Who is Fallsnet?

Northern Network Concepts (Fallsnet) is a locally owned Internet Service Provider and Information Technology Company located downtown Little Falls Minnesota. We have been in business for over 15 years.

What services does Fallsnet offer?

Fallsnet offers a wide variety of services:

♦ High-Speed Internet
♦ Dialup Internet
♦ Computer Repair
♦ Dish Network Satellite TV and Internet
♦ Small Business IT Consulting
♦ Web Design and Domain Hosting

Why is my computer so slow?
What is causing error messages when I turn my computer on?

Things like this are generally caused by viruses or spyware on the computer. To scan for and remove viruses, I recommend using Norton Antivirus (we sell it for $45 currently) or Microsoft Security Essentials (free). To remove spyware, I recommend Malware Bytes (free or paid, free version is all you need). Unfortunately, after the viruses or spyware are already in, it is often very difficult to remove. If you have trouble, I'd recommend bringing the computer in. We can usually fix problems like this for between $60 - $120.

Why is this antivirus program asking for money to remove lots of viruses?

You have probably been infected with a FakeAV. A FakeAV is a virus disguised as a legitimate anti-virus or anti-spyware program. Often they try to trick users into giving out personal or credit card information. You should try to run a legitimate antivirus and anti-malware program, although this will probably not be possible after infection. If you are not able to remove the program, we do offer computer repair services.

Why do I get disconnected frequently, take a long time to connect, or connect at a very slow speed?

There are several things that could cause an unreliable connection.
Adding a setting to your computer, especially in newer computers, will often help.
Unfortunately, on some computers this will cause an error message to appear, until the setting is removed.

To add the setting:
Click on the Start button
RIGHT click on My Computer
Click on Manage
This should open Computer Management - be patient, it may take a minute to open
On the left side near the center, click on Device Manager
On the right side, click on the '+' symbol next to "Modems"
This will cause a new item to appear just below Modems - double click the new item
Click on the Advanced tab
IN the "Extra Initialization Options" enter either AT+MS=V90 -or- AT+MS=V34
Click OK and close Computer Management

The first setting often helps, but if you continue having trouble, try the second instead.

Noise on the phone lines often cause problems as well. They could be caused by a bad device on the line in your home, or the lines running to your home could actually be bad.

Try temporarily unplugging all of your phones, answering machines, caller-id boxes, surge suppressors, satellite receivers, absolutely everything connected to the phone line and try dialing in again.

If dialing in now works, you know the trouble was caused by one of the things you unplugged - try plugging them back in one or two at a time until you know which is causing the problem. The last common cause would be a bad modem in your computer. Modems generally go bad because of lightning damage, but like any electronic device, they may go bad randomly. If you suspect your modem might be going bad, I would recommend bringing your computer in - we have replacements available that will work with most computers.

Why does my computer hang up when I check my mail?

Automatically hanging up after checking mail is usually caused by a setting in Outlook Express. To fix it, while in Outlook Express:

Click the Tools menu
Click on Options
Click the Connections tab
Take the checkmark out of "Hang up automatically..."
Click the OK button

What is error 691?

Error 691 is "Invalid username or password". Generally, re-typing both your username and your password will fix this error. The username needs to be entered as the complete email address, including the "@fallsnet.com". Usernames and passwords are case sensitive, and should generally be entered in all small letters.

What is error 680?

Error 680 is "No dial tone" - your computer cannot hear a dial tone when it picks up the phone line. There are three common causes:
1) Someone is talking on the phone. Hang up the phone and try again.
2) One of the phone cables is unplugged. Trace the phone cable from the wall, through any other devices, to the computer, making sure that every connector is plugged in tight and that the cable isn't damaged.
3) Lightning damage. Either the modem (the telephone connector in the computer) or the surge suppressor may have been damaged by lightning. If you have a surge suppresser, try bypassing it temporarily. If that works, the surge suppressor is bad and needs to be replaced. If not, the modem is likely bad and needs to be replaced.

Why do I receive the same messages every time I check my mail?

This happens if you don't finish downloading the messages, if the download is interrupted or canceled. A frequent cause of this problem is a very large message waiting in your mailbox. An easy way to check and fix this is to use the Fallsnet Webmail.

Browse to http://mail.fallsnet.com
log in using your email address and password
You will see a list of all messages waiting for you
Delete any that you have already received, and especially any large messages (which would usually be the message directly after the ones you've already downloaded).
Remember to Purge the deleted items, then log out

The next time you check your mail normally it should work correctly.

What is the Quarantine Report and how do I use it?

Fallsnet blocks most of the spam (junk mail) that is addressed to our customers. The Quarantine Report lists the messages that were addressed to you recently that appeared to be junk mail and were blocked (with the exception of any messages from known spammers, those are just deleted). The reason we send you this list is so you can review it to make sure that no messages that you wanted were blocked. If you see one in the list that you want, simply click the release link next to it. If there are none that you want (there generally shouldn't be), simply delete the quarantine report. If you want, you can change several things about the report, like how often you receive it, by logging in to your account on our website, http://mail.fallsnet.com.

What settings do I need to set up email on a new computer?

incoming (pop3) server: mail.fallsnet.com
incoming (imap) server: mail.fallsnet.com
outgoing (smtp) server: mail.fallsnet.com
outgoing server requires authentication
username: full email address(example@fallsnet.com)

another setting to change if you have trouble, especially when using high-speed
outgoing (smtp) server port number 587 (instead of the normal 25)

Should I use POP3 or IMAP?

POP3 works well if you only use one device to access your email.

IMAP should be used in most cases, as it allows you to get the same messages and share folders on multiple devices.

How long does Fallsnet save my messages?

Fallsnet now attempts to save your messages on our website indefinitely, however, no computer system is perfect and we recommend that you save any important messages to your computer.