Tutorial By Marc Hoffman
Problem: I can connect to the internet just fine. But whenever I try to go anywhere, or read my email, the computer tells me that any site I try to visit can't be opened, and my email won't come in.

Solution: Most of the time, this problem is due to improper entry of the DNS numbers. This is an easy situation to correct. But first, we must determine which networking software you have on your Mac. To do this, please follow these steps:
 

  1. Click on the "Apple" Menu  in the upper left corner of the screen.
  2. Point to "Control Panels". A menu should pop out to the side.
  3. Look carefully at the options. You will see either "MacTCP" or "TCP/IP". You will NOT see both of them. If you see "MacTCP", follow these instructions. If you see "TCP/IP", follow these instructions.

 
Figure 1: MacTCP on the left, and TCP/IP on the right

MacTCP DNS Entry

  1. Click on the "Apple" Menu, then point to "Control Panels", and then click on "MacTCP".
  2. A window should pop up similar to Figure 2 below. Click on the "More" button, as is circled in red in Figure 2.
    3. Figure 2: The MacTCP Control Panel
  3. After having clicked on the "More" button, you should see something similar to Figure 3 below. Make sure that the "Domain" and "IP Address" fields are filled in exactly like the area circled in red in Figure 3 below. If they differ an any way, please make the corrections.
  4. Click "OK", and then close up MacTCP. You may or may not be prompted to restart your computer.
  5. Do these steps, and you're done.
    6. Figure 3: The Domain and IP Address areas

 

TCP/IP DNS Entry

  1. Click on the "Apple" Menu in the upper left corner of the screen, point to "Control Panels", and then click on "TCP/IP".
  2. You should see a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 4 below. Make sure that you have the correct numbers listed in the "Name server addr:" box, as is circled in red below. Also, make sure that you have "kearney.net" typed in the "Search Domains" box, again, circled in red below.
  3. Close the TCP/IP control panel by clicking on it's close box in the upper left corner. You may be prompted to save the changes. Click "Save" to ensure that all the changes are made.
  4. Do these steps, and you're done.
    5. Figure 4: TCP/IP Control Panel