Hamilton County Communications, Inc.: Frequently Asked Questions

Telelphone and DSL FAQ

1. What is the Do Not Call Registry?

The National Do Not Call Registry is managed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC, the nation's consumer protection agency). National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint at www.donotcall.gov. Registration is free and you can register online or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from your home or mobile phone.

2. What are the regulated charges on my telephone bill?

Mandatory recurring charges and taxes you must pay to be connected to the network. Local telephone charges are itemized and billed one month in advance.

3. What are the unregulated charges on my telephone bill?

These recurring charges include calling features, the wiring and maintenance plan, and bundling plans. All of these charges are billed one month in advance.

4. What is the Local Service charge on my telephone bill?

This is a mandatory recurring fixed monthly charge to receive a dial tone. The service entitles business or residential subscribers to basic local exchange telephone service and local calls.

5. What is the Interstate Toll Access Charge on my telephone bill?

This is a mandatory recurring fixed monthly charge. Local telephone companies must contribute to the upkeep and operation of the equipment necessary to connect individual phone lines to the interstate long distance network. A portion of the out-of-state expense incurred is recovered through the charge and is regulated by the FCC.

6. What is the Intrastate Toll Access Charge on my telephone bill?

This is a mandatory recurring fixed monthly charge. A portion of the in-state expense associated with maintaining facilities to connect with the long distance network are recovered by assessing this charge, which is regulated by the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC).

7. What is the Fed Universal Charge on my telephone bill?

This represents a mandatory surcharge on the interstate portion of a subscriber bill to support universal telephone service. The FUSC fund assists with the cost of providing affordable telecommunication services to schools, libraries, low-income individuals and residents in rural high-cost areas. This percentage varies and can change quarterly.

8. What is the Emergency 911 Surcharge on my telephone bill?

The emergency response system in each county is subsidized by this surcharge which varies from county to county and is mandatory when the 911 referendum is approved regardless if 911 services are currently available.

9. What is the Federal Taxes charge on my telephone bill?

The Federal Excise Tax is imposed by the federal government (not the FCC) which applies to all local charges and is remitted to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

10. What is the State Taxes charge on my telephone bill?

The Illinois Telecommunications Excise Tax is assessed by the State of Illinois on all telecommunications services.

11. What is the PU (Public Utility) charge on my telephone bill?

The proceeds from the Illinois Public Utility Tax fund the work of the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). This tax is assessed on all regulated utility bills.

12. What is the INFRA (State Infrastructure Tax) charge on my telephone bill?

All telecommunications carriers are required to collect infrastructure maintenance fees. The state fee is paid into the personal property tax replacement fund in the state treasury. By law, monies in this fund are dedicated to local government uses.

13. What is the Area Calling charge on my telephone bill?

This charge is assessed only for those subscribers who do not carry Hamilton County Long Distance for interlata or intralata long distance calling. This allows free calling within our seven exchanges.

14. What is the Lifeline/Link-Up Program and who is eligible?

Lifeline is a government program that offers qualified low-income households a discount on their monthly local telephone bill. Each state has its own guidelines to qualify. The application and qualification process differs by state and sometimes by individual phone company. Link-Up helps households reduce the cost of initiating telephone service. This program pays some of the cost of connecting local telephone service to your home or activating wireless phone service. However, Link-Up does not cover the cost of wiring inside your home. Those eligible for the Lifeline/Link-Up program include people who participate in one of the following programs: food stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Housing Assistance Program, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (IHEAP), National School Lunch Free Lunch Program or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. For more information or to sign up, please call our office at 618-736-2211.

15. How do I troubleshoot phone problems?

Determine whether all your phones are experiencing the problem or if just one phone is faulty.
If you find only the one phone is not working, change it out with a known working phone and if dial tone returns, you know that specific phone needs to be replaced. If there still is no dial tone, then the problem is probably in the wiring or the jack. If you have our inside Wiring & Maintenance plan, contact our office for a trouble/service call. If you do not have the wiring and maintenance place, you would be billed for a repair visit plus time and material, or you can fix problem yourself.
If you find all your phones have no dial tone, check that each of them are hung up properly and connections are secure. If you have a cordless phone or an answering machine disconnect them from the phone jack and check for dial tone on your corded phones after about one minute. If dial tone returns, the problem is in the cordless phone and/or answering machine. Damaged answering machines and cordless phones are frequently the culprits for no dial tone and/or an annoying buzz on your line. If there is still no dial tone the problem could be in the wiring or in our equipment. To test whether the problem is inside or outside, follow the instructions below:
- Go outside to your D-Mark (small grey box located on outside of home, location where all telephone wiring/cable enters the home) and open the box door.
- Inside the D-Mark, you will find a telephone jack. Plug a working, corded phone into this jack to test your telephone line. If you still do not receive a dial tone, then the problem is somewhere in our telephone lines and will be fixed at no cost to you. If you do hear a dial tone at this jack, then the problem is in your inside wiring, equipment, jacks or remaining telephone sets. Contact your telephone company, a contractor, or someone else, or make the repairs yourself. Repair visits for inside issues are subject to a service call charge plus time and materials unless you carry our Wiring & Maintenance coverage.
- Once you are done testing the jack in the D-Mark, disconnect your testing telephone and securely close the door.

16. How do I setup my new voicemail box?

First, you will need to call our office to have your voicemail option activated.
Once activated, follow these steps to setup your new voicemail box.
- You can dial 736-2438 or simply dial *23 to access the voicemail system. Then press # if you are calling from your home telephone or enter your actual telephone number (618xxxXXXX) if calling from a remote phone.
- If requested, Enter your password, followed by the # key. Your password will be a default code of "0000" until you change it.
- Main Menu: Press 9 for mailbox setup.
There will be 5 options in the message set-up menu:
- Press 1 for Greeting Options (You can skip this step if you prefer the default greeting option).
- Press 2 to Change your password.
- Press 3 for Notification Options.
- Press 4 to Disable/Enable Auto-Login.
- Press* to Return to Main Menu.
To change or record your new greeting:
- Press 1 - Greeting Options
- Press 4 - Record your greeting.
- Press # - End recording function.
- Press 1 - Listen to greeting.
- Press 2 - Save greeting. Greeting must be saved to be activated.
- Press 3 - Delete greeting.
- Press * - Return to mailbox set-up
To change your password:
- Press 2 - Change your password.
- Enter new password, followed by the # key. The password is any series of up to 16 digits you choose. You will be unable to access your mailbox without this password, so be sure to choose one that you can remember.
- To verify, Re-enter your new password.

17. How do I retrieve my voicemail messages?

Press 1 for New Messages.
Press 2 for Saved Messages.
Press * to return to Main Menu.
To Listen to messages:
- Press 1 to play or replay the message.
- Press 2 to save the message and go to the next one.
- Press 3 to delete the message and go to the next one.
- Press 4 to save the message as new.
- Press 5 to reply to the a message.
- Press 6 to forward a message.
- Press 7 to skip back three seconds.
- Press 8 to pause or continue message.
- Press 9 to skip forward three seconds.
- Press * to return to main menu.

18. What is DSL Internet?

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is high-speed internet and is delivered simultaneously with landline telephone service. This is possible because DSL uses a higher frequency. These frequency bands are subsequently separated by filtering. Therefore, you can be talking on your telephone and surfing the internet at the same time.

19. What do I do when my internet browser says "Page Cannot be Displayed?"

First, try hitting the refresh icon on your screen. This is typically to the right of your web address browser bar.
If your web page still does not display, try properly rebooting your entire system (see #21).

20. What do I do if I cannot connect to my DSL internet connection?

First, reboot your system properly (see #21).
Second, call our 24/7 toll-free technical support line at 1-877-465-1721.
Third, call our office.
- We can send a technician to check our equipment. Charges may apply, if the connection failure is due to something beyond equipment failure.

21. How do I reboot my DSL system properly?

Shut down your computer(s) by clicking on Start and Shutdown.
Turn the power off to your wireless router (if applicable) or you can unplug the power cord from the electrical outlet.
Locate your DSL Modem box and unplug the power cord from the electrical outlet.
Wait 30 seconds before moving on to the next step.
Plug in the power cord that connects to the DSL Modem box.
Wait 30 seconds.
Restore power to the wireless router (if applicable) or plug in the power cord to the router.
Wait 30 seconds.
Restart the computer(s).

22. What does Kbps and Mbps mean?

Kbps and Mbps are measures of speed and measure how fast data is sent to or received from the internet.
Kbps: Kilobits per second (1,000 bits per second)
Mbps: Megabits per second (1,000 bits per second)
Any data that is sent or received in a digital format, such as email or web pages, has a specific size measured in bits. The larger the piece of data, the more bits it comprises. Every connection to the Internet is capable of moving a specified amount of data in a specified timeframe. For example, a 768 Kbps DSL connection is capable of transmitting 768,000 bits per second.

23. What is my bandwidth or download speed?

Bandwidth is the rate of data transfer measured in bits per second (bps). To test your download speed, visit www.speedtest.net.

24. What is the connection speed that appears on my taskbar?

You may see a speed of 100 Mbps show up on your task bar (lower left corner of your computer screen). Typically 100 Mbps is what you will see, but this speed can vary from 10 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, depending on your computer and the equipment it is connected to.
Do not confuse this speed with your Internet Providers speed. This speed only signifies the capability of your Network Interface Card (NIC/Ethernet Card) in your machine and the next piece of equipment it is connected to, such as the DSL modem or wireless router.

25. What factors attribute to my overall download speed?

Internet traffic can be a factor in the speed of your download. Internet traffic is the amount of people currently surfing the internet and when the traffic is high it could slow your download speeds.
Types of downloads can also be a factor. Peer-to-peer sharing and update programs are some of the bandwidth hogs that can be running in the background unaware to us as we browse, such as downloading from I-Tunes or You-Tube.
Website graphics and specifications can also determine how fast you can download that particular site.
Popular sites with heavy internet traffic can also determine slower download speeds for that particular site.

26. Do I need a Firewall/Virus Scanner?

Yes! With all the access on the internet today, we highly recommend you have a good, quality firewall/virus program installed on each of your computers. There are many good programs out there that offer different levels of protection based on your needs. We offer SecureIT Plus for $5.95/month per computer. For more information, call our office at 618-736-2211.

27. What is an IP Address?

An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a number that is assigned to each computer or other device's network interface which are active on a network supporting the IP, in order to distinguish each network interface from every other network interface anywhere on the network.

28. How do I reinstall my IP addresses for DSL into my computer?

Click on Start, then Click on Control Panel, then Click on Network or Network Connections, then Click on Local Area Connection, then Click on Properties. (For Windows 2000/XP, Click on Start, then Click on Settings, then Click on Network & Dial-Up Connections, then Click on Local Area Connection, then Click on Properties)
Double-Click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Click on Use the following IP Address
- Enter your assigned IP Address
- Enter your assigned Subnet Mask
- Enter your assigned Default Gateway
Click on Use the following DNS Server Address
- Enter your assigned DNS Server Address
- **Your DSL installer should have left a copy of these four addressess with you during your initial DSL installation. If you no longer have this information, please call our office at 618-736-2211 to obtain your assigned addresses.**
After entering the correct address, Click on OK.

29. How do I reinstall my IP addresses for DSL into my wireless router?

Example for a Linksys Router:
- To login into your wireless router, open your internet browser. In the web address field, type in 192.168.1.1 to get to the login screen. Leave the username field blank and type in the following password: admin and Click OK. On this main page Click on the drop down menu box and select Static. This is the location you would type in your IP Address, SubNet Mask, Gateway and DNS addresses. Finally, scroll to the bottom and Click Save.

30. How do I setup and secure my Wireless Router?

With a wireless router network, your information is traveling through the airwaves, not physical wires, so anyone within range can "listen in" on your network. There are three essential security meansures you should take to secure your wireless network.
- Change the factory-set default password. You will be asked for a password when you want to chage their settings. (The Linksys by Cisco default password is admin). Hackers know these defaults and will try them to access your wireless device and change your network settings. To thwart any unauthorized changes, change the password so it will be hard to guess.
- Change the factory-set default SSID (Service Set Identifier or the name of your wireless network). Linksys by Cisco default SSID is linksys. Change your network's SSID to something unique, and make sure it doesn't refer to the networking products you use. As an added precaution, be sure to change the SSID on a regular basis, so any hacker who may have figured out your network's SSID in the past will have to figure out the SSID again and again. This will deter future intrusion attempts.
- Enable WPA Encryption which allows protection for data that is transmitted over a wireless network. Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Areas (WPA) offer different levels of security for wireless communication. WPA is considered to be more secure than WEP, because it uses dynamic kep encryption. To protect the information as it passes over the airwaves, you should enable the highest level of encryption that is supported by your network equipment.

31. How do I change the password on my Linksys wireless router?

When accessing the router's web-based setup page, a log-in screen will appear asking for the router's password. The router's default password is "admin."
If you are unable to log in to your router, or have lost, or forgotten your router's password you will need to reset your router. To restore the router configuration to factory defaults, hold the reset button on the unit for 30 seconds. Once your router is hard reset, you will need to login and reconfigure it again. To reconfigure your Linksys router see #28.

32. How do I setup WPA Wireless Security on a Linksys wireless router?

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is a Wi-Fi standard that was designed to improve the security features of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy).
- First, access the router's web-based setup page. To login into your wireless router, open your internet browser. In the web address field, type in 192.168.1.1 to get to the login screen. Leave the username field blank and type in your password and Click OK.
- When the router's web-based, setup page appears, click Wireless and select Wireless Security.
- Select WPA Personal under the Security Mode drop-down menu.
- Select TKIP on WPA Algorithms.
- Enter your desired WPA Key on the WPA Shared Key field such as "MySecretKey." This will serve as your network key whenever you connect to your wireless network.
- Click Save Settings.

33. How do I change the wireless network's name (SSID) on a Linksys router?

Access the router's web-based setup page. To login into your wireless router, open your internet browser. In the web address field, type in 192.168.1.1 to get to the login screen. Leave the username field blank and type in your password and Click OK.
When the router's web-based setup page opens, Click Wireless.
Click on Basic Wireless Settings.
Select the Manual option.
Look for SSID and change it to your desired name for the wireless network.
Click on Save Settings.