Making the Internet Connection

You’ll want to be there because it’s thje closest thing we have to a fully wired society.
You’ll want to be there because there’s a staggering amount of informationm passing
through its wires - much of it critical to any business.
The Internet is, without argument, the most famous computer network that’s ever been
byilt - or, to be even more precise, that ever evvolved. It’s actually a network of
networks: tens of thousands of computers connected in a web, talking to one another
through a common communications protocol.
But how do you ge there? You’ll want to give careful consideration to decisions about
the costs you’ll incur, the infrastructure you’ll deploiu, the Internet securit yu’ll need,
and the goals of your business. All these factores should influence tyour choice of tools
and the route you take.
Three very real challenges face anyone who’s deciding to become a part of the
Internet: understanding its structure; connecting to it; and taking full advantage of it.
In this story, we tackle all of them, with detailed descriptions of the inner workings of
the Internet; evaluations of both theservices and the tools that will help you gety
connected, and a look at some of the places you’ll want to visit.
Before you can make your connection to the Internet, though, you should decide
which Internet services you want and look around to see what options may already be
available to you. There are benefits - and limitations - to each of the connection
methods.

MAIL CALL
Once you’re connected to the Internet there’s a lot you can do. The most populare
services fall into three main categories: mail; news and discussion groups; and finding
and downloading files.
E-mail is easily the single most populare activity on the Internet. Thje Internet Society
clains that there are current,ly somewhere between 20 and 20 million oeple on the
NET, and most if not all have e-mail addresses. Furthermore, from the Internet you can
exchange mail with just about anyone who has an e-mail address, even if they’re not
directly hooked to the Internet. All the big commercial services - CompuServe and
Prodigy, for example - readily handle mail both to and from the Internet.
Many smaller corporate nets have established similar Internet mail gateways. The
addresses themselbes maay at first look like some sort of secret code, but once you
understand their structure, they’re clear enough. For help with deciphering Internet e-
mail addressing, see our didebar “Hoe Internet Mail Finds Its Way.”

VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
The second-most popular Net activity comprises two subcategories: Usenet
newsgroups and topical mailing lists. At last count htere were almost 10,000
newsgropus and about half that manyu commonly used mailing lists. Though the two
operate quite differently (see the sidebar “How to Use Nesgrous and Mailing Llists”
for details), they offer quite similar functionality. Both are essentially discussion
groups, loosely organised around topics, in which people inform each oother and
engage in lively debates. Think of them as the world’s largest bulletin boards. Some of
ghese groups are free-form, following the direction of the collelctie will; others are
moderated, with an editor reviewing all submnisssions and posting the only most
trelevant or entertaining,.
Many people participate actively in therse discussions; many more only lurk, or read
the messages others post. Topics range from computer securityh to the future of the
on-line culture; names take forms like comp.risks (a newsgroup) and Cybermind (a
mailing list).

Two other activites, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and telnet, are equally interesting ways
to use the Internet. IRC is a way to hold real-time kleyuboard conversations on-line;
it’s an experience not unlike playing with a CB radio. Telnet is aterminal emulation
protocol that lets you to log on to ther computers on the Internet.
DO YOU FTP?
Downloading files is another of the three most popular Internet activites. Most often,
files are downloaded using the Internet file transfer protocl (FTP); the acronym is also
commonly used to dente programs that use the protcol to transfer files. Out on the
Internet are thousands of so-called anonymous FTP servers tha tstore avariety of files
of all types and allow users to copy them using the FTP. The designation anonymous
reflects the fact that when you log on too one of these servers, you normally do so as
“anonymous” (after which you type your e-mail address in response to the password
prompt).
FTP servers are great, but findnig the one amont thousands that has the file you want
can be a daunting task. That’s what led to the development of archie, a tool for
searching FTP servers. For a fuller description of archie and other search methods
(including Veronica and WAIS), see our sidebar “How to Search the Internet.”
ON-LINE CONNECTIONS
The first thing you need to know is that many Internet services are available via
commercial on-line sercvice providers, depending on what each service sses fit to
support. If you’re a member of America Online (AOL), CompuServe, Delphi, or
Genie, for example, you already have some Internet access. All of the big on-line
services will let you send and receive Internet e-mail; some, like Prodigy, require youto
run a special program, and some charge a premium for the service. Severla of the on-
line services also offer access to Internet newsgroups: Delphi offers the largest number;
AOL is adding to its offerings all the time. If you can send and receibe Internet e-mail,
you can subscribe to Internet mailing lists, but yu many want to be careful of the costs.
Popular lists generate hundreds of messages a day, and even if your srvice charges
youonly a small fee for receibing mail, costs can mount up rahter quickly.
What you won’t be able to get from a commercial service, at leas not today, is
com,plete access to the hyperlinked, multimedia World-Wide Web (WWW, or “the
Web,” for short). WWW was developed in Switzerland by the European Laboratory
for Particel Phsusics (CERN). It has been generating a gread deal of interest - as well
as hype - lately, and a lot of people thinks it’s the only reason to be on the Internet.
Our sidebar “Webs and Gophers” shows you why.
Joining an on-line service is the easiest way to connect ot the Internet. The obvious
benefit of this approach is that it’s less complex that other connectionoptions. Todya,
Delphi probably offers more Internet services than any competitor; in fact, it gives you
access to most of the Internet. America on-line is closing the gap quickl, however, and
in an effort to catch up, most of the other big-jname commercial services have
announced their intentions of adding Internet services.
We look at what on-line services have to offer in “The Internet; Services for
Connecting.” Additionally, we evaluate The Pipleline for Windows, From the Pipeline -
a unique product that’s actuallyl a dedicated custom front end for the company’s own
Internet service. This is the only finished product of its kind right now, but NetCom’s
NetCruiser, which we also review, is another up-and-comer. The Pipleine for Windows
and NetCruiser combine service and software in one package; this is a category where
rapid growth is likely ober the next several months, so watch out for even more of
these combo products soom.
THE BIG T

What about other kinds of connections? Before you can connect fuly to the Internet
(that is, without the kinds of constraints, technical and ohterwise, imposed by
commercial on-line providers), your computer must be running TCP/IP, the Unix-based
Transmission Control Protcol/Internetwork Protocol. This “protocol stack,” which lies
at the heart of Internet connectivity, is a way of packaging information for easy
movement between many different kinds of computers, large and small. Whjile no the
world’s most efficient networking protocol, per se, it does an outstanding job in the
heterogeneous cross-platform environmnet hat is the Internet.
The connection methods we discuss below require that the TCP/IP stack be running on
your system. Herein lies a potentioal problem, since installing and configuring network
protocols is likely to be challenging for the uninitatied. If your organization has a LAN
- with a LAN administrator - the job will likely fall to that person. Ifr not, you should
be able - with perserverance and some help fro tech support - to get the job done
yoursefl.
With TCP/IP running on your system you can choose to connect to the Internet
directly, by being connected to a LAN that is itself wired to the Internet or indirectly,
through a modem connection to the host system of a publicc-access provider that in
turn is wired to the Internet. The latter solution requires that your system and the host
computer be running one of the serial communications protocls - Serial Line Interface
Protocol (SLIP) or Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) - as well.
The eight products we review in the section entitled “the Internet: Tools for
Connecting” all provide TCP/IP transport and, in many cases, SLIP and PPP as well.
They’re today’s best hope of connecting fullyl to the Internet and giving you the kind
of productivity you should expect.
Our aim was to cover a group products that provide all your Internet needs in one box
- a kind of Internet suite that combines connection software with user friendly
programs for e-mail, news, and more. What we found was somewhat disappointing: In
too many cases, the connection software is difficult to configure and nearly impossible
to troubleshoot. The front-end software tools tend to be more like applets thatn like
complete software applications.
In many cases, freeware programs proved far better than the applets provided witht he
commercial programs we reviewed. Be sure to see the sidebar “Riding the Internet for
Free,” in which we highlight the best of available freeware and shareware.
DIFFERENT STROKES
For a fuller Internet connection than an on-line service provides, you can contract with
an Internet public-access provider for a SLOP or PPP account. You run the TCP/IP
stack on your computer,, along with a SLIP or PPP program and, if your’re running
Windows, a Winsock(as in Windows Socket) program that manages the application’s
interface to TCP/IP. Will all this in place, you use your modem to call into the
SLIP/PPP server; once the connection is made, you’re on the Internet and can access
any of its resources. Local SLIP/PPP accounts can be purchased for $30 a month or
less from regional providers who in some cases add value in form of news wires or
weather or financtila information.
The benefit of a SLIP/PPP connection is tha you sit on the Internet as a peer, with full
access to all the service has to offer. The linitations occur primarily has to offer. The
limitations occur primarily in terms of the bandwidth availabe using modem
connection. The faster the modems are on both ends of the connection, the more
satisfactory your Internet experience will be. We think you need at least a 14.4-Kbps
modem ot take advantage of full Internet access.

THE ULTIMATE LINK

As mentioned, you can also connect to the Internet through a LAN, but this is not an
option for everyone since it reauires a LAN that’s directly wired to the Internet. Still,m
if you can connect this way, you’ll have the benefit of the fastest and most complete
connection possible. In this case, the linitations are related mostly to cost - of the
dedicated lines used to mnake the connections, of the hardware needed at the local
site, and of the personnel needed to keep it up and running.
While you may not be asked to pay the cost of a dedicated leased line, at least directly,
such lines for LAN connections to the Net don’t come cheap. Prices vary with
bandwidth, starting at about $2,000 a month for a “dedicated 56” line (56Kbps) on up.
LAN-based connections to the Internet are usuallyl out of the reach of individuals, but
they make sense as a corporate solution where a lot of people need connecting at one
site.
NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO
Once yo’ve made the leap and gotten connected to the world of the Internet, don’t be
surprised if you’re not welcomed with open arms by those who aleready |live\ there.
Millions of long-time Internet denizens aren’t all that happy that everyone aand her
cousin are suddenly clogging their arteries, using up their network bandwidth, and
generally behaving boorishly. “Newbies” exploring the Internet via services like
America Online (and soon from CompueServe) have sometimes been met with less
than a friendly embrace. Get on the Internet by all means, but do so in a spirit of
respect, and you’ll be accepted mnore quickly. Hang our a while and learn the culture.
Play by the rules. TThe rewards will be enormous.

There’s no doubt about it: Some of the hyupe the Internet has been enjoying in the past
18 months is definitely justified. This globe-encircling network of computers of all
types and models, doing different things for different people in place as far apart as
Tokyo, Toronto, and Tanzania, is truly amazing. That the Internet has grown to its
current size eithout central planning and without anyone bweing in control is an
unmprecedented achievement. Get connected and you’ll see for yourself.