What is BSF’s mail server address?
The address is mail.bsf.net for both the POP3 and SMTP settings in your software.

What is BSF’s DNS servers IP addresses?
BSF’s DNS and IP addresses are automatically assigned. There is no need to specify these addresses.

What is BSF’s news server address?
The news server address is news.bsf.net.

What are BSF’s dial-up access numbers outside of St. Francisville?
The primary dial-up access number for St. Francisville is 225-784-8472.  Depending on your setup, you may or may not need to include the area code. Check this link for a complete list of dial-up numbers. BSF users can access the Interent from those areas by logging in with their username followed by @bsf.net, for example: user@bsf.net

What is the address for my personal web site?
The address for your personal web site would be http://www.bsf.net/~login less @bsf.net. For example:
Login: snuffy@bsf.net
Web Address: http://www.bsf.net/~snuffy

Whenever I double click on the Internet icon, it comes up saying "Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site http://www.bsf.net. What does that mean?
Your Auto-Dialer is not working anymore. Create a shortcut to your dialer as follows:
Double click the My Computer icon.
Double click the Dial-Up Networking folder.
Click the right mouse button on the BSF icon and go to Create Shortcut.
Click yes and close all of the windows. You should now see a Shortcut to BSF icon on the Desktop.
Whenever you want to connect to the Internet, double click the shortcut to BSF, click Connect, wait for the connection to be established, and then double click the browser icon on the desktop.

What program do I use to check my email?
You can use and email client software which supports POP3. Microsoft Outlook Express or Netscape Communicator are recommended.

What is my email address?
Your email address is the same as your login. 
Login: snuffy@bsf.net
Email Address: snuffy@bsf.net

Is it okay if I type everything in capital letters or do I have to use lowercase?
Everything should be typed in lowercase letters.

I am having trouble getting connected. It keeps asking me for my login and password.
First, make sure that the Caps Lock key is not on. Then, verify that the login and password are not misspelled.

I can’t check my email. What could be wrong?
Make sure that your login and password are typed correctly and make sure that both the POP3 and SMTP servers are set to mail.bsf.net in your email program. Also, check to ensure that any secure password authentication options are disabled as well.

How do I upload my personal web page?
You’ll need an FTP client program if you don’t know how to FTP from the command line. Using FTP, you will need to log into the bsf.net server using your login and password. Then change to the public_html folder and put your HTML pages there. The page you want to come up first must be named index.htm. A good FTP client for Windows is CuteFTP and Fetch is a program that works well on the Macintoshes.

What does "Your modem is being used by another dial-up networking connection" mean?
It means that some other program or process has control of the modem and will not allow the Internet to access it. If you have any FAX software set to automatically answer the  phone or if you have a voice messaging program running it will cause this error. If you have nothing open, press Control-Alt-Delete and wait for the Close Program window to appear. Look for Rnaapp in the window, highlight it, and click End Task and then click OK when it asks for confirmation. Try connecting. If it still persists, you may need to reboot the computer.

What is a browser?
A browser is the program that lets you view web pages on the Internet. Two popular browsers are Internet Explorer and Firefox. 

Why do I keep getting disconnected?
You may be sitting idle on the Internet. Our equipment will time out an inactive session after 15 minutes of no traffic. Also, noise on the phone line or forgetting to disable call waiting can cause this as well. 

Why do I keep getting disconnected when I’m writing my email?
If you spend more than 15 minutes writing email you will be disconnected. This is because nothing is being transmitted over the Internet until you press the Send button. The time spent typing is seen as a period of inactivity.

How do I know if someone is receiving the email I send them?
Normally, if you don’t receive an error while sending or get a bounced letter, it went through. Some mail programs allow you to request a confirmation as well. Check in the help file to see if you program supports this.

What does it mean when I receive the message "Can’t locate server"?
Usually it means that the particular site you are trying to access is down or unavailable. If this is happening with every site, then you may need to check your Internet settings and verify that you are connected.

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