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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is dial-up?
Dial-Up is a method of connecting your computer to the Internet using a modem and a phone line.
What is a modem?
A modem is an electronic device that converts digital data from a computer into a form suitable for transmission over telephone lines, and incoming signals from the telephone line into a form that can be recognized by the computer. Modems are available as external devices and as internal cards.
What type of computer do I need in order to connect to the dial-up service?
You need a personal computer with Windows 95 or higher, or a Macintosh with System 9.0 or later. Personal computers running other operating systems may work but are not supported.
What software will I need to use the dial-up service?
You'll need a web browser, an e-mail program, and an Internet dialer. Computers running Windows 95 and higher or Macintosh System 9.0 or higher come with this software pre-loaded. Our technical support can walk you through setting this software up over the phone. This allows you to begin using your dial-up connection right away. If you do not have this software already installed on your computer, we can mail the software and have you on-line within a few days.
What type of modem should I buy?
If you are purchasing a new modem, we recommend a V.92 56K modem. Most computer retail outlets sell modems of this type.
What is Propel Accelerator?
Propel Accelerator is a service that increases web and e-mail downloads. It works by compressing web pages and e-mails before sending them to your modem. The result is an increase in speed of up to 500%.
How do I get Propel?
You can download Propel Accelerator from our web site. After connecting to the Internet, go to http://www.mercury.net/propel. Propel Accelerator is also on our setup CD-ROM.
What limits are there on your dial-up plans?
All dial-up plans have an idle timeout of 20 minutes and a session limit of 8 hours. This means that if your connection goes unused for 20 minutes or stays connected for 8 hours in a row, we will disconnect you automatically. You can immediately reconnect after being disconnected.
Our Flat-Rate, Dual-Channel, and LAN-On-Demand ISDN plans have an excessive usage limit. If you are on one of these plans, you will never pay more than the flat-rate you have agreed to. However, these plans cannot be used to access the Internet 24 hours a day. We define excessive use as six times the average. If the average use of our Flat-Rate accounts over a month is 60 hours, then the excessive use limit is 360 hours. That's 12 hours a day -- a lot of use. If you must be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, we have a Dedicated access plan available for that purpose at a slightly higher charge.
Complete details on plan limits are in our Terms of Service.
What is ISDN?
ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network. ISDN BRI is a digital phone line that provides up to 128K data connections.
How does ISDN work?
ISDN is similar to a regular phone line in that you dial phone numbers to place phone calls. Your home phone line is analog, and can transfer data at speeds up to 56K. Because ISDN is digital, it transfers data at 128K.
How does LAN-On-Demand ISDN service work?
First, we connect an ISDN router to your Ethernet network and ISDN BRI line. The router is configured to open the Internet connection whenever there is Internet activity. When a user clicks on Microsoft Internet Explorer or their desired Internet application, the ISDN router connects to the Internet and data starts flowing.
Is LAN-On-Demand ISDN always connected to the Internet?
No. Your LAN-On-Demand ISDN connection closes after 20 minutes of idle time, however, the router reconnects automatically with any Internet activity. You will not notice this taking place because it takes less than one second for the ISDN connection to open and data to start flowing through. If you must be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, we offer Dedicated ISDN, DSL, T-1 and Wireless services that are always connected.
Will I get the same IP address?
All of our regular dial-up plans, including LAN-On-Demand ISDN, come with dynamically assigned IP addresses. Your IP address will be different each time you connect. A static IP address can be added to the Flat-Rate and Dual-Channel plans for $10 extra a month. Dedicated Dial-Up/ISDN plans come with up to eight static IP addresses.
Is ISDN better than DSL or Wireless?
No. DSL and Wireless services give you greater "bang for the buck", and come in speeds up to 3.0M, but you may not be able to get DSL or Wireless at your location. We recommend ISDN for locations where DSL and Wireless are not available and T-1 is not needed or affordable.
Who should consider LAN-On-Demand ISDN?
You should consider LAN-On-Demand ISDN if you cannot get DSL or Wireless service and cannot afford or do not need a T-1, you want to take advantage of hardware that allows multiple computers to share access to the Internet over a network, or you want to increase productivity with a faster Internet connection than afforded by dial-up.
What is Dedicated Dial-Up/ISDN?
It is a service where by you can stay connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, 7 days week. It does not have an idle timeout like our other dial-up plans and comes with static IP addresses, allowing you to host services through the connection. Dedicated ISDN is similar to Dedicated Dial-Up, except that instead of using a phone line and modem, you connect with an ISDN adapter and ISDN BRI line. The ISDN BRI line is a special line, ordered separately from the phone company that supports connections up to 128K. It is fully digital and does not degrade in speed line modem connections over phone lines do.
What are my payment options?
Mercury Network offers the following payment options: paper billing statement, e-mail billing, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa card, as well as automatic bank account withdraw. You can choose any of four billing cycles for your payment to be due on, or your card to be charged on. The due dates are the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd.
Do you offer any discounts?
We offer a special rate if you pre-pay for a year of service. When paying for a year of service, you pay for 10 months of service up front and get the last two months free.
Are there any other charges?
If you choose to be billed monthly by mail, there is a $2.00 a month Billing Statement fee. This fee does not apply to accounts billed by e-mail or paid automatically by credit card, debit card, or automatic bank account withdraw, or accounts billed quarterly or annually.
To start service or to obtain more information, call our sales department at 989-837-3790, toll-free 866-GET-WEB6, open 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM CT Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Saturday, and Noon to 5:00 PM Sunday, or e-mail sales@mercury.net. We look forward to serving you.
Information correct as of Monday, September 18, 2006
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