For a single machine connecting directly to the DSL provider via a suitable "port device" the address should be settable using the Start|Network Connections|Network Setup Wizard or New Connection Wizard. The AOL helper should have been able to walk him through whatever steps are required. Possible reasons that AOL Help couldn't do it are that he didn't know what address had been assigned to him, or he couldn't adequately describe what hardware he was using for the connection. He may need to go to "account administration" or some other place rather than "tech help" to find out what his address is (or look at his paperwork?). He also needs to at least know the names of the parts he has hooked up to get tech assistance.


John, what you've said is exactly what I have always understood about how this works, so I am baffled by the answer he was given. I'll see if I can talk him through the detect network settings process, because he shouldn't need to know the number at all. Back in the old dialup days you had to set a number manually, but that hasn't been necessary for a long time, either.

He'd probably benefit from having a router in place anyway, even if he has only one computer, just because it blocks a lot of crud. I'll see what I can do to set him up.

Thanks, all!

SRS