CONSUMER TIPS

Technical Support – 501-450-6006
Support lines are open 8 a.m. - 9 p.m., Monday - Friday and 9 a.m. - 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday

Download files, trade stocks, shop on-line, exchange e-mail or plan your next vacation without experiencing any of the “dial-up” service hassles. No logging on, no dialing in to connect, and no more “busy” signals when someone tries to call you while you’re online.

Conway Corporation High-Speed Internet service gives you access to the Internet through an advanced hybrid fiber optic/cable network – not your telephone line – so you can watch TV, talk on the phone and surf the Internet at the same time.

Conway Corporation High-Speed Internet will provide you with opportunities for accessing millions of web sites for information on any topic. Your connection to the Internet opens a whole new world for you access but it is not without risks. Conway Corporation is not responsible for any security breaches or viruses transmitted via the Internet. Conway Corporation wants you to enjoy your High-Speed access without the dangers of being connected to the Internet. Please read the following and take the steps appropriate for you.

VIRUS PROTECTION

A computer virus is a computer program that can reproduce by changing other programs to include a copy of itself. It is a parasite program, needing another program to survive. A virus often attaches itself to an e-mail. The probability of receiving a virus is high but can be reduced with the use of a virus protection software. Virus protection software scans incoming e-mail, looking for the presence of a virus. It will notify you if it detects a virus and ask you what you want to do. You can delete the e-mail, which is the safest, or you can place the e-mail in “quarantine” and attempt to fix the e-mail. There are several virus protection vendors, including McAfee and Norton Anti-Virus. The major factor in the effectiveness of any virus protections product is to make sure you keep it current. Conway Corporation does not provide technical support for any specific virus protection program.

COMPUTER WORMS

Worms are very similar to viruses in that they are computer programs that replicate themselves and that often, but not always, contain some functionality that will interfere with the normal use of a computer program. A worm can spread itself automatically over the network from one computer to the next. Worms take advantage of automatic file sending and receiving feature found on many computers. There are two steps you can take to protect against worms; one is to keep your critical updates current as you are notified of them from Microsoft, and the other is to add a firewall. Many of the critical updates involve protection from “attacks”: worms and viruses.

FIREWALLS

A “firewall” provides protection of your data by limiting access from the Internet. There are free downloads of software firewalls as well as hardware firewalls available. Conway Corporation encourages hardware firewalls for all computers. However, we do not offer support for them. Business and wireless connections should use a hardware firewall. While firewalls and anti-virus programs will not protect you from every hazard on the Internet, when both are used and updated frequently, the risk of a serious security threat is reduced.

SPYWARE/ADWARE

Spyware and Adware are programs that can become installed on your computer through regular Internet surfing. These programs are typically installed as part of the fine print you agree to when installing a program off the Internet. These programs track your every move on the Internet and use that information for gathering statistics and/or cluttering your computer with targeted advertisements. Apart from the privacy concerns, these programs typically do not adversely effect your computer, however when several of these programs become installed on your computer they can cause it to be unreliable and/or cease to function entirely. Conway Corporation recommends routinely scanning your computer with spyware/adware removal tools. One such tool is called ‘Ad-Aware’ and can be obtained from www.lavasoft.nu.

COOKIES

A cookie is a file created by an Internet site to store information on your computer, such as your preferences when visiting that site. For example, if you inquire about a flight schedule at an airline’s Web site, the site might create a cookie that contains your itinerary. Or it might only contain a record of the pages you looked at within the site you visited, to help the site customize the view for you the next time you visit.

Cookies can also store personally identifiable information. Personally identifiable information is information that can be used to identify or contact you, such as your name, e-mail address, home or work address, or telephone number. However, a Web site only has access to the personally identifiable information that you provide. For example, a Web site cannot determine your e-mail name unless you provide it. Also, a Web site cannot gain access to other information on your computer. Once a cookie is saved on your computer, only the Web site that created the cookie can read it.

If You Want to Control Which Cookies You Accept:

You can order your browser to accept all cookies or to alert you every time a cookie is offered. Then you can decide whether to accept one or not. If you are using Internet Explorer 6.0:
 1. Choose Tools, then Internet Options.
 2. Click the Privacy tab.
 3. Default setting is medium. Move the slider to determine which setting you prefer.
 4. You can also click on Advanced for specialized cookie treatment.

POP-UP ADVERTISEMENTS

Pop-up advertisements are one of the more annoying parts of the Internet. These can be eliminated by various software methods such as installing the Google Toolbar from http://toolbar.google.com/ or by using the Mozilla or recent Netscape web browsers. These can be obtained for free from www.mozilla.org and www.netscape.com respectively. A basic pop-up stopper is available free of charge at http://www.popupstopper.com.

SPAM

Spam is unfortunately a reality of today’s Internet. Conway Corporation uses many advanced filtering methods to dramatically reduce the number of spam messages you may receive in your INBOX. We offer you the opportunity to adjust your personal spam filter settings for each e-mail account through our web portal – www.conwaycorp.net/courtesyfilter/. Here you can choose to disable spam notification or adjust your notification level (1 being the highest level of protection, 10 being the least.) This filter does not block or delete any of your mail. E-mail recognized as spam is delivered with the subject line <----CNWYCORP Spam Filter---->

To further reduce these annoying messages, Conway Corporation suggests using the Thunderbird e-mail software available from www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/. The following also offer spam protection: http://www.cloudmark.com and http://www.giantcompany.com. These e-mail programs have sophisticated spam fighting software that “learns” what you personally consider spam vs. legitimate e-mail.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND TROUBLESHOOTING

If you find that you are having problems with your Internet service, you may call our Customer Service office and ask to speak to a Technical Support representative. They are trained to assist you with most basic and intermediate level issues or problems, and may be able to help you over the phone. If they cannot, we will schedule a service call at your residence as soon as a technician is available. Technical support is available from 8 a.m. through 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. through 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.