Q: How do I sign up?

A: Call the main number of TMLP (508-824-5844) during normal business hours (8 a.m.- 9 p.m., Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Saturday, 12 noon - 6 p.m. Sunday) and ask to sign up. Be sure and have your information for user name and password ready. We recommend that both your user name and password be between 6 and 10 characters (letters and/or numbers) in length.

Q: Why can't I connect at speeds above 28,800?

A: Phone line conditions may prevent you from connecting at higher speeds. According to Bell Atlantic, standard phone lines do not guarantee connect speeds above 14,400 bps (FAX transmission speed) We recommend you view the document at http://www.usr.com/home/online/trblshot/10530.htm for a discussion of why modems have problems connecting over standard phone lines.

Q: When will 56K modem speed be available? Will it cost extra to use?

A: Our modems have now been upgraded to v.90, the 56K modem standard. Both x2 and K56Flex modems should be software-upgradable to the v.90 standard; see your modem's manufacturer's Web page for details. 56K access rate will not cost additional charges.

Q: How do I prevent my children from seeing things on the Internet I would not approve of?

A: TMLP Online provides unrestricted access to the Internet; however, we do recognize that parents have a legitimate concern about protecting their children from viewing inappropriate sites and newsgroups.

Therefore, we recommend that you download one of the many Internet filtering programs available. These programs are capable of blocking any Internet browsing or newsreading software from accessing any sites or groups that you determine are inappropriate.

Popular programs of this sort include SurfWatch, Net Nanny, and Cyber Patrol. Links to the sites for these programs can be found on our Software Pages.

Q: How do I find the information I'm looking for on the World Wide Web?

A: The best method to find information is to go to one of the many Web sites known as "search engines." These sites act as large databases that constantly read information from the Internet and index it into simple terms and subjects so that you can find the information you're looking for easily.

Most search sites usually contain an input box where you can type in what you're looking to find, and a button you can press that tells the computer to begin searching. Once it finds some sites, it will display their locations on the screen. All you have to do to go to one of these locations is to click on the site's name in the result list.

We have a list of the most popular and powerful search engines on our Links Page

Q: What speed modem do I need?

A: While our system is capable of supporting many types of slower modems, in order for our customers to be able to enjoy the graphical content of the Internet at a reasonable speed, we recommend a minimum of a 28,800bps (28.8 K) modem. Our system also currently supports the v.90 56K modem standard for connection speeds up to 57,600bps over optimal phone line conditions.

Q: What kind of stuff can I find on the Internet?

A: Almost literally anything. The Internet is a vast repository of literally billions of documents on every imaginable subject, from Aardvarks to Zuppa Inglese, and everything in between. (In case you're wondering, Zuppa Inglese is a dessert made out of sponge cake and pudding, flavored with rum, cream, and fruit. And the recipe is out there on the Internet.)

Q: What does TMLP Online offer its customers?

A: We offer access to the Internet 24 hours a day, at a flat rate (for residential customers, it's $14.95/month, less if you prepay one, two, or three years in advance. You can see our customer service page for more information.) With that access, you get up to 3 e-mail boxes, and up to 15 MB of Web Space to post your own Website.

Q: Is the Internet the same as the World Wide Web?

A: Not quite. The World Wide Web (often abbreviated WWW) is the most eye-catching and popular part of the Internet (nearly every company you see advertised now has a "website" somewhere), but it is only a part of what the Internet offers. Other features include "chat rooms" (often called Internet Relay Chat, or IRC for short), "newsgroups" (also called Usenet), electronic mail (e-mail for short), data repositories called "gopher servers," and lots more.

Q: What is a Web page?

A: A Web page is a document that resides on a computer on the Internet that is capable of displaying information in a multimedia format (meaning that instead of displaying just plain text, a Web page can have pictures, movies, even sounds as part of what is shown).

Q: How can the Internet help with my children's education?

A: The Internet is an amazing tool for research and information. By using the search engine sites (described in a previous question on this FAQ), you can find pages of information on practically any subject. Often, the problem is not finding information on a subject, but rather choosing which of the multitude of informational sites that are available you should use!

There are also sites on the Internet that can help you find scholarships, grants, and loans to help pay for college educations.

Q: Do I get charged on my phone bill if I send e-mail to California?

A: No. You can send messages anywhere in the world with no long-distance charges at all. The only phone charges are your connection to the TMLP Online modems. If Taunton is a local call for you, then there is no phone charge at all (other than your standard local phone charges)

Q: I keep hearing about "installing protocols." What's a protocol?

A: A protocol is, essentially, a language that one computer uses to talk to another computer. If both computers use the same protocol, or speak the same language, then the two computers can communicate. If they don't use the same protocol (or don't speak the same language), they can't talk to each other. In order for you to talk to computers on the Internet, you need to use the right protocols so that the information can be understood by the computers on both sides.

Q: What's a modem?

A: "Modem" is actually an abbreviated form of the term MOdulation/DEModulation. Essentially, a modem is a device that allows you to encode and decode information sent from one computer to another over a standard phone line.

Q: What's a COM port?

A: COM is short for "Communications." A COM port is a device, usually built right into your computer, that allows you to send data back and forth. In order for you to use a modem, you will have to use a COM port on your computer. (Note: Macintosh computers use the same kind of technology, but they call these devices "modem ports")

Q: What's an IRQ?

A: IRQ is short for Interrupt ReQuest. When your computer's processor (or "brain") is operating, it chugs merrily along, doing essentially nothing until a specific device (devices include the keyboard, the mouse, the modem, and so on) tells it what to do.

In order for a device to tell the processor what to do, the device first has to get the processor's attention. So the device sends a signal, called an Interrupt, to the processor to get its attention. Different devices in a computer send this signal through different connection lines (think of it as one desk with multiple phones directly connected to different people) so that the processor knows where the request for attention is coming from.

The connection line a specific device uses to contact the processor is called the Interrupt ReQuest line, or IRQ.

Q: What is a browser? Do I need one?

A: A browser is a program that dynamically interprets the contents of documents on the Internet. Loosely translated, this means it takes a piece of information on the Internet and displays it on your screen in an organized format. Different "browsers" may display the same document completely differently, although the most recent browsers seem to be getting closer to standardizing on how to display documents.

If you want to view the World Wide Web in all its graphical glory, yes, you need a browser. If all you want to do on the Internet is send and receive e-mail, then you could just download an e-mail program like Eudora, but you'd be missing a lot of what the Internet has to offer!

Q: What's the difference between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's Navigator or Communicator browser?

A: Not much, really. Both are very advanced browsers that integrate web viewing, e-mail, newsgroup reading, and several other functions into a single set of programs. Netscape's software handles some special coding languages (like "JavaScript") better than Microsoft's, but Microsoft's software handles some other functions better than Netscape's. It's all pretty much a matter of personal preference. Both will work fine.

Q: Do you supply Internet access through power lines?

A: No, the voltage on the power lines fluctuates far too much (depending on demand) to transmit data through them in addition to the electrical energy.

Q: Can you have two different browsers at once?

A: Sure. You can even have them both running at the same time, provided your computer has lots & lots of memory available. We don't recommend running both simultaneously, however.

Q: Do I need to be online to get my e-mail?

A: Yes. If you're not on the Internet, you can't contact our mail server, and therefore won't be able to get your e-mail.

Q: If I am downloading something and the Internet server hangs up for some reason partway through the download, do I lose everything I had downloaded?

A: Yes...BUT, there is a way to resume a "broken download" by using one of several "download resume" programs (for Windows 95 or NT), like GetRight, ByteCatcherPro, or BulletProof FTP. Macintosh's Fetch 3.0.3, which was included with the TMLP Online Macintosh disk for System 7.5 - 7.9, is also capable of resuming broken downloads.

Q: How do I protect against a virus?

A: You'll need virus protection software, like Norton's Anti-Virus or McAfee VirusScan. There are also a couple of shareware virus protection programs (like Thunderbyte) available.

Q: Do you get your Internet access from AOL?

A: No. We are not AOL, and are not in any way affiliated with them. Our Internet access is provided through a national major bandwidth access company.

Q: What is the difference between AOL and TMLP?

A: America On-Line (AOL), much like its prime competitors Prodigy and CompuServe (which has now actually been bought by AOL), was originally founded as what was called a "bulletin board service," a series of computers linked to each other and set up so that no one outside of AOL could communicate with anyone inside AOL electronically. AOL then began to offer Internet access as an additional function of their service, and thus allowed people on AOL to communicate electronically with people not on AOL.

TMLP Online is classified as an Internet Service Provider (ISP), meaning that we provide a direct pipeline to the Internet, without the overhead of going through an additional connection level, as AOL does. We also do not censor or limit what content you can view on the Internet.

However, we do not provide access to the AOL-specific "chat rooms" or discussion groups, or "keywords," which are all associated with the original "bulletin board service" functions of AOL.

Q: Can I use both AOL and TMLP Online?

A: Yes, as long as you don't mind paying for both, although we do not recommend it, as there are problems with some computers having both on the same machine at the same time. AOL now also provides a "bring-your-own-access" rate, which enables you to access AOL as if you had a full account with them for a greatly reduced rate, by using another Internet Service Provider (like TMLP Online) to get access to the servers. This is an additional charge from AOL and cannot be incorporated into your TMLP Online bill, however. For more information, visit AOL's site.

Q: What does FTP mean?

A: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It's another "language" that computers use to communicate with each other, and is specifically designed for transferring files back and forth between computers quickly, accurately, and efficiently.

Q: What is a URL?

A: URL, depending on who you talk to, stands for Universal Resource Locator or Uniform Resource Locator, but they both mean the same thing: an address. Essentially, a computer's URL is its location on the Internet. A browser needs this information in order to view the contents of a site...after all, if it doesn't know where the information is, it's certainly not going to be able to get the information!

Q: Whenever I go to a Website, my address (or Location) line at the top always something that starts off with "http://" What's http mean?

A: HTTP stands for Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol. This is yet another "language" that computers use to send information, the language computers use to read and interpret most Web pages. Hyper-Text is a term that refers to the World Wide Web's capability to link any place on the Internet to any other place on the Internet without having to go through any particular path in between.

Q: What is HTML?

A: HTML stands for Hyper-Text Markup Language. This is the scripting language that is used to create Web pages. Web browsers read in documents in HTML and interpret how to display them on the screen, because documents in HTML can only give guidelines as to how to display a Web page; the browser actually has the final determination as to what the page looks like. This is why some browsers display pages differently than others do.

Q: Can I get shell access on my TMLP Online account?

A: No. "Shell access" is a function of UNIX Internet servers. TMLP Online runs on Windows NT servers.

Q: Can I put a counter on my Web page?

A: Yes. Either you can link to one of the various free "counter" programs on the Web, or you can use TMLP's counter program. Each counter we set up with this program must have a unique ID name, however, and you will have to add a little programming code to your Web page, so if you want to add a counter, please send an e-mail request for the code and the ID name to use to dmelanson@tmlp.com.

Q: Can I put an email form on my Web page?

A: Yes, but you'll need to know how to do a little HTML programming. To see the code for programming an e-mail form on your website, click here.

Q: What's Java?

A: Java is a programming language similar to C++ that allows a user to write small applications that can run directly over the Internet. The problem with Java is that it does not run on 16-bit operating systems like Windows 3.1x. It will function on Windows 95, Windows NT, or Macintosh, though.

Q: What's JavaScript?

A: JavaScript is another programming language that allows pages to be far more interactive. It will run on 16-bit and 32-bit operating systems, unlike Java, and it is much easier to program. However, it is not as powerful or as efficient as Java, and, since its coding is part of the actual Web page coding, it can easily be copied by anyone on the Internet viewing the page, unlike Java, which sets up its code as an entirely separate application file.

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