FAQ

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What has happened to my account - I can't log in anymore with Lineisp!

Ok, if you are having to read this from a friends computer because you cannot log in, it *may* be because you created an account with either blank entries, "asdfaqs" type entries or another type of "false account" entry. We do try to remind people to create a proper account while they are signing up. If however a non-genuine account is opened, the delbot will remove it, the webspace and any messages.

Lineisp complies with the data protection act - and will never disclose your personal details (unless compelled by law to do so). We would however like our members to join with genuine details for several reasons.

Firstly we can see the effect of our advertising more clearly - establish how many people are joining us from which areas, secondly it enables us to confirm some details if ever you forget / lose you password and you wish us to reset it. If you have a blank / "asdghf" type name and address, there is no way we can be certain that it is YOU who wishes us to reset your password. Additionally, if we are anticipating upgrades etc to our system in certain areas, it means we can send an e-mail to everyone in the affected area, notifying them of any possible disruptions to service. Lastly, we are looking at bringing in a reward scheme for people who have recommended us to their friends - and possibly the odd competition from time to time. If the account has no valid name / address, then effectively there is no way you can participate.

If your account has been terminated, the solution is to join up again - and this time complete the fields as requested - however a "123456" for a telephone number is fine. We will never disclose your personal details to other people/companies but we do ask that our members give genuine details. Thank you.

Whenever I log on with Internet Explorer, I end up at the Lineisp site - can I have it go to my own homepage?

It is surprising (for us) how often we are asked this one (or variations on a theme) So, in short - Yes!!, this is super quick and easy to do. In Internet Explorer, you will see on the top line, File Edit View Favourites Tools Help if you click Tools, you will then see a pull down menu, the last option is Internet Options. If you click this you will then see a box talking about "Home Page". You can type whichever URL (Internet address) you want in this box - and the next time you load Internet Explorer, it will take you there.

To make it even easier still, if you first go to the page you wish Explorer to go when you first start it, then do the above, you can just click the Use Current button - and it will insert the correct URL for you! If you prefer, you can press the Use Blank button - in which case it will wait for you to tell it which page you are going to load before going anywhere. A lot of people set the browser to automatically visit their favourite search engine - you can of course change this setting as often as the fancy takes you.

Urgh! This screen looks all cramped and grotty, why?

This site works well with most screen settings but if you have less than 800x600 resolution set on your monitor, things are going to seem a bit squashed together. You will find this on most of the other sites you visit too. You should be able to adjust your video through Windows Control Panel to give you a higher resolution. For people with average vision, 1024x768 is often a good choice. Ideally with 256 colours as a minimum.

What does "Free Internet" really mean?

In short, we do not charge a "set up fee", monthly fee or time charges. Nor do we charge you for unlimited e-mail addresses or your web space. Put simply, you will never receive a bill from us. Your call to our servers is on a lo-call number (0845) which should cost you no more than a local rate call - in other words, you should pay less than a penny a minute at weekends and a little over a penny during evenings, nights and the early hours.

If we don't pay you anything, why do you do it?

Good question. Simple Answer. We have struck a deal which means that we get a miniscule share of the call cost back from the telecom companies - without it costing you any more. In other words, they give us a tiny share of their call charge. We also hope to offer products of our own in the shopping section - so we make a little money selling online.

Some Companies offer 0800 access, how do they do it?

Well, many of them have already closed down, of the ones presently remaining, you will tend to find that every web page you see has extra banner adverts added when you view it and the e-mail contains adverts too. In most cases if you do not do something within a few minutes you will also be kicked off-line - this tends to be frustrating if you are reading an e-mail or a web page - and worse still if you need to spend a penny. In short, if you are prepared to accept this level of service and are happy to lose some of the other benefits (unlimited e-mail, 25 MB space etc), you might still find some 0800 access companies around.

What is a banner and why are they bad?

Ok, banners are "adverts for other web sites" basically. It is not so much that they are "bad", but you will find some pages on the net with over a dozen banners on them - this makes the page VERY slow to load, untidy and terribly confusing to the eye. The odd banner placed here and there does no harm providing it is not inappropriate - eg: a banner for a sex-site being placed on a family page. If you click here you can see what our Main Page looks like when a banner is poked on it. It's not too bad but it will slow the page loading down a little and it can also be distracting. There are one or two banners on some of our pages but they are links to websites where we are suitably impressed first-hand with their service or product. (Thanks to Tim for the gist of this question!)

Why advertise another web site with a banner?

Simple answer. Each time someone sees a banner on your pages, you earn a credit. Then in return, YOUR banner will be shown on someone else's site. The idea is to increase the number of visitors to your pages.

I want to build my own web site. What do I need to do?

If you click the Web Sites Of Interest link, you will see that there is a page devoted to getting you online, quickly and without cost. You can also go straight to the page by clicking here. You will find that we have a download link to get Serif's WebPlus program. This program is completely FREE - not just a trial or shareware. You will be able to get online without needing to know anything about programming, HTML or other "techie" bits. Of course if you prefer to code everything manually, please feel free! On the page there is also a link to WINZIP - this is a utility (again free) which you will need to unzip the extra files if you choose to download them too. The main program download is about 9MB - so you might want to go and put the kettle on while it comes down the wire - it IS worth it though.

There are also some extra features you can download to make things even better (more graphics, backgrounds, images etc). When you first set the program up, you will find all you need to know from the settings page. The software requires you to register it - but this is a "no-cost" process which should only take a few minutes of your time.

If you haven't already done so, you need to reserve your 25 MB of web space before you can use it, it will take you about a minute to do! Just go here to stake your claim!

Why are the lineisp.co.uk pages so plain?

Because it helps them load faster and it makes them much clearer. There are some fantastic pages out there for you to explore, some of them are truly works of art. We felt though, that speed and clarity are what most people want from their service provider - and that is what we try to offer.

What about my children surfing the net?

Safer surfing is something we believe in strongly. At the same point, we do not like censorship being applied according to one persons morals. As a result we allow people to make an informed choice. If you do not have vulnerable people surfing, you can simply surf where you wish. If however there are people who should be protected from certain sites, we offer links from our web sites of interest page to some filtering products - some of which are completely free. These allow unrestricted access if a password is entered - but block unsuitable sites when children are using it. We feel so strongly about the need for a responsible attitude towards children that even if you have "surfed in" on another Internet Providers service, you are encouraged to help yourself to a copy of the software before you leave us.

What happens to my current settings if I join you?

When you join online, after you have finished, the computer will place a little icon on the desktop for you if you click the "Connection Settings" and then save it to desktop. You can then log off your present internet connection and click the icon. It will then add a new entry to your internet dialer - the box that asks you if you wish to CONNECT or WORK OFF-LINE, you can then choose to connect to the Internet with us - or you can still use any other setting that you had before. This way, none of your existing settings are overwritten or lost. If you need more clarification on this, please send an e-mail to us here explaining your concerns, we will then answer your queries for you. If you prefer to do it manually, you will also be told how to do this on the same page, if you have not printed the page out, the settings you need can be found here.

I want the free web space but I already have my own domain name - What do I do?

No problem. When you have established yourself with us - you will be given a URL for your home page - for example: http://www.myname.lineisp.co.uk. When you registered your domain name you were probably given a password to allow you to change some settings - like where it is re-directed to.

All you need to do is to redirect your own domain name, eg: myusername.com to the URL we give you. Then anyone accessing you using your own domain name will be invisibly and instantly re-directed to the space we provide for you. You should also be able to have your e-mail redirected

to your e-mail account with us if you wish.

There are NO banner adverts on members home pages or business pages (unless you choose to place some yourself) and best of all, we host it all for free for you. (Thanks to Carolyn for this question!)

Please note that for reasons of security, you can only upload to your site when logged in through our own server. If you try to ftp your files from another ISP, you will get permission denied. Although we have tried to make it clear to people joining us, that we are a UK ISP for UK residents only, we still have people (mainly from the US) who join us. As they will be unable to access our 0845 lo-call number, they will be unable to use us either for Internet access or web space.

I keep getting errors when I am connected with another ISP and try to get my POP3 email from lineisp. what is happening?

Err, we're blocking you basically! :) Although we used to allow POP3 access from ANY computer on the net connected to ANY isp, the result was that we had a huge number of overseas accounts using us purely as a "disposable mailbox". It costs bandwidth and unless someone is dialling in on our 0845 number, we get absolutely nothing for our efforts in return. As a result if you wish to use Lineisp POP3 email, you will need to connect through us to get it. for genuine "roamers" among you however you can still use our webmail system from ANY connection to the internet you can find - cyber cafes included. To find out more about webmail, please see the next question below.

I want to use web based e-mail, how do I go about it?

Ok, easy. Just go and visit the webmail page at http://webmail.lineisp.co.uk/ and log in with your e-mail address and password (the one you chose when joining us). You can log in from anywhere on ANY internet connection and send mail from your lineisp account. You can also set forwarding too (use the options button in the top left hand of the screen).

When someone sends you an e-mail, it will be made available to you in the usual way (for example in the "inbox" of Outlook Express") and also the "inbox" of your webmail system. If you do not use the webmail system, the system will hold your e-mail for you until you dial in as usual. If you DO use the webmail system, you can read/reply/delete your e-mails from a different computer (eg: a cyber cafe). Once your POP3 mail reader (eg: Outlook Express / Forte Agent etc) has downloaded a message, it will automatically be removed from your webmail box (to avoid duplication). You have a full 10 MB of space for your incoming mail - enough for loads of messages even if they have attachments.

What is the Auto-responder and how do I configure it?

You will encounter someone else's auto-responder sooner or later, what happens is that you send an e-mail and within a few seconds, you get an e-mail back - typically thanking you for contacting them - and the assurance that your e-mail will be answered shortly. This is the work of an auto-responder.

Relatively few ISP's have these - and some of those that do make a charge for it. We don't. It's too much hassle to try and charge you a few pounds a year to use it when we don't charge you for anything else. As a result it's free for you to use if you wish.

If you want to set yours up and switch it on, it's easy to do. Just go to the webmail page http://webmail.lineisp.co.uk/ and then sign in. You will then find in the top right hand corner of the screen, various options that you can customize (under the Options and Styles button). One of the options is whether you wish to use the auto-responder.

Note that you do not have to use webmail to use this service, but it is where the auto-responder is configured. You will have the choice of forwarding the mail after the auto-responder has done its work. In most cases, you will want to leave this blank. It will also show "inbox" as the folder this applies to. Again you should normally not need to alter this. Simply type the message you wish the auto-responder to send and click "save". That's it.

Sometimes I have difficult connecting to the system - and have poor connection speed - why?

The first thing to check is the service information page - very occasionally, there may be a fault that we are aware of - if so, we will give information here as to what has happened and how long we expect the repair to take.

Usually however we find there are common factors when people have difficulty contacting us, this is often caused by having a large number of other items plugged into the telephone line (two or more phones, answerphone, cordless phone, fax, cable TV box and so on). Each time you add another piece of equipment to the line, the signals to and from the modem become a little weaker and a little more distorted. If you have multiple items plugged into your telephone line, please try accessing us after temporarily unplugging the other items. If the fault immediately goes away, you will at least know the cause. Then it is a matter of seeing it there is one item in particular (old equipment most likely) that causes the problem.

If the fault remains, another possibility is a badly set-up internal telephone system. These can also cause signal loss on the telephone line which will result in several attempts needed to connect to us - poor connect speed - and often being disconnected. This tends to apply to businesses use more than residential - but some homes do now have an internal telephone system.

Before trying to look for more complex reasons, try unplugging everything from the telephone line and plugging the modem in on its own. THEN see what speed you connect at. Most Lineisp users report a connect speed of around 52000. Clearly whether this solves the problem or not, you will need to reconnect at least some of your telephones - but it will make diagnosing the problem much easier if you have already tried this test.

If you still have problems connecting, then please contact us and we will try to help.

But you haven't answered the question I wanted to ask!

Sorry! We add to the FAQ list from time to time but if you can take a couple of minutes to ask us now, we will try to answer your question by e-mail - and update the FAQ too. To send us an e-mail now, please click here. To use the feedback form (faster response usually), please click here!