Expansion Updates! see our Wi-Fi tour Wednesday, 20-Aug-2008 04:19:59 EDT   Wi-Fi Member Quickstart Guide Member account set-up Maintaining a quality connection Trouble shooting & reporting an issue Table of Contents Webcats Member Introduction to Wi-Fi Note to self-installers New Member Account Set-up Best Management Practices Monitoring the Webcats Network Setting up the "Back-up dial-up" system Using the "Trouble Ticket System" Pay-Pal & Billing Trouble Shooting Tech Calls & Computer Repair Service Typical Configurations (topology) Routed Backhaul Radio w/Simple Wired LAN This array will provide wired connectivity for multiple machines connected by wire to a central switch. Routed Backhaul Radio w/Wired & Wireless LAN This array will provide wired and wireless connectivity for multiple machines connected by wire to a central switch and AccessPoint (AP). Bridged Backhaul w/o Router (older systems) Older systems may have a bridged wireless connection. This configuration requires a seperate router. For the most part we no longer build these kinds of solutions. Modern equipment has eliminated the need for an external router. Webcats Member Introduction to Wi-Fi (Bookmark this page!) Welcome to Webcats WISP services (Wireless Internet Service Provider - WISP). Wireless system management will make your connection experience faster and more reliable. It is necessary to maintain a good connection and a system clean of viruses to avoid effecting other members near your location. A poor connection at your location can effect others connected to the same tower as you. Thus we (the all inclusive kind of "we") are "members" of the network and work together to keep each of our networks (yours as well as webcats) clean of viruses and maintain great radio connectivity to the tower. With your wireless installation and connection to Webcats now complete, we will introduce you to tools that you will need to monitor the Webcats Network. Internet access via your free back-up dial-up account is important if you are to going to monitor outages and get those critical files when troubles arise. (Note: Free back-up dial-up not included in economy membership packages including B-band Lite) Wireless Internet connections can be as fast and even faster then wired connections. The key to this is a great wireless connection. We urge you to read over this document anytime that you need generalized information regarding how to maintain the good health on and thus the Webcats Network overall. Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" Note to self-installers We enjoy working with those of you technically able to self install your system, but time management makes it necessary for us to first attend to those that are not as technically able. We'd like to expose our self-installed members to the same introduction and tutorial that we provide to our professionally installed members. This introduction should be read and reviewed by all of our members and self-installed members should take time to study the provided documentation carefully before contacting support for assistance. Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" New Member Account Set-up Subscribe Here First time subscribers are encouraged to subscribe within 24 hours of installation to avoid a reconnect fee. If you are having trouble establishing a PayPal account or prefer to be invoiced, please see the section on PayPal below for additional information regarding PayPal subscriptions and alternative options to this form of payment. *Required for new members "Subscribe Here" Join the Forum Backroom If you have not yet registered to the forum you will need to register first, then request the backroom access. To do so click on the included link below and then click on "Register". Once you have registered return here to join the backroom with the same link above. You will then log-in and follow the instructions provided regarding how to join the Backroom. *Required for all members "Join the Forum Backroom" Get a Webcats Email Address Important: Although having a Webcats email address is optional, it is important that you review the section regarding managing your PayPal account and the hazards of not keeping current contact information up to date with that service. We use your email address to identify you no matter who your email address is provided by and therefore it is not necessary to have a Webcats email address. Optional to all members "Get a Webcats Email Address" Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" Best Management Practices Reboot your entire system once per day (radio & router included) Maintain clear line of sight to the tower Be antenna aware (is it still point at the tower?) Protect your home wireless system from hitch hikers Avoid using the same channel (frequency) & SSID for your wireless home LAN See Trouble Shooting for much more Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" Monitoring the Webcats Network An easy way for you to know if your LAN (Local Area Network) is down or if the Webcats Network WAN (Wide Area Network) is experiencing a problem. From our home page click on "Network Monitor" TIPS: To get to our home page click our logo in the top left corner of any page. To access the Network Monitor when you are down use your included "free back-up dial-up" account. Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" Setting up the "Back-up dial-up" system You're Never Down! We're especially proud of this "special & rare" service feature. Webcats provides your Wi-Fi connection a free back-up dial-up account. Whether your LAN has failed or the Webcats Network has been compromised you will always be able to get those critical files, make that last minute eBay bid, or check the network monitor and report your issue to support via the "trouble ticket system" from our home page. You will never EVER be down again! TIP: Set this up and test it before you have an issue. If your connection is down you won't have access to the set-up information to install the back-up dial-up system (a catch-22 that happens all the time to the network newbies). Backroom access required *ALERT: Back-up dial-up is not available with the economy membership level. Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" Using the "Trouble Ticket System" (TTS) READ ME BEFORE REPORTING A PROBLEM The fastest most reliable way to contact us for new services or to report issues is through the Webcats Trouble Ticket System (TTS). However it is not always possible to use that system especially if you are on an "Economy Plan" that does not have access to the Internet via our back-up dial-up account to report a problem. Monitoring the network is also impossible without an Internet connection so knowing if you are having a problem on your LAN or if there is a problem with the Webcats Network you may need to call our tech support line. If you are not maintaining a back-up connection to the Internet and you are down, calling us may be your only option. Before you call attenpt to reboot your radio, router and computers. If your system does not recover after reboot and you have no back-up means to connect to the INternet, then call us for support. If you call and we are unavailable, it may be because we are already aware of the situation and are probably effecting repairs. In either case, be sure to leave us a message on the tech support line so that we can contact you if the issue is not related to the Webcats Network. When an issue related to the Webcats Network is repaired, you're service should return automatically when we effect the repair. If the Webcats Network has experienced an outage, has been repaired and you still can not connect, try rebooting your radio, router and computer. If service fails to return, contact the tech support line. When filling in a TTS report for new services or to report a network problem be sure to include the following information and follow these basic tips for debugging if trouble shooting. If down, before calling or reporting, reboot your radio, router, computers, etc... Try connecting with your back-up dial-up and check the network monitor Check the outage and downtime forum in the backroom for reports of network problems Report any changes you've made to your system when calling for support Connect by wire to your LAN during support calls or when de-bugging Avoid de-bugging with a wirelessly connected laptop Report your SSID during support calls Give full details in "Trouble Tickets" Select the best possible pulldown for your needs in the TTS TIP: The first question in the TTS is a pull down. If you select this first option properly your request will be routed to the appropriate staff member that can handle your request with the fastest possible response time. Except for your email address this is the most important form field in the TTS. From our home page, click on "Trouble Ticket System" TIP: To get to our home page click our logo in the top left corner of any page. For the tech support line go to our home page and click on Contact & Office Hours Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" Pay-Pal & Billing ATTENTION: When you make changes to your email account information (i.e. change to a webcats email account) be sure to change that information on your PayPal account. PayPal uses your email address to notify you of credit card expirations. If you miss that notification (they send three notices), PayPal will cancel your Webcats subscription. If your account is cancelled you may be charged a reconnect fee. Webcats uses PayPal to process payment for equipment and to collect monthly membership dues from our members. PayPal is free and it keeps your private information out of the hands of merchants and their employees. Webcats has found several distinct advantages in using PayPal rather than using traditional credit card processing venues (i.e. Visa, Master Card, etc...). We no longer need collect, protect and secure your credit card information. Because we use PalPal, Webcats never sees any of your account information. We simply receive notification that PayPal has sent us your membership dues. This also places control over your account (and your money) in your hands where that kind of control belongs. Webcats can not "take" money from your account. Instead you "send" your membership dues to us via PayPal. Automation is the key. Each month PayPal will automatically & reliably send us your membership dues until you tell them to stop. There is nothing for you to do other than maintain current contact and credit card information with PayPal. PayPal's automation makes accounting easier for Webcats too. Because your billing is automated through PayPal, less time is required for us to process your membership dues and reduces costs for everyone. Invoiced Billing Invoiced billing is available. Webcats will send you a custom invoice once a month, quarterly, semi-annually or annually for a small fee of $4.99 per invoice. Obviously an annual payment would mean a one time fee for the year while monthly invoices would result in a fee for each of the twelve invoices. If you prefer invoiced billing please contact our accounting office through the TTS or telephone. Credit Card Payments & Pay by Check These forms of payment are both accepted and subject to the same invoiced billing fees as described above. Because we no longer maintain a merchant credit card account, we use PayPal to process credit cards. You do not need to open or maintain a PayPal account to make payments to us through PayPal. PayPal will not require any information other then your credit card information. Making check payments? Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents" Trouble Shooting Webcats Wi-Fi Tune-up & Maintenance Guide Introduction Power Over Ethernet (POE) Hazard Warning Diagnostic tips How do I tell if my LAN is down? Before you call support Antenna alignment, radio interference & RSSI What is the association table? What is an SSID? What is a "Rogue" Access Point? Wireless Home LAN Trouble Shooting Vertical vs. Horizontal Antenna Polarization IP Addressing Issues Heat Lightning Hazard Lightning Protection Line of sight issues In-line connectors on Ethernet cables Crossover vs straight Ethernet cable Viruses, Trojans & Spyware Webcats Firewall Protection & Remote Access Back to Quickstart Guide "Table of Contents"   Subscribe to our forum | Earn Commissions Webcats Network© Copyright: 1996 - 2007