Troubleshooting

Here are some answers to commonly asked questions.

Can you browse to www.incipient.net?
When you open a web page are you receiving the portal login page? Can you browse to our web site? This is the quickest test to see if your connection is working properly. Remember you must log into the Incipient Network before you can use the Internet at our locations.

Do you have a VPN or personal firewall?
If you don't run a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or a personal firewall (such as ZoneAlarm or Norton Personal Firewall), skip this step. If things aren't working the way you expect them to and you do run one of these software packages, temporarily disable them until you can establish connectivity. These services are designed to protect your machine once a connection to the Internet has been established, but they can get in the way before a connection is made. After you verify that your connection is working properly, you can bring your personal firewall and VPN back online.

Is your wireless card turned on?
Many laptops and hand held devices have the ability to disable the wireless card, through either software or physical switch. Double check that your wireless card is turned on and enabled. Also check that your card is plugged in all the way and the link lights are active.

Are you in range of an access point?
If you are unsure, check your signal meter for the signal statistics. You might be too far and are unable to make a strong connection.

Are you associated with the proper network?
If you are accessing the Internet form an Incipient hotspot, the network name (or SSID) should be Incipient. If you are not associated with the correct network please see our setup guide for instruction on how to correctly configure your operating system and hardware.

Did you try disable and enable your wireless card?
In some case you might not be able to locate the Incipient SSID. To resolve this under Windows, disabling and re-enabling your wireless card may help. Open the Control Panel, select Network and Internet Connections, and find your wireless card adapter. Right-click on the adapter, select Disable. Right-click the adapter again, and select Enable.

Which network mode are you in? (Infrastructure or Ad Hoc)
Confirm which mode your wireless card is set to operate in. For use with Incipient’s hotspots the wireless card should be set for Infrastructure mode (sometimes call Access Point mode). Wireless networks cards have two modes Ad Hoc and Infrastructure. Ad Hoc mode is used for peer to peer network connections, where Infrastructure mode is used for local area networking.

Do you have WEP turned off?
WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. Incipient doesn’t use WEP because it simply doesn’t offer any protection in a public setting like hotspots.

Is your hardware installed correctly?
Confirm that your wireless card is installed correctly by checking the device manager in Windows or the Airport control panel in Macintosh. If you do not see the wireless card or the OS claims there is an issue with the device, please see your hardware manufacturer’s documentation to resolve the issue.

Is this your first time using wireless?
If this is your first time connecting to a wireless hotspot, please see our setup guide for your operating system’s setup instructions.

Do you meet the requirements?
Does your laptop or hand held device meet our system requirements? Incipient hotspots are compatible with a wide range of operating systems including Windows (98 SE, ME, 2000, XP, NT and Pocket PC 2003), Apple’s Macintosh OS 9 & 10 and some versions of Linux (Incipient does not offer Linux support at this time). Incipient hotspots are compatible with 802.11b wireless devices which your wireless card must be able to support.

If using Windows XP, are you using the hardware client or XP to configure the network properties?
Windows XP offers the built in support for wireless networking in the network adapter’s properties page. However, some wireless card manufactures also supply their own client software which is more detailed and feature rich than Windows. If you choose to use the manufacturer’s client software please disable Windows as the default client configuration.

If using Windows XP, do you have a networking bridge installed?
If you are using Windows XP and have a Bridge connection setup in your Network settings you may not be able to connect to the hotspot. In order to connect you must remove the bridge connection before your device will receive data.

Do you have DHCP enabled?
Confirm you have DHCP enabled in the TCP/IP settings for your wireless adapter. For instructions on confirming this setting with your specific operating system, please see our setup guide.

Is “Always dial my default connection” set off in the Internet control panel?
For those who use dialup to connect to other ISPs you should check the Internet Options settings from the Control Panel to disable the connection setting, “Always dial my default connection”. This will keep the device from trying to dialup when connecting at an Incipient hotspot.

Are you receiving an IP address?
Checking Your IP Address. Without an IP address, you will not be able to connect to the Internet. To check and see if you have an IP address, fallow the steps for confirming DHCP IP address assignment with your operating system below.

Windows 95/98/ME:

To verify that you have an IP address, perform the following:
1. From the Start menu on your desktop, select Run. The Run dialog box appears.
2. Type winipcfg. Next, press or click OK. The IP Configuration dialog box appears.
3. Select the wireless card that is installed in the computer from the drop-down menu.
4. Review the IP Address field and make sure that it contains a valid IP Address. If you see an IP address that begins with 169.254, you have the auto-configuration address, which is not valid.

If you have an invalid address, follow the steps A through C below.
If you have a valid address, go to step 5.

Invalid IP Address
A. If the IP address is invalid, click on the Release button. This will clear the field values.
B. Click on the Renew button. A valid IP address for the computer should appear.
C. If a valid IP address not obtained, check the SSID (for wireless connections).

5. If there is a valid IP address and you are unable to reach the Incipient Portal Page, there may be a proxy server interfering with the Web browser's connection. Please review the document [Checking Your Web Browser Settings] for more information.

Windows NT/2000/XP:

1. From the Start menu on your desktop, select Run.
2. Type cmd > click OK and a command prompt appears.
3. Type ipconfig and press enter. If you see an IP address that begins with 169.254, you have the auto-configuration address, which is invalid. If you have an invalid address, follow the steps A through D below. If you have a valid address, go to step 4.

A. If the IP address is invalid, type in ipconfig/release and press enter.
B. Type ipconfig/renew and press enter.
C. If you receive an error message saying, "No adapters bound to TCP/IP are enabled for DHCP," a static IP address is specified. Please see the instructions for enabling DHCP.
D. If you receive an error message that says, "DHCP server unavailable" or "DHCP server unreachable," then confirm you have working hardware and are connected to the Incipient network SSID.

4. If there is a valid IP address and you are unable to reach the Incipient’s portal page, then most likely there is a proxy server interfering with the Web browser's connection. Please review the document [Checking Your Web Browser Settings].

Username/Password Problems
If you are having difficulty login with your username and password, what does the error message state? Check that your caps lock or number pad key is OFF? Are you using special characters or spaces in your username or password (these are not supported at this time).

Billing Issues
For billing issues and assitance please contact us via email or phone us during regular business hours.