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Chapter 4. MORE THAN WEBBED FEET > Checking Your Connection
4.3. Checking Your Connection
If you like, you can see whether you're connected by opening Firefox (click the Firefox launcher in the top panel, right next to the System menu) and then, once it starts up, trying to navigate to a common site, such as http://www.yahoo.com/. If the site comes up, you know you're all set.
If you have a problem getting online and you are trying to connect via a LAN or cable modem, you could try to refresh your connection by right-clicking the Network Manager icon in the top panel, unchecking the Enable Networking box in the pop-up menu, waiting a few seconds, and then checking the Enable Networking box in the pop-up menu again. If that doesn't work, try restarting your machine while physically connected to your Internet source with the Ethernet cable. If the lack of connectivity persists, it is possible that your network card is not supported by Linux. This is relatively rare but, fortunately, easily remedied (by replacing it).
The problem could also be that your network or service provider does not automatically assign addresses via Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). DHCP is a means by which your Internet provider can automatically provide your system with the configuration information it needs in order to connect to the Internet. If your provider does not use DHCP, you will have to get the necessary information about settings from the network administrator or service provider and enter the settings yourself.
4.3.1. Setting Up a Cable or Ethernet Connection for Providers Not Using DHCP
To input your cable or Ethernet settings yourself, first get the settings you need from your network administrator or Internet provider, and then perform the following steps:
Select System ▸ Preferences ▸ Network Connections.
Choose the Wired tab (Figure 4-1), and select the network connection from the list by clicking it once (it should have a name like Auto eth0). If there are no entries in the list, then your network card hasn't been properly recognized. Take a look at Section 21.4.2 in Section 21.4.2 to see how to fix this.
Figure 4-1. The Network Connections window
Click Edit, and you'll be presented with a settings window. Choose the IPv4 Settings tab, and change the Method setting from Automatic (DHCP) to Manual.
Click the Add button to enter the IP address information for your computer. This should have been provided by your ISP or network administrator and will consist of an IP address, default gateway, and netmask (see Figure 4-2 for an example). Enter the DNS server address that you were given too.
Figure 4-2. Manually inputting network IP settings
Make sure that the Available to all users option is checked if other users of your computer will be using the connection.
Click Apply to save the settings. You'll be asked to enter the password for your user account, so do that, and click Authenticate.
Network Manager will try to establish the connection using the details you just provided. If it's successful, a message will pop up saying that the network was connected. If that doesn't happen, click the Network Manager icon on the top panel, and choose Disconnect.
Then, click the Network Manager icon again, and select your network underneath where it says Available.
Note:
If you are wondering what Internet Protocol (IP) and Domain Name Service (DNS) are all about, you can simply think of them in this way: DNS translates the easy-to-remember URLs that you have come to know, such as http://www.google.com/, into numerical, or IP, addresses that the Internet can understand. The address http://www.google.com/ thus becomes http://209.85.229.104. You can type the numerical version into your browser later to see for yourself.
