Setting up Singnet Broadband
on Windows 98 first edition
I set up my Singnet Broadband connection in January 2001. At that time I had purchased a special promotional sign up package which included an Ethernet card and Aztech DSL Turbo 900 Modem. Getting all this working turned out not to be that straight forward. The aim of this page is not to repeat all the instructions given in the supplied documentation, but to indicate a few things I had to do which were not documented or where the documentation was well hidden. Of course Singnet may modify their package so the information here could be out of date by the time you read it.
Before going further, I should say I would not have got any of this to work without the help of the Singnet Broadband Technical Support hotline on 1800-8486933. They were professional, friendly, helpful and successful in resolving my issues. They did have a few tricks up their sleeve, which I felt should have been part of the standard documentation issued with the Broadband package.
Really this page is for people who are trying to resolve their problems when the hotline is closed or who like to try all the options before making the call.
Before you start you need the package containing the Modem, Ethernet card, cables, an instruction booklet and the Aztech software CD. In a separate package you will have received your ID and password. In another separate package you will have received a Singnet Broadband Starter kit consisting of more instructions and a CD. You will certainly also need your Win98 installation CD.
Here we go:
1. Make sure you have Microsoft Dial-up Networking and Virtual Private Networking installed.
1. Click [Start] , [Settings] , [Control Panel] , [Add/Remove programs]
2. Click the ‘Windows Setup’ tab.
3. Double click ‘Communications’.
4. Ensure both ‘Dial up Networking’ and ‘Virtual Private Networking’ are checked.
5. If they are both already installed click 'Cancel', Otherwise click 'OK' and follow the onscreen instructions.
2. Set up you Ethernet card and Modem as instructed in the Aztech Users Manual.
A couple of points to note here:-
1. You need to configure your ethernet card as stated in the Aztech manual, even though the manual indicates this is optional, in particular you need to make sure the IP address and subnet mask are set up as they state.
2. The WinPOET Dialer will become your means of connecting to the internet. This gets set up with along with DSLTEST. When I tried to use DSLTEST I got an error on the first of the 3 tests saying 'Can't get adapter information'. You are then unable to carry out the other two tests. I have still not resolved this, but my Broadband operates fine, despite the error.
3. Set up your Modem.
The Aztech CD seems to have software for the Ethernet card plus WinPoet and DSLTEST, but no driver for the modem itself and no instructions to install one. I was installing onto a PC which had previously had a 56K modem installed on it. The drivers for this did not seem to help. Here is what Singnet told me to do
1. Click [Start] , [Settings] , [Control Panel] , [Modems]
2. Click ‘Add’.
3. Tick ‘Don’t detect my modem’
4. From ‘Standard Modem Types’ (in Manufacturers panel) select ‘Standard 56000bps X2 modem’ (in the Models panel).
5. Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.
It seems this driver supports a V90 modem - it is surprising the neither the Aztech nor the Singnet documentation made reference to this - but once this driver was intalled everything worked fine.
4. Set up Explorer 5.5 from the Singnet Broadband Starter Kit CD.
The CD autostarts and it takes just a couple of minutes to follow the onscreen instructions. The card which comes with this CD contains a lot of configuration information, but I guess this gets set up automatically as part of the installation, since in the end I didn't need to refer to it.
5. Use WinPOET to logon and Explorer to surf the net.
Note as instructed that your sign-on ID needs to be entered as XXXXX@singnet not as XXXXX@singnet.com.sg (where XXXXX is your allocated ID).