|
You may be connecting to the Internet through a phone line or through your school's local area network (LAN).
 If your computer has a built-in modem...
Look for the phone jack on the computer. Connect one end of a
phone cord to the phone jack in the computer, the other to a wall jack.
Voila, you're done!
If you don't have a built-in modem...
Connect an external modem to the telephone jack in the wall,
then connect the modem to the computer with a modem cable.
PC and Mac modem cables look different; PC modem cables have a semi-rectangular connector with several pins. Mac modem cables have small round adapters.
|
|
 |
 |
PC
Modem Cable |
Mac
Modem Cable |
If your school has a Local Area Network (LAN)...
You may be required to connect
to the LAN instead of to a telephone line.
A LAN connects computers in a local environment to each other, so that assets and tasks can be more easily shared. For example, with a LAN, without leaving the Administrative Office, your Principal would able to access documents that students are working on via a shared common drive or "server." Similarly, your connection to the Internet would be administered through the LAN.
The most common LAN protocol is Ethernet. You'll need an Ethernet Network Interface Card installed on your computer so it can communicate to the Ethernet network, and from there out to the Internet. Consult the person at your school who is responsible for managing the network about how this set up should be handled.
|
Dialing Up and Getting Online
