Okay guys, this is the officially acclaimed world champeen "Computer Village Idiot" with another question.

We just moved from w-a-y out in the boonies of the Oregon Cascades to the big city. The only computer hookup I've ever seen was a very slow and unreliable dial-up.

So, I sprung for the Quest 1.5 GB modum and service. They were supposed to send a technician to install and hook it up.

Well, he installed a black box (sat it on the floor) which has what looks like 1 regular phone jack, labled "phone" and 3 coloured phone jacks labelled "ethernet". The box itself is plugged into my wall phone jack. I asked him to hook it up to my computer and he snapped "I don't do hook-ups. Just plug it in." Then he walked out the door and drove away.

I tried hooking the line from the back of my computer into the "ethernet" jacks and nothing happens. If I plug it into the "jack" labelled "phone", I get my same old dial-up service.

I called tech support and they said to plug the line into one of the ethernet jacks on the new modum, then to plug it into the "ethernet" jack on the back of my computer.

I have no idea what an ethernet jack looks like, but assume it is shaped like a phone jack (otherwise the line wouldn't plug in). Is there some kind of symbol which identifies an ethernet jack on the back of a computer?

And, assuming I can find such a jack and plug into it, then how does the ethernet function...as in, how do I turn it on and off?

Yeh, I know, I was born 75 years too soon for the modern world.......

You must use an Ethernet cable, also known as a CAT 5 cable to connect from the black box to the back of your computer. The Ethernet connector is similar to a phone connector, except it is larger and has more pins. An Ethernet cable has eight contacts on the connector and a phone connector will have four at the most and usually just two.

After you connect the cable you must set up your computer to recognize the Ethernet signal. If you are using Windows XP go to the Control Panel and then go to "Internet Options" click the "Connections" tab and then choose "Setup" then click "Next" then click "connect to the internet" and click "next" then choose "set up my connection manually" and click "next" then choose "Connect using a broadband connection that is always on" and click "next" and finally click "finish."

You should now be able to connect to the internet using Internet Explorer, Firefox, or whatever browser you use.

If you still can't get on the internet, let me know and I'll try to provide more information.

Good luck.

"Ethernet jacks" look just like the little "RJ" phone plugs but are WIDER to accomodate the extra pins.

If you've been on dialup your computers may be set to prioritize to dialup and may attempt to connect that way even if an ethernet connection is available.

How to proceed depends on what operating system you are running...

AD

Thanks, guys. My wife bought a new laptop and had a rent-a-geek come out to set it up for her, so while he was here, he also hooked my ancient machine up to the ethernet.