This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Manually Configuring Network Settings
Network connections, when automatically configured, seem to work almost like magic. Your computer finds a signal (wired or wireless), makes a connection, and everything just “works.” Behind the scenes, however, there are a handful of network settings that make this happen. If a network doesn’t support auto-configuration, using a protocol known as DHCP, you need to make these settings manually.
Your network administrator needs to provide the following settings in order to manually set up your network:
- IP Address—A numerical address that uniquely identifies your computer.
- Subnet Mask—A value that helps your computer determine what network it is on.
- Router—The address of a device that moves network traffic between other local computers and remote networks (such as the Internet).
- DNS—The address of a device providing domain name lookups to your network. This service translates human-readable names (such as www.apple.com) into IP addresses and vice-versa.
- Proxy Settings—A device that sends and receives network traffic on your behalf, acting as a middleman for services.
Configuring TCP/IP and Proxy Settings
To manually change your TCP/IP and Proxy settings, follow these steps:
Open System Preferences and click the Network panel icon.
- The network panel opens, showing all the available interfaces. Click the interface you want to configure (usually Ethernet or Wi-Fi).
Click the Advanced button to view the full manual interface for network settings.
- The Advanced configuration screen appears. Click TCP/IP in the button bar to access the common TCP/IP network settings.
- Use the Configure IPv4 drop-down menu to change your settings to be configured Manually.
Enter the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Router, as provided by your network administrator.
- Click DNS in the button bar to change your domain name server settings.
Click the + button below the DNS Servers list to add a new server to the list. Your ISP or network administrator usually provides at least two addresses to use; be sure to type it exactly as provided. (Use the – button to remove unused DNS Servers. Search Domains are not required unless specified by your administrator.)
- If your network requires the use of a proxy, click the Proxies button in the button bar. If not, skip ahead to step 13.
- Click the checkboxes beside the protocols that you want to configure.
- Click the protocol names to configure each proxy. Setup fields appear to the right of the protocol list.
- Enter the proxy information as provided by your network administrator.
Click OK to exit advanced setup.
Click Apply to activate and begin using your new network settings.
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Activating PPPoE for DSL Connections
In some cases, most typically when using a DSL modem, you need to activate PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) in order to make a connection.
Open System Preferences and click the Network panel icon.
- Select your active Ethernet Interface.
Choose Create PPPoE Service from the Configure IPv4 dropdown menu.
- Choose a name for the connection. (The default, PPPoE, is fine.)
Click Done.
- Enter the PPPoE information as provided by your ISP. Choose to remember the password if desired.
- Click the Show PPPoE Status in Menu Bar checkbox to add a convenient menu option for connecting and disconnecting to the service.
Click the Advanced button.
- Click PPP to open a variety of options for configuring your connection.
- To help maintain a stable connection, check Connect Automatically When Needed and uncheck the Disconnect checkboxes if desired.
- If required by your ISP, configure the TCP/IP settings manually as described in the “Configuring TCP/IP and Proxy Settings” task.
Click OK to close the Advanced settings.
Click Connect to begin using the PPPoE interface you’ve configured.
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