Whether you are setting up your own office network with our standard Plug and Play configuration or you are an IT consultant implementing more advanced services for a customer, we highly recommend that, before starting, you fill out our Plug and Play worksheet, which can be found at the bottom of this page.

By spending a few minutes to fill out this worksheet, you can save time later when you add a new computer, printer or server to your office network. And it simplifies technical support calls!

A stitch in time saves nine!

The Plug and Play worksheet will be a simple diagram of your office network. It takes only a few minutes to fill out and once done, you or any IT staff that perform maintenance for your servers, printers, workstations or other equipment have a very handy reference. It also assists us in providing you with support for your Internet connection. Please store the worksheet somewhere safe and accessible.

Step 1 - Is Internet Service Active?
Confirm that service is turned on to your suite! Call us anytime during regular business hours to verify service. (360)647-0785

Step 2 - Plug Cable into the Cat-5 Jacket
With a standard laptop or desktop, connect the Ethernet cable to one of the OpenAccess Internet wall jacks in your office.

Step 3 - Start Your Computer
Start up your computer. You should have Internet access immediately. If not, then verify that your computer is set to 'automatic' (also known as DHCP) settings for Internet access.

Step 4 - Fill Out the Worksheet
If you have difficulties, call our office for additional assistance in setting the first computer up.

Now you are ready to fill out your OpenAccess Plug & Play Worksheet.? If you don't have a worksheet, or need another one, download one from below.

Step 5 - Enter Contact Information
On the lower right of the worksheet, enter your business name as the customer, your name as the technician and today's date.? The date is important because if there are changes to your network later, it will be critical that whoever reads the worksheet knows whether the information is current or potentially outdated.

Step 6 - Finding Your VLAN
If you don't know what a VLAN is, don't worry! It is a number, usually beytween 2 and 100.

To find your VLAN (on a Windows XP machine), go to "Start Menu",then click the return (enter) key on your keyboard. This runs a command prompt. Type in "ipconfig" and hit return again.

You will see your IP Address, your Subnet Mask and your Default Gateway. Your VLAN is the third digit of your 'Default Gateawy' and will be something like 192.168.V.1.? For example, if your gateway is 192.168.15.1, then your VLAN would be 15.

Enter your VLAN in the section on the left of the worksheet.

Step 7 - LAN Settings
You enter your LAN settings on the left side of the worksheet.? These are calculated from your VLAN and are:
LAN Subnet: 192.168.V.0/24, where V is your VLAN
LAN Gateway: 192.168.V.1, where V is your VLAN.

Step 8 - Your Public IP
This is the IP address that your office uses on the public Internet.? To find this, open your web browser and go to http://www.showmyip.com. Your public IP address is at the top.

Congratulations, you're done!? We hope this went smoothly for you.

If you add any printers, file servers or other devices to your network, you can find additional instructions at http://www.openaccess.org/support.