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2:34:58 AM CST -- Monday, September 06, 2010

Access and Acceptable Use Policy Issues

I have an "Unlimited Usage" Dial-Up account.  Are there any restrictions on this?

Not many - but there are some:

• You are allowed one active MLCNet session per paid account.  You are not allowed to be connected from work while someone else is connected from home, for example.  Further, if you were issued extra User ID’s (to use separate Email accounts), you still have only one paid account, and are allowed to have only one session active at a time.  If, according to our call accounting, your account is shown to have more than one session active at any time during a given month, the following month you will receive a full month’s bill for each concurrently connected session.  If you require more than one person at a time to be connected to MLCNet, we offer a substantial discount for multiple accounts.  Please Email info@mlc.net for more information.
• Dial-Up accounts are meant for interactive usage only.   This means that you must be in actual physical control of any computer connected to MLCNet for a period of time greater than five minutes.  (Usage while downloading files is exempted from this rule.)  You may not connect to MLCNet and leave the computer connected unattended for extended periods of time (in order to access Email or stock quotes throughout the day, etc.)  You are, however, allowed unattended use of programs such as PointCast (www.pointcast.com) that automatically connect at various times during the day, check for and download news, mail, etc. and then disconnect.  If you’d like additional information regarding these types of programs, or if you require continuous, unattended usage of your account (a Dedicated account), please Email info@mlc.net for more information.
• If you have a Dial-Up Multilink account (Shotgun, Dual-Analog MPP, or ISDN MPP) you may not defeat any "bandwidth on demand" function of your modem, router or software in order to force your second connection to remain active at all times.  Your monthly charge is predicated on your second connection only being active when your system activity warrants extra throughput.
• There is a 5MB limit on the amount of data you can store on our system.  Overages are charged at the rate of $1.00 per MB.  You can call our office during normal business hours and we will be glad to tell you how much storage you currently have in use.
• You may not use MLCNet, or any of its facilities, programs or services, to perform any act, or store any data, that, at the sole discretion of MLCNet, could be considered illegal, offensive or inappropriate.  MLCNet reserves the right to revoke all usage privileges, without refund of any pre-paid charges and without recourse, of any account that violates this policy, and MLCNet will report to the appropriate authorities any activities deemed to be illegal.

Does MLCNet block or censor any areas of the Internet?

No.  MLCNet provides full, unrestricted access to all areas of the Internet, including over 28,000 Usenet newsgroups - without regard to content.  In keeping with our policy regarding materials that could be considered illegal, offensive or inappropriate, some services (such as Usenet newsgroups) are made available to MLCNet users via a third-party provider (news.starnet.net), and are not stored, served nor endorsed by MLCNet - and MLCNet is not responsible for any content made available by these sources.  You assume all risk for any usage of Usenet newsgroups.

Billing and Payment Issues

How am I billed?

MLCNet statements for the current month are issued on the first of each month, and payment is due in our office by the 15th of that month.  For example, your statement for service for the period of April 1 through April 30 is issued on April 1 and payment is due in our office no later than April 15.  If this is your first statement, or if you have exceeded the limits of your specific account type, the statement will also include any applicable charges incurred during the previous month (on a pro-rated basis, if appropriate.)

If all charges on your statement are not paid by the due date, a $2.00 late fee will be added to your account.  If your statement charges are still not paid by the start of the next billing cycle, your account may be temporarily deactivated.  In all cases, if your statement charges are not paid in full by the 15th day of the new billing cycle, your account will be deactivated.  If we deactivate your account for non-payment, a $5.00 service charge will apply for reactivation.  You will have to pay any and all charges - including all applicable late fees and service charges -  and we may require a deposit before your account will be reinstated.   If your account continues in a deactivated status for 30 days, your account will be terminated and all data associated with the account (personal storage, Web pages, Email, etc.) will be deleted without further warning or recourse, and your account will be turned over to an outside agency for collection.

MLCNet is one of very few providers that does not require you to provide credit card or checking account information upon starting an account.   We ask you to help us to continue this policy by mailing your payment promptly each month.  If you have questions about your statement, or believe a charge is in error, please Email support@mlc.net, or call our office during normal business hours.

Can I pay by credit card?

MLCNet accepts the following forms of payment:

• Cash (only at our office during normal business hours.)
• Check.
• MLC Revolving Charge.  The MLC Revolving Charge account is made available by Norwest Financial Services, and can be used for your MLCNet account charges.  You receive a credit card, pre-approved credit line and low minimum monthly payments.  The card may also be used to secure 90 Days Same As Cash financing on major purchases.  For more information about the MLC Revolving Charge, please Email info@mlc.net.

Does MLCNet offer Pre-Payment Discounts?

Yes.  Actually there are three ways you can lower your MLCNet monthly charges:

• Pay five times your regular monthly bill at any time, and you will receive credit for six month's service (save 17%!)
• Pay nine times your regular monthly bill at any time, and you will receive credit for one full year's service (save 25%!)
• Refer a new subscriber to MLCNet.  Click here for more details on the MLCNet Referral Bonus.

How do I terminate my service?

Unlike many providers, MLCNet does not require subscribers to sign a contract of any specific length for services.  You may cancel service at any time, subject to the following restrictions:

• All cancellation requests must be submitted in writing prior to the last day of the current month.
• All cancellations become effective on the last day of the term of your subscription - since statements are sent for the current month, you may not request cancellation in the middle of the month and receive a refund of unused charges.  If you have paid in advance for a longer term (in order to receive discount pricing) you may not cancel prior to the end of the term of your prepayment.
• You are still responsible for any and all charges incurred prior to the effective date of cancellation, and may receive a final statement that reflects any charges incurred during the current term of service.

Email Issues

I sent Email, but it was returned to me as "Undeliverable". What happened?

There could be many different reasons, but these would be most likely:

• There is an error in the address.  Unlike your friendly Letter Carrier, computers are very unforgiving. Any error in the address will cause your mail to be returned (or, worse yet, delivered - but to the wrong person!)  Verify that you have entered the exact address properly.
• The system to which you are sending mail may be temporarily unavailable, or may be too busy to service the request at this time.  MLCNet's mail server will attempt to send your mail for 72 hours before returning it to you.  Try resending your mail later.
• The recipient's mailbox may be full (most often seen on large systems such as CompuServe and AOL that have Email limits.)  Try resending your mail later.
• There may not be an available (or correct) route between our mail server and the mail server to which you are sending mail.  Mail returned with a message such as "Too Many Hops..." is indicative of this situation. If this happens to you, please Email support@mlc.net and notify us of the problem.  We may be able to establish an alternate route.

I'm going out of town.   Can I still send and receive Email?

Yes.  MLCNet's 3mail makes this possible.  Click here for details on how to use 3mail.

Internet Issues

My connection seems very slow today.  Is something wrong?

Probably not.  Just like any other "superhighway" today, the Internet experiences traffic jams.  This is not a problem with your connection, or with MLCNet - it is simply a matter of more users attempting to use the backbone (the network of large, cross-country, data lines which form the foundation of the Internet) than it can adequately handle.  Although the backbone providers (MCI, Sprint, AT&T and others) are working at a feverish pace to increase the amount of available throughput (data that can travel through the lines at a given time), for the foreseeable future there will be times when demand will exceed availability.  These "bottlenecks" are most likely to be seen during the evening hours and on weekends.

Another situation you will encounter from time to time is that your connection seems fine, but a certain Web site seems to take forever to load.   This is generally caused by too many users attempting to get into a Web site at one time.  An example of this was Election Night, 1996.  So many users were attempting to get election results and participate in on-line forums that the MSNBC Web site was completely overloaded, and not only ran very slowly, but actually refused connections to many users.  Another potential cause for this situation can be that the Web site to which you are attempting to connect may be connected to the Internet via a slow connection.  Most people think that all Web sites are built of huge servers connected to T-1 (high speed data) lines.  In fact, many Web sites are run over connections at 28.8 Kbps.  These sites can handle no more than one or two users at a time before becoming very slow in serving connections.

Unfortunately, when presented with either of these situations, there is little you can do but wait and try your site again later.

There are places on the Internet with content that I am uncomfortable with. Can I block these sites?

To some extent, you can block Internet sites with potentially objectionable content.  However, there are some caveats:

• At this time, all Internet Content Protection programs and schemes depend on voluntary cooperation between the content provider and the rating service.  As such, they are not foolproof, and do not offer complete protection.
• In the case of shielding children from objectionable material, MLCNet strongly believes that parental supervision is critical.  It is our opinion that children should never be allowed to use the Internet without responsible adult supervision.
• Children should not have their own Email addresses, and should never be allowed to correspond with individuals unknown to their parents.  There are documented cases of adults masquerading as children in order to lure unsuspecting children into dangerous situations.

If you are using Internet Explorer Version 3.0 or higher, you already have some capability to enforce content controls.  To utilize this function, perform the following steps:

• Start Internet Explorer and click "View", then click "Options...".  This will open a dialog box.
• Click the tab marked "Security".  In the first box titled "Content Advisor" click the button named "Enable Ratings".
• You will be prompted to enter and verify a Password.   Do so.  (This prevents others from changing the settings you are about to make.)
• You may now follow the instructions to customize your preferences.  When you are done, click "Apply" to enable Content Advisor.

There are also other "rating" schemes available from various sources throughout the Internet.  You may want to try the following sources, which are considered among the best:

• http://www.vtw.org/ipcfaq (Internet Parental Control Frequently Asked Questions)
• http://www.turnercom.com (Internet Filter)
• http://www.netnanny.com (Net Nanny)
• http://www.surfwatch.com (SurfWatch)

Inclusion in the above list does not constitute any endorsement of any product or service by MLCNet.  If you require further information on this subject, please Email info@mlc.net.

When I am on-line, can others access my computer or my files?

Maybe.  If you are using Microsoft Windows for Workgroups, Windows 9x or Windows NT (actually any operating system that allows you to share files), and you have enabled file sharing, then the answer is theoretically YES.  Anyone with the knowledge of how to attach to shared drives would be able to, at the least, attempt to access your files - and, perhaps actually do so depending upon the security you have in place. While there may be situations where this is actually what you want (as a temporary means to exchange files between businesses or family members, for example), in general this is not a safe practice.  The best practice is to disable file sharing on those operating systems that support it.  If file sharing is not enabled, or if your operating system doesn't support it, others cannot access your computer or your files.

Computer and Modem Issues

What kind of computer do I need to access MLCNet?

You can access MLCNet with any computer that supports TCP/IP networking.  We have subscribers that successfully use MLCNet with IBM Compatible, Macintosh, AS/400, Linux and Amiga (and probably others that we do not even know about.)  We do suggest that for maximum enjoyment and productivity while on-line you should consider the following to be "minimum suggested requirements" (although many people successfully work on the Internet without these):

• A modem rated at 28.8 Kbps or higher.
• A video card capable of displaying 256 colors or greater.
• A sound card with MIDI and speakers (and for telephony, a microphone.)

Please keep in mind that due to the enormous number of variations of computer equipment in use today, we regret that we are not able to offer configuration or setup support, or problem troubleshooting for any computer hardware not obtained from MLCNet.

What software do I need to access MLCNet services?

You can access MLCNet service with just about any software.   Any of the major Web browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mosaic, etc.) will work, as will most any Email software (Outlook Express, Eudora, etc.) that supports either POP3, SMTP or IMAP.  MLCNet distributes a fully-licensed version of Microsoft's Internet Explorer suite to all new users who require software, and provides limited support for software that we distribute.  We regret that we cannot provide configuration or setup support, or problem troubleshooting for software not obtained from MLCNet.

What kind of modem is best for accessing MLCNet?

You can use just about any modem to access MLCNet.  However, please note the following:

• Given the amount of graphical material posted to the Internet today, we consider 28.8 Kbps to be the slowest realistically acceptable modem speed.
• MLCNet fully supports the K56Flex standard for 56 Kbps service.   We also support V.90.  If you are purchasing a new modem specifically for use with MLCNet, please consider purchasing K56Flex.
• If you currently own (or choose to purchase) an X-2 modem, if the modem is V.90 enabled you will still be able to access MLCNet up to the rated speed of the modem.  If your modem is not V.90 enabled, the maximum speed you will be able to achieve with your X-2 modem and MLCNet is 33.6 Kbps.
• Make sure the modem you purchase has drivers for the particular operating system you will be running.  Often, "generic" modem drivers are the cause of problems and sluggish performance.
• Due to the large number of available modems, we regret that we cannot provide configuration or setup support, or problem troubleshooting for modems not obtained from MLCNet.

Known Problems 

When I click on "The Internet" on my desktop (Windows 95) nothing happens.

- or -

I open Internet Explorer, and it waits for a while then tells me that www.mlc.net cannot be found.

Microsoft Internet Explorer depends on Dial-Up Networking in order to establish a connection to the Internet.  Since many companies now use Web browsers (such as Internet Explorer) for a number of purposes that have nothing to do with the Internet, it is possible to run Internet Explorer without being connected to the Internet.  For some reason, we have found that Internet Explorer will often "forget" to tell Dial-Up Networking to dial and establish a connection.  What then happens is that Internet Explorer tries to find the initial site (in most cases MLCNet), but cannot - because it's not connected to the Internet.

If this happens to you, do the following:

• Double-click on My Computer (on your desktop.)
• Open the folder marked "Dial-Up Networking."
• Drag the MLCNet icon to your desktop, and when prompted choose "Create Shortcut Here."
• Close all folders.
• In the future, to connect to MLCNet, first double-click the MLCNet icon to dial.  Then open Internet Explorer after you're connected.

By the way, you can perform these steps and use this procedure before you run into problems - which is probably a good idea.

We hope you have found this FAQ helpful.  If you still have questions, please Email support@mlc.net, or call our office.

We keep working hard to be the best Internet Services Provider available - anywhere - and to provide you the best value for your money.  We welcome your comments and suggestions!  Send Email to support@mlc.net.  You'll receive a prompt response.   Thank you for your continuing support of MLCNet!

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