Slow Log-on to ISP

By Stephen Bucaro

When you are connecting to an unknown network, you need to determine which network protocol the other network uses, and you may need to log-on to the other network. Common network protocols are NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, and TCP/IP.

NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface) is a protocol that was used in Windows For Workgroups (Windows 3.11) to provide peer-to-peer networking ability. To identify computers on the network, it used the computers name (IP addresses had not been invented yet). IPX/SPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange) is a protocol that was used by Novel Netware before TCP/IP was invented.

Today almost everybody uses TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), the protocol used by the Internet. But Windows 98 dial-up networking is configured by default to check for the older protocols when you try to logon to your ISP. It also checks if you need to logon to the network. That’s why it takes so long to logon to your ISP.

To configure your dial-up connection to skip these checks, open MyComputer on your desktop and double-click on the Dial-Up Networking folder. In Windows Me Start | Dial-Up Networking, then right-click on the dial-up connection and select Properties in the popup menu to open the Connection dialog box.

In the Connection dialog box select the Server Types tab, uncheck Log on to network, NetBEUI and IPX/SPX . In Windows Me, select the Networking tab and the Security tab for these checkboxes. Then click on the OK button.

(Note how Microsoft shifts menu items around, calls it an upgrade and then charges you $100 for it.)

When I made this change to my Windows 98 system, my logon time was reduced from over 60 seconds to less than 2 seconds. Make sure your computer’s dial-up connection is not checking for obsolete networking protocols.

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