Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes

We help you by phone for setting up a dial-up-account, for diagnosis of internet problems, and general support and guidance for internet problems Free.

If you have a major problem such as your modem driver software needs re-installing, or a non-internet problem we may give you a few tips free.

If the problem is more major such as a virus destroying all your data, we may quote to come to site, or give you alternative recommendations.

We offer fixed price and hourly charge maintenance contracts to support customer's LAN computer networks, their connectivity to the Net, and any servers we have provided them. 

If your problem is with Microsoft software, their local help line is now inexpensive and sometimes free. Call Microsoft
Alternatively the Microsoft on-line Knowledge Base can be useful.

For MAC computers the MAC user group is probably worth belonging to.

How can I collect my emails while traveling?

See also web mail options below.
Log onto the Net at a friends, a business or an Internet Cafe, using their Internet Service Provider. Go to our home page www.easy.com.au. Click on the web-mail link then enter your username and password (your username is usually everything before the @ in your email address). This gets you into a web based mail system where you can read mail, reply, compose new messages and delete junk messages. 

We recommend you try out web mail from home before you travel.

What are the options for setting up web mail?

You may want to keep some messages for storage in the folders in your normal mail system when you return home. If this is the way you want to use the web mail, then go into its options and set it not to delete messages off our server after you read them. This way you can delete some messages manually while keeping others for your return. Your normal mail package should be left set to delete messages from our server after you have loaded them to the inbox on your computer.

Modem Problems?

If you are experiencing drop outs, or your modem is not working as fast as it used to, or is just using the generic modem driver rather than its own, there are instruction guides and tips in our old on-line reference manual. If these do not help give us a call and we will try to at least narrow down your problem.

Who can create my web pages for me?

If you have suitable software you can create pages yourself. We provide tips to help. However if you have not done recent training in how to make web pages more noticeable on search engines, or don't have software to shrink graphic file sizes to optimize them for the net, you may be better finding someone else to prepare your web pages. We can do this for you. Easynet offers two categories of web page preparation:

A. We prepare and publish the pages for you. (We use only quality contract web page designers that have proven themselves to us.) (If you are one of our customers and are a good web page designer wanting extra work contact us.)

B. We use our engineering team to enhance the code behind the pages you have already created to make them more efficient and make them more visible to the search programs in search engines for maximum exposure, while keeping them looking as you have created them.

How do I get my web pages seen more?

After your web pages are on line, and are being updated as often as is appropriate for their content, they need to be registered with the popular search engines. There are free web sites that will list them with many search engines, but there is then nothing special about the listings to make sure your pages regularly show up in searches by potential customers. There are companies that charge you a monthly fee to keep re-listing your pages claiming this will better position them in the search engines. Unfortunately regular re-registering does little to help, in fact it may cause them to continually be moved back to the back of the lists and ensure they are never well positioned.

There are legitimate ways to improve position. These are different with each search engine, making effective registration a slow but worthwhile process. The text content of your pages, names of files and key words and descriptions hidden in the HTML code are critical to ensure your web site appears in the maximum amount of search results. Unfortunately many web site developers spend a lot of time making your site look good, but spend little time in ensuring they are seen by search programs in search engines. Here is where Easynet can help. We can do three things for you as follows:

A. We use our engineering team to enhance the code behind the pages, and the text on the pages, you have already created to make them more visible within search engines. (Note we can also prepare the pages for you)

B. We can register your site in the optimum way for each key search engine.

C. We can suggest changes to gimmick features on your web pages, so that they are viewable by more of the many different web browsers and computer screen resolutions your potential customers may be using.

Call us for a quote to make your site significantly more visible on the Net

Once all this is done YOU need to search for web page indexes specific to your industry or product, then email each index requesting inclusion of your site in their lists. You may even decide to go in some chargeable listings and/or pay for advertising. Banner adds done effectively could increase hits to your site, but usually by less than 10%. 80% of all hits will result from search engines so this is where you need to invest the effort.

How can I set up a part-time net business?

You will see many e-commerce "solutions" offered on the Net and you will probably receive a lot of unsolicited email offering shopping and business solutions, along with a variety of get rich quick offers. Once you cut through the hype to start a successful web business:
1. Find something to sell
2. Create the best set of web pages you can afford (this is your shop front and your advertising rolled into one)
3. Re-engineer your pages for maximum net acceptance by search engines and by customer web browsers.
4. Get your own domain name so the pages look professional, and stand out from those just listed as part of dial up accounts. (We now register all domain formats)
5. Get the pages optimally listed in search engines.
6. List them in as many indexes as will take them.
7. Include your web address in all other advertising and on all stationary
8. When the site is proving its worth, or when you can afford it, add database driven product pages, then add genuine shopping cart facilities.
9. Once the site is generating thousands of transactions a month, automate the credit card processing. (This tends to have expensive set up costs, else high ongoing commission on every transaction, so is not usually justified in the early stages)

Easynet has the facilities, staff and expertise to help you with all of the above steps. As we are an Australian ISP you are protected by the Trade Practices Commission and the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.

If you sign with one of the many entities you see on the Net, you have on idea of what country they are actually registered in, if at all, and you probably have no protection at all. They may even own your domains and not you!

Can my club get a web presence?

Easynet has a budget bundled service where we include discounted domain purchase and hosting, web hosting and email for social clubs and non-profit organizations. Plus a mini email server to route emails to the actual email addresses of your executive. Call us for full details 

Are Credit Cards safe on the NET?

No, but they are not particularly safe anywhere else either. On the Net only use a credit or debit card with a low limit. Only give your card to sites you are sure are reputable businesses. (Qantas, banks, large software companies, large record companies etc) Ensure you are actually at the legitimate site (there are many clone look alike sites with similar names). Preferably make sure your web browser goes into secure mode while providing card details (Netscape picture of key changes, Internet Explorer padlock appears) If in doubt, place orders by phone fax or letter outside the Net.

As long as you are dealing with a reputable firm and have taken the above precautions, then the Net is probably safer than store transactions. On the Net the transaction is handled by dedicated accounting staff usually screened for suitability to handle funds. Shop salespersons and restaurant waiters usually have no such screening before being employed.

Can I collect my Easynet email via other ISPs?

Yes, You use a web browser and access our web page. See "How can I collect my emails while traveling" for details.

To protect your mail we do not support "relaying" this is where people elsewhere on the net load up our mail server with millions of their outgoing Spam mail. The rule of thumb is that you set your send mail serve to the mail server you are actually dialed into at the time. For receiving mail you can be logged in anywhere in the world and still collect your Easynet mail. 

You can also access from anywhere using our web-mail interface.

Can I change my log in password?

It is a good practice to change your password every so often, especially if others have used your computer, even if this is just your local computer store doing repairs or upgrades. Remember your user name and password are your responsibility. We have no way of knowing if it is you or someone else logging in as you.

If you or anyone else uses your password YOU ARE LIABLE FOR THE COSTS of hours and traffic used. Under Australian law you may also be liable for anything malicious they do when logged on as you.

Keep your password to yourself. Make sure your kids do not let friends look over their shoulders when they type the password in. If you sell your computer or replace your hard drive, change your password. Even if you remove the passwords from your computer, people can still trace them on your hard drive.

You can request changes to your password by calling us, or on line in the 'My Account' section of our home page

If you change your password, then it will need to change in two place on your computer. 
1) In the dial up software it can be changed as you dial in. 
2) It will need to be changed in the 'Accounts' section of your email program. (In Outlook Express this is usually in Tools, Accounts, then select the account and go into its properties)

Other programs on your computer may also require it (e.g. FTP)

Should I forward email virus warnings to friends?

There are a continual stream of ego maniacs creating email virus warnings purporting to be from reputable sources such as Microsoft or IBM. Most people pass these to their friends just in case - DON'T All it achieves is down the line giving you and all your friends email addresses to junk mail mailing lists.

Microsoft, IBM and all virus software companies do have web pages telling you about real viruses to alleviate your fears about some of the hoaxes. If you want to depress yourself check out these sites. (If yours is a MAC machine you have very few virus concerns to worry about)

Provided you have good virus software, and download updates every few weeks you are fairly safe. In general never open email from people you do not know, and certainly never open attachments, and don't click on web links in such messages. (Even people sending junk mail should be capable of getting their whole message into text without links or attachments.) 

A real virus can often mean complete loss of everything on your computer, and a total software rebuild. Have you considered of our off-site automated back up for all critical data on your computer - Easy Vault. to protect you from hard disc failure, viruses or computer theft.

If you do want to pass on junk mail, or jokes, please have the courtesy to remove all the email addresses of those that forwarded it to you before you forward the message. This makes it easier to read, and worst case only your email address then makes it to junk mail lists

Why are some web pages fast & others slow?

Some web pages are poorly made with too many graphics, too much code, or graphics that have not been optimised for the web. They then take a long time to download to your computer.

Some pages are made where the content is continually changing, so they cannot be stored in buffer computers (proxy servers) closer to you in the Net.

When a page is coming from some part of the world to you, it travels to a trunk link to Australia. Most trunks to Australia come via USA. It only takes one link between two US cities or one link elsewhere in the world to be heavily loaded and the rate that data gets through for individuals slows dramatically. If our staff have a lot to get from a web site they try to access it at a time of day when it is 2 to 5am over most of USA so the US population is not slowing the trunks.

Sometimes a site is so popular that the slow link is the one out of the server that is hosting the pages, as it is congested with too many page requests. In a very overloaded site the delays may be so long between bursts of data to you that your browser may timeout or just stop. (occasionally clicking refresh and starting over connects you via less congested links through the Net but not usually)

Within Australia there are multiple internal trunks that ISPs are connected to. Many of these do not directly connect to each other very well, so some of the internal Australian traffic actually links via USA. This creates an interesting situation where you with one ISP will get some pages fast (from ISPs on the same backbone or trunks, and you will get other pages slowly; yet your next door neighbour on a different ISP may get a different mix of fast and slow sites - pages you get fast they get slow and visa versa.

No matter how fast your ISPs system is, in the evening up to midnight, the trunks between ISPs and links overseas will be slowed down due to large numbers of users on line. The problem is getting worse during the day, and Telco's that build the trunks and inter-country links are having trouble keeping up with the unforeseen rapid growth in the Internet.

At Easynet we run a fast system, and have a good proxy server as part of the system, ensuring that at least pages that come from proxy can be faster even if external trunks are congested. Proxy is automatic so do not turn it on in your computer.

Are the schemes to make money worthwhile?

On the Net you are continually bombarded with schemes for you to make money from the Net. Some come via email and some come via web pages. Ask yourself, if they are so great why are they trying to get you involved for a fee.

In Australia people tend to believe what they see in print because we have laws about trade practices and about false or misleading advertising. Much of the world does not have such protection and what you see on the net could be from overseas. The internet is a great leveler, a well prepared set of pages by a con-man from a third world country will look as impressive and respectable as pages of a major corporation. This is good for you setting up a small business - it can be made to look big, but it is bad in that it is easy to get suckered into poor deals that looked good on the web site.

Domain names that end in .com are not necessarily US companies, and even those that are operate under much looser internet regulations than here. It is common for web sites to leave out many of their terms and conditions, some of which can prove to be expensive later. 

Obviously some things on the Net can make money, the most obvious being to get a domain name and set up the small business you have always wanted. See "How can I set up a part-time net business"

Is there a file transfer (FTP) area in Easynet?
Not a public one. However you do have 25MB of space in the home directory we provide for you.

If a file is too big to go via email (bigger than 10MB on our system but often much less at the ISP you are sending it to) it can be sent or received via FTP "File Transfer Protocol"  There are free FTP programs available on the Net

You can FTP files via your home directory on Easynet, or directly to someone else's FTP directory if they have given you access.

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