Macintosh Support Page

macsupport@california.com

Establishing a Dial-Up Connection with a Macintosh (Must have system 7 or later.)

(Click here to obtain out setup disk)

Configuring PPP or FreePPP

System 7.6 and later (OS 8.0 and 8.1)
Using PPP (also known as Open Transport PPP) included with the system software.
Open the PPP control panel, located in the Control Panels folder in the System Folder.

In the "Name" box, type login or user name in lowercase. This is the name that you have selected to use. Do not include "@california.com" at the end of it.

In the "Password" box, type your password in lowercase. Check "Save Password" if desired; each time you connect you will not have to enter this information.

In the "Number" box, enter the CaliforniaCom local access phone number closest to you. If you have call waiting, enter *70 before the phone number. If you need to dial 9 to access an outside line, include this. Some users may also include commas after the phone number to help their modems establish a connection. (Commas force the modem to pause.)

The "Options" button at the bottom of the control panel leads to three tabs, "Redialing," "Connection," and "Protocol."

Under "Redialing", "Off" is the default selection. If you want your modem to redial if it encounters a busy signal, choose "Redial main number only" from the pull-down menu. You will then be allowed to specify how many times and at what interval to redial. Similarly, "Redial main and alternate numbers" allows you add an alternate number to try when redialing.

The "Connection" tab allows for the option "Connect automatically when starting TCP/IP applications." While useful, be forewarned that this has been known to cause problems. "Verbose logging" may be left unchecked. All of the options under "Reminders:" are up to your personal preferences.

Under the "Protocol" tab, the first two options should be checked: "Allow error correction and compression in modem" and "Use TCP header compression." Leave "Connect to a command-line host" unchecked.

Systems Prior to 7.6
Using FreePPP on the CaliforniaCom Install disk.

(Click here to obtain out setup disk)

FreePPP is configured as follows:
In FreePPP Setup there will be a pull down menu that is labeled "Connect to". Click on this and select the city you are calling from.

Below "Connect to" there is a pull down menu labeled "From:". If you have call waiting, select "Disable Call Waiting." If you are in an office building and have to dial 9 to get an outside line, select that option.

Important: If users have Global Village Modems, follow these steps:
Click the "Modem Setup" button. Under "Modem Init String Settings", Click the "Use:" button.
In the text field next to that, type in one of the following init strings.
Global Village Teleport Gold: AT&F1
Global Village Teleport Gold II: AT&
Global Village Teleport Platinum: AT&F
Global Village Teleport Bronze: AT&F1
Global Village Teleport Mercury: AT&F1

Most modems will work with ATZ. If that doesn't work, try AT&F. For modems other than Global Village, consult the modem manual for the proper init string.
:
There are two buttons on the bottom of FreePPP Setup, one for "Modem Setup" and another for "Open TCP/IP" or "Open MacTCP," depending on the system software. Modem setup should be already completed, i.e. the modem should have been installed, etc. The other button opens the appropriate control panel directly.

Setting up MacTCP or TCP/IP  (OS 8.x)

(Click here for screenshots)

TCP/IP control panel
For "Connect via:" select either "PPP" or "FreePPP" from the pull-down menu, depending on which dialer you are using.

For "Configure:" choose "Using PPP Server." Next, enter the DNS numbers (IP address) in the "Name server addr.:" box. Under "Search domains:" enter "california.com"

Close the window, saving changes.

(If the PPP options do not appear in the menus, you may need to re-install software.)

MacTCP control panel (from the CaliforniaCom install disk)
This control panel appears more complicated than it is. It has a main window and a configuration dialog. Most users only need to bother with the configuration dialog; this is found by hitting the "More..." button at the bottom of the main window. Most of the configuration info can be safely ignored. The upper left hand corner has a radio button to choose how to obtain address. This should be set to Server. The bottom right hand corner holds the DNS numbers, but the label is "Domain Name Server Information." California.com under "Domain", of course, and DNS numbers under "IP Address." There are three spaces available; the .20 address should have the radio button for "Default" chosen.

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