Troubleshooting Web Browsing and FTP

Internet Explorer prompts me to "Work Offline"

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer to browse the Internet, you may occasionally be prompted to "Work Offline" or "Connect to the Internet", even if you are already connected to the Internet.  Select your version of Internet Explorer below for instructions on how to configure Internet Explorer to work best with DirecPC.

1. Launch Internet Explorer 4.
2. From the menu bar select View and then select Internet Options from the menu.
3. Select the Connection tab.
4. In the Connection section, select the Connect to the Internet using a local area network option.
5. Press the OK button to close the "Internet Options" dialog.

1. Launch Internet Explorer 5.
2. From the menu bar select Tools and then select Internet Options from the menu.
3. Select the Connections tab.
4. Press the Setup... button to launch the Internet Connection Wizard.
5. The first screen of the Internet Connection Wizard will prompt you how to setup your Internet connection.   Choose the last option, I want to set up my Internet connection manually, or I want to connect through a local area network (LAN).  Press the Next button.
6. The next screen of the Internet Connection Wizard will ask you how you connect to the Internet.   Choose the second option, I connect through a local area network (LAN).   Press the Next button.
7. The next screen of the Internet Connection Wizard will offer to configure proxy settings.   Unselect the Automatic discovery of proxy server if it's selected.  If you are using the Webcast service, the Manual Proxy Server checkbox will be selected.  Press the Next button.
8. If the Manual Proxy Server option was checked in the previous step, you will see a screen that displays proxy information for different protocols; otherwise skip to the next step.  Verify that the proxy to use for HTTP is 127.0.0.1 and the port is 83.  Proxy information for the other protocols should be blank.  Press the Next button.
9. The next screen of the Internet Connection Wizard will ask if you want to set up an Internet mail account.  Answer No to this question.  Press the Next button.
10. You should now be at the last screen of the Internet Connection Wizard.  Press the Finish button to close the Wizard.

I am unable to connect to a web site

There are many potential reasons why you may be unable to connect to an web site.  Use the checklist below to help identify potential reasons why you may be unable to connect to an web site.   If these suggestions do not help, please contact the Customer Care Center for further assistance.

• Verify that you are able to ping both a domain name and numeric IP address.  To do this, please follow these instructions.
  1. Use DirecPC Navigator to establish a connection to the Internet.
  2. Open a MS-DOS Prompt.
  3. At the command prompt, enter ping www.direcpc.com and verify that you receive a valid ping response (e.g. you do not receive a Request Timed Out response).
  4. Then, enter ping 198.77.116.8 and verify that you receive a valid ping response.
  5. If you received a valid response when you pinged 198.77.116.8 but you did not receive a valid response when you pinged www.direcpc.com, then you most likely have a DNS problem.   You should add the DirecPC Domain Name Server (198.77.116.8) to your TCP/IP network settings.   Reference your Windows help file for more information on how to configure a DNS server.  You may also want to enable the Internet Access (Domain Name Resolution) Diagnostic Test to automatically check for DNS problems.
• Verify that you are able to connect to the web site in "Terrestrial Mode".  To put your DirecPC system in terrestrial mode, please follow these instructions.
  1. Right mouse click on the DirecPC Navigator icon in the system tray.
  2. Choose the Turbo Internet Properties option from the Navigator menu.
  3. Switch to the Terrestrial tab.
  4. Select the Use terrestrial mode for all supported applications checkbox.   Press the OK to save this change and close the "Turbo Internet Properties" dialog.
  5. Use DirecPC Navigator to establish a connection to the Internet.
  6. Open your web browser and try connecting to the web site.  If you are still unable to connect to the web site when you are in terrestrial mode, then there may be a problem with the web site.  If this is the case, skip to the next topic which describes how to bypass the Webcast proxy.  Otherwise, if you are able to connect to the site in terrestrial mode, please contact the Customer Care Center for further assistance.
• Under rare circumstances the Webcast proxy server may prevent you from connecting to a web site.   To determine if the Webcast proxy server is causing a problem, please follow these instructions.
  1. Right mouse click on the DirecPC Navigator icon in the system tray.
  2. Choose the Webcast Properties option from the Navigator menu.
  3. Switch to the Browser tab.
  4. Near the bottom of the dialog will be a checkbox to "Automatically start proxy server when Windows starts up".  Unselect this checkbox so that the proxy server is not loaded and your web browsers are not configured to use the Webcast proxy server.   When you unselect this checkbox you will be asked to confirm that you want to make the change.   Select Yes and press the OK button to save this change and close the "Webcast Properties" dialog.  Please note that you will need to restart your computer for the change to take effect.
  5. After your computer restarts, use DirecPC Navigator to establish a connection to the Internet.
  6. Open your web browser and try connecting to the web site.  If you are still unable to connect to the web site when not using the Webcast proxy server, then there may be a problem with the web site.  You should try connecting to the web site in both "Terrestrial Mode" and "Satellite Mode" when you are not using the Webcast proxy server (see the above bulleted item).  If you are able to connect to the web site when you are not using the Webcast proxy server, please contact the Customer Care Center and inform them of the web site that you were not able to access using the Webcast server.

FTP downloads fail after the first download or there are large delays before downloading occurs

Either of these FTP problems may occur if your FTP client is not configured in passive mode or passive transfer mode (PASV).  When your FTP client is configured to use passive mode, all connection requests are handled by the client.  The passive mode option is usually found under the Advanced or Firewall settings of the FTP client.

DirecPC is a product and service of Hughes Network Systems, a Hughes Electronics (GMH) company. Hughes Network Systems also manufactures DirecDuo and HNS Brand DIRECTV System.

Copyright 2000, Hughes Network Systems, Inc. , a Hughes Electronics Corporation company. DirecPC® is a registered trademark of Hughes Network Systems, Inc. Turbo Internet, Turbo Webcast, and Package Delivery are trademarks of Hughes Network Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.