What is my username and password?
Quick Navigation:
- Introduction
- Username Considerations
- Password Considerations
- Why is my login and password combination rejected?
- How can I change my password?
Introduction
When you sign up for an Earthnet service, such as Dialup, DSL or Email account, you have to choose a username and a password for that service.
'Username' can also be referred to as 'login', 'account name', 'screen name', 'user name', or 'login name'...
This username is not assigned until you actually sign up and order your service with Earthnet. Most of the time, you, as a customer, pick the username that you want during the signup process, unless it is already assigned to another customer.
If you open a Dialup or a DSL account with Earthnet, the username you will pick will also be the first part of your email address with Earthnet.
For example, if you picked jsmith as your username, then it would automatically create and assign to your account the email address: jsmith@earthhnet.net
NOTE! Since September 2007, the Earthnet username FOR DIALUP is the full email address, for example jsmith@earthhnet.net.
Reciprocally, if your email address is janedoe@earthnet.net, chances are good that your username will be janedoe>.
Conclusion: for most Earthnet customers, your username is the first part of your email address. If asked for a username, do NOT enter your whole email address, but just its first part, UNLESS you need to enter the DIALUP username (which is the FULL email address).
The password is also chosen by the customer during the signup process. It can also be randomly generated and assigned by Earthnet, if you request us to do so.
Username considerations
Earthnet usernames CANNOT contain any special character, including dots, exclamation points, hyphens (dashes), slashes, underscores, dollar sign, ampersand, etc...
Here are some example of invalid usernames: john_smith, john.smith, john$mith, john&smith...
However, you can mix letters and numbers, as in johnsmith2006 for example, as long as the username starts with a letter. For example, 2006jsmith would not be valid, but j2006smith would.
Usernames have to be all lowercase. You cannot use any uppercase letter in your username. For example, JSmith or johnSmith would not be valid usernames.
However, if your username is johnsmith, you can write your email address with uppercase letters if you wish, like JohnSmith@earthnet.net (mail servers ignore the case).
Usernames are case-sensitive, which means that if you have to enter your username in your email program, in your DSL modem or on your dialup connection page, it will have to be all lowercase. If you type your username with some letters uppercase, it probably won't work.
Password considerations
Unlike usernames, passwords can contain any kind of characters, including dots, dashes, dollar signs, etc. Special characters are actually recommended to make strong passwords. Earthnet also recommends to choose passwords that are at least 6 characters long.
The password should be something you can remember, but something that is secure.
Secure passwords have a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and at least one special character (like ^, &, $, !, @, etc.).
Earthnet now requires all passwords to obey these requirements:
YOUR PASSWORD NEEDS TO CONTAIN AT LEAST
- 1 LETTER (a to z and A to Z)
- AND 1 NUMBER (0 to 9)
- AND 1 SPECIAL CHARACTER (!, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, etc.)
- AND IT NEEDS TO CONTAIN AT LEAST 6 CHARACTERS
Examples of strong passwords (please don't use any of these examples!):
- 0pen!d00r
- F1re@H0s3
- Busy$B33
Examples of weak passwords:
- anything that could be either guessed (your spouse's first name, your birthday, your child's name, etc.)
- or cracked with a 'dictionary attack' (list of common nouns tried one after another)
- or by a brute force attack (passwords with 8 characters or less that don't contain any special character, obvious numeral series such as 1234, 98765...)
Once you have chosen a password, either make sure it is something you can remember, or write it down in a safe place where only you have access to it.
Why is my login and password combination rejected?
Follow the steps below to make sure that your username and password information is correct.
- Make sure your username and password are spelled correctly. It is common to put a zero in place of the letter O, and vice versa.
- Make sure everything is capitalized properly. Both the username and the password are CaSe SeNsItIvE. USERNAMES ARE ALWAYS LOWERCASE!
- If you don't type your password every time, make sure its still in the password box.
- If you are having problems logging in to your email, a common mistake is to use your entire email address in the username field. This is incorrect, you must use the username that was assigned to you.
- If you are still having problems, try to restart your computer. Sometimes this will help your modem or email program reset itself.
- Call Earthnet Technical Support at 303-546-6362 or open a trouble ticket.
How can I change my password?
If you know your current password, you can change it to something different.
Caution
If you use our online password change form, it will not update our records, so make sure that you write down your new password and keep it in a safe place, for we won't be able to remind you of your password in case you forgot it.
You can also call us at 303 546 6362 to have us update your password for you. We will need to verify your identity by asking you some personal questions about your account, so please gather all the documentation you can before you call.