might be worthwhile to show you what I sent to Claud, just in case you're ever stuck with using dialup. (Note to Copyedit: Yes, that's how he spells his name. And I know you're curious -- the restaurant is Madeleines Restaurant & Wine Bistro.)
Dialing with Dialup
It's not a difficult chore, and shouldn't take you a couple of minutes. Here's the step-by-step:
1. You must have a modem built into your notebook. [Obvious, I know, but you don't know Claud.] If you don't have a modem, you can pick up a tiny ZOOM with a USB connection for about $40. 2. If you comp dinner for me and Judy, I'll do it for you. Otherwise, got to step 3.3. First, go to your ISP's Web site (whoever you pay your bill to) and get the local access phone number for the area you'll be in. For instance, I use EarthLink, so I'd go to http://www.earthlink.net and search for "local access." They ask me for an area code for my temporary location and then supply the phone number. Do that for each location you'll be at while you're traveling, then write down the phone numbers.
4. Go to the Start Menu, get to the Control Panel, and choose Network Connections. In the left panel, click "Create a new connection." Then click Next, "Connect to Internet," "Set up my connection manually," and finally "Connect using a dialup modem."
5. Type "Vacation in Cambria Connection" (or where ever you'll be dialing in from), hit Next, fill in the phone number (include the area code, but don't use "1" before the number), and click Next. If there's Call Waiting, you need to temporarily disable it -- otherwise you'll get knocked offline every time a call comes in. Just add "*70" before the area code. Check here for details.
6. Make sure to fill in your personal info . At this point, you may need to use your e-mail address rather than just a name -- I don't know what your ISP requires. Next, click "Add a Shortcut for desktop."
7. Repeat for each vacation location with a different phone number.
Claud? Enjoy your vacation.
