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Mailaka FAQs
| How do I change my Username/Password on my PC?
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Often times when changing user information, customer's paste the information from emails into their dialup settings. This can result in accidentally including one or more spaces in the username or password, which will causes the computer to not recognize the information. Be sure to type in the information manually to avoid this common problem.
For All Windows Systems:
Open Internet Explorer (even if you don't use Internet Explorer) and click Tools, Internet Options.
Next, click on the "Connections" tab.
Select your Mailaka connection from the small white window, and then click "Settings".
You can change your username and password right at the bottom of this window.
Click OK twice, and you're done.
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| How do I change the number I'm dialing?
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In Windows 95, 98, ME, and 2000:
Click Start, Settings, Control Panel, and then click Dialup Networking
Highlight Mailaka, and RIGHT-click Mailaka Click Properties
Uncheck the box referring to use of the area code; this will ghost, or grey-out the area code box.
Enter the EXACT number to be dialed in the TELEPHONE NUMBER box.
(Include '1' and area code, if needed.)
Click OK, click OK, and click OK
In Windows XP:
Just try to connect as usual, but before it dials, you can simply change the number on that screen.
You will be asked if you wish to make that change permanent, just click "Yes".
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| I connect...but nothing happens.
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It sounds like the dial up connection is successful, and you are able to connect to us.
All that our service provides is a connection to the Internet, after which you can use Internet Explorer or Netscape, for example, to browse web-pages on the web. Next time you attempt to connect, and you see the connection window shrink to the bottom right of the screen, see if there is a small icon with two computer screens near your clock, on the bottom right.
If so, you're connected.
Internet Explorer comes with windows, so you should have it. Open the program by double-clicking the blue E shaped icon on your desktop, and you're browsing the web!
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| How do I activate an email address or change my password?
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To make changes to your account, such as changing or adding an email address, or changing the password on your email or login id, you can just submit your request via our secure Tech Support form.
Click here to reach that form.
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| Why do I get a busy signal?
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Busy signals occur for two reasons; the server you're dialing into may only be able to support up to a certain number of people, or there may be an outage between the telephone company and/or the Internet backbone lines. The latter is particularly true if the busy is a "fast busy", or a busy signal that beeps faster than normal.
The first, and fasted possible solution is simply to try another access number.
You can find a list of access numbers here: http://www.mailaka.net/access.htm
If that does not help, contact our tech support either via our support email, support@mailaka.net, via our secure Tech Support form, or at 281-675-7351.
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| Why do I get disconnected after 10-20 min?
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Our service providers, (the companies that manage the various networks) have what is known as an Idle-Disconnect. If the server does not detect any activity as far as uploading or downloading information, it will assume that the connection is not being used, and will disconnect it to make room for other members to connect. This time-out is between 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the network you're on.
A fairly easy workaround for this disconnect exists: if you're using an email program, such as Outlook Express, you can configure it to check for new messages every 5 minutes. This will generate activity, and usually prevent the idle disconnect. For instructions on how to do this, click here.
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| Why is my connection speed slow?
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All the Mailaka lines support 56k connections. Speed limiting factors include problems with local phone lines, possible problems with the server you're dialing into, or simply an old or outdated modem. Assuming that your modem is 56k (any PC purchased today is nearly guaranteed to come with a 56k modem) you may want to try upgrading the modem drivers to the newest drivers. That often helps. The manufacturer of your modem may also have some information about "modem strings", or commands that you can have automatically sent to your modem prior to every connection, that can help eliminate such problems. Lastly, you can try dialing into a different access number in your area, to eliminate a possible problem with the server. If there are no local numbers on your given network in your area, we can try switching you to a different network all together.
To check if there is another access number available to you, you can visit our list of numbers here.
For help upgrading or researching known problems with your modem, you can visit this link; www.modemhelp.org.
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| How can I connect when I'm traveling?
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All you'll need to change when traveling should be the access number. It is recommended that you view our list of access numbers prior to traveling, and try to locate local access numbers for the area that you'll be visiting. Make a note of these numbers, and when you're out of town just use those access numbers to connect.
You can find a list of access numbers here: http://www.mailaka.net/access.php
For help on how to change your access number, click here.
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| Can I connect with 2 different computers?
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While you can have Mailaka configured on more than one computer, you can only connect with one PC at a time. This is because Mailaka pays its providers based on the number of login id's that have connected each month. It is possible to share an Internet connection across a LAN, or Local Area Networks. However, Mailaka does not provide any support for LAN's. In order to have to PC's connected at once, you can purchase a second account for the second PC.
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| Is there a limit to how long I can stay connected?
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Yes, there is a set, per-connection limit. This limit is between four and five hours. This limitation is set by our providers, which is why this limitation is very common with many Isp's You may be disconnected after you've reached this limit, but you won't have any problems reconnecting again within 1-3 minutes.
This limitation exists to prevent connection hogs, users that leave the connections running all the time, which makes it difficult for other users to connect, and can also cause other user's connections to be slower.
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| Why doesn't my browser say Mailaka at the top?
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Many ISP's software will adjust the Internet Explorer settings to reflect the name of the given ISP.
If your browser does not show "Mailaka" at the top, this probably means that you setup your connection without the software.
This will not affect your service or browsing ability in any way, and is nothing to be concerned about, even if it says "Provided by Earthlink" or any other ISP name; this is just a cosmetic setting, and does not imply that you're connected with that given ISP or provider. It's just a leftover setting from your other ISP.
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| Why do I get a "404 Error/Page not found"?
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There are a few possible causes for this:
First, if you're not connected to the Internet, your browser will not be able to open any web-pages, because it can't "Find" them.
Next, there could be a typo in the address you entered, or in the link of the website you were on prior. This happens quite frequently, as web-pages and their content change frequently.
Second, if you are connected, (the small icon of two computer screens is displayed next to your clock, on the Start Bar) but no pages will load at all, and your email doesn't work either, there's one of two possible problems.
First, the software on your PC may be corrupted or damaged. Dialup Networking, the Windows component that we use to connect you to Mailaka, has a tendency to stop functioning at random. Though this is a fairly rare occurrence, it is encountered frequently enough to warrant writing special instructions on how to uninstall and reinstall that component:
Warning: Before starting these instructions, make sure you have your Windows CD available.
For Windows 95, 98 & ME:
Click Start, Settings, Control Panel
Double-click Add & Remove Programs
Click the Windows Setup Tab
Double Click on Communications in the listing
Uncheck the Dialup Networking
Click Apply, and then Click OK
The PC will remove the software and prompt you to reboot
Once your system has rebooted, Click Start, Settings, Control Panel
Double-click Add Remove Programs
Click the Windows Setup Tab
Double Click on Communications in the listing
Recheck Dialup Networking
Click Apply
Windows will ask for the Windows CD-ROM disk
Once it's done, it will prompt for another reboot.
Once your computer has rebooted, try setting up again.
Lastly, the server you're connected to may be experiencing problems; let us know, and we can test the server from here, and if we confirm that the server requires maintenance, we can open a trouble-ticket with our providers.
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| How do I make Internet Explorer auto-dial?
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In Internet Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options.
On the Connections tab, click "Always dial my default connection"
When your browser is opened, it will detect that there's no Internet connection and the dialup window will open. Then click Connect or Dial to connect to the Internet Once it's connected, the page will load.
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| Why isn't Mailaka my home page?
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Internet Explorer can be configured to load any web-page you like. Our setup utility usually configures Internet Explorer to automatically load Mailaka.net as your default start page, but if you did not run the setup utility, it may not be set to Mailaka.
You can manually change the startup page or homepage to go to portal.mailaka.net if you like.
In Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options
In this window, you should see "Homepage"
Change this to whichever web-page you want, and click "OK".
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