1 Internet Access Notes 10/17/94 Pacific Bell Internet Access Notes Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide high-level information on how to access the Internet over the public network. The reader is encouraged to research all alternatives. Legal Stuff All product names and trademarks are the property of the respective companies. Pacific Bell does not endorse the products of other companies. This document does not include all products that are suitable for Internet access. What Is The Internet? The Internet is a worldwide collection of thousands of private and public networks and computers linked by a common backbone network. Historically, the backbone portion of the network has been funded by the government and most of the users have been Universities and the scientific community. In the last few years the Internet has become increasingly commercial. One of the main uses of the Internet is for sending e-mail, particularly across different systems. For example, a Prodigy user can send e-mail from Prodigy across the Internet to a CompuServe subscriber. In this case the Internet is used as a connector of networks. But most Internet users have a "direct" Internet connection which allows many more functions beyond e-mail transmission. With a direct Internet connection a user can use popular software applications like FTP, Telnet, Gopher, and Mosaic (all described later) to "surf" the Internet from their computer and access databases on any public Internet computer. For example, any Internet user can view pictures from the Smithsonian collection, or do a virtual tour of the Louvre museum, or read news stories about World War II aircraft, or see up-to-date satellite weather pictures -- all for no additional charge beyond the price of your Internet access. Most of the information on the Internet is either sponsored by non-profit organizations or made available by companies and individuals who want you to have it. Online service companies like America Online and GEnie are building more Internet functions into their services, but these are currently limited compared to a direct Internet connection. Company/Organizational Access to the Internet Organizations generally buy a 56 kbps or 1.544 mbps dedicated line from the local phone company to the regional Internet provider in their area. The subscribing company or organization generally provides its own LAN and uses a router (Cisco, Wellfleet, Newbridge, etc.) for the high speed link to the Internet provider. Individuals in the subscribing organization can access the Internet through their local LAN connection or by dialing into their organization's LAN from remote locations, either by modem or ISDN. (Examples of remote ISDN access to a LAN can be found on the Pacific Bell BBS (510-277- 1037) and the Pacific Bell Gopher Server.) Call the service providers to find out about fees and availability in your area. They may also help you obtain the necessary software and hardware. Pacific Bell does not endorse the services of other companies. This list is not comprehensive. Internet Providers (alphabetic) CERFnet A Division of General Atomics P. O. Box 85608 San Diego, CA 92186-9784 Information: 619-455-3900 Hotline: 800-876-CERF InterNex Includes ISDN access 415-473-3060 Netcom ISDN access planned 408-554-UNIX PSI Includes ISDN access 800-PSI-3031 Scruz-Net Santa Cruz County, San Jose, soon: Monterey, Mountanview, etc. Slip/PPP - ISDN - Frame Relay (throughout LATA 1) http://www.scruz.net info@scruz.net Phone: 800-319-5555 WestREN Corporation Operator of BARRNet(TM) 701 Welch Rd., Bldg. A, Rm. 3320 Palo Alto, CA 94304 Phone: 415-725-1790 Internet Access Speeds High speed 14.4 kbps modems are sufficient for many Internet applications like e-mail and simple file transfers. But modems may be too slow for high-end applications like Mosaic, unless the inline graphics feature of Mosaic is turned off. (Mosaic "pages" normally have both pictures and text, but the pictures can be suppressed for greater performance.) The minimum speed for "acceptable" Internet access for applications like Mosaic is about 56 kbps if you want to get full inline graphics. This usually means getting an ISDN service from your local phone company and finding an Internet access provider who supports ISDN (see list below). Where to Get ISDN Hardware The ISDN hardware you need depends on what the Internet access provider supports. Typically, the Internet provider would have hub products from Ascend, Combinet or Network Express. The remote user would need compatible equipment from the same or different vendors. Your Internet access provider can help you get the hardware and software you need. But for reference, more information on the equipment above can be obtained from the manufacturers themselves: IBM WaveRunner (Internal PC card) 800-IBM-CALL Combinet John Scandalious, 408-522-9020 Network Express Jim Hietala, 510-244-2080 Ascend 510-769-6001 California businesses can also contact their Pacific Bell account team for help in selecting hardware. All ISDN lines also need a device called an NT1 (unless it's built-in to another piece of equipment, as with the Combinet CB160). Companies that provide NT1s are: AT&T Contact your Pacific Bell Account Team Northern Telecom 800-992-2303 Adtran Daphna Zipkin, 415-697-2848 Tone Commander Steve Hill, 206-883-3600 UDS Motorola Dan Majhor, 510-734-8820 Where to Get Internet Software There are freeware and commercial versions of most Internet applications. The Internet access providers can help you find what you need. Bookstores are carrying Internet tutorial books that include a diskette with some starter software. The best bet is to copy the freeware software from somebody who already has it. Ordering ISDN California businesses can contact their Pacific Bell account team. If you don't have a Pacific Bell account team, check the "Customer Guide" section near the front of your SMART Yellow Pages and look for the local phone number in the "Business Customers" heading. Or call the ISDN Service Center at 800-4PB-ISDN A Pacific Bell residential version of ISDN is expected in 1994. Costs Analog Modem Internet Access: From $17/month. Check with the provider. ISDN Internet Access: Check with the access provider. Prices will vary depending on whether you want one or two B channel (56 kbps or 112 kbps) access. ISDN Line Costs: About $30/month plus normal business phone usage rates per minute. Installation charges of $220, of which $150 can be waived for a two year commitment. ISDN Equipment Costs: From $700 to $1,300 for the remote user, including NT1, but not including your computer. Some equipment (such as the Combinets) may require you to add an ethernet card to your PC, at an additional cost of $80 to $120. Software Costs: All Internet software is available as freeware or shareware. Commercial versions can cost up to $400 for a full suite of applications. Applications Explained For any Internet application you need TCP/IP driver software. The driver handles the arrangement and flow of the data bits (i.e. the protocol) for all of your Internet applications. There are a variety of common software applications that the user needs on their computer to access the Internet. These packages usually have DOS and Macintosh version. All of the major applications are available as freeware or shareware. But commercial versions may be easier to use or more reliable (but not necessarily). The most popular Internet applications are explained below: Eudora: The most widely used e-mail package for the Internet. The user needs an account on a server to use Eudora. News Reader: Allows you to "subscribe" to any of the many topics being discussed on the Internet in "news groups." Users ask questions and post responses on hundreds of topics. The user needs an account on a server to use this function. Telnet: Allows you to log on to a remote computer and execute programs on that computer as though you were locally attached. You may need a password for authorization. FTP: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is the most widely used application for moving files from one computer on the Internet to another. Most FTP software packages have relatively primitive user interfaces. The user needs to know the address of the computer where the file resides and must deduce the purpose of the file from its file name or by reading a text file. Gopher: An improvement over FTP, Gopher provides long menu descriptions for files and a menu structure for finding things without knowing the machine addresses. You can point and click on files to view them real-time (if you have the appropriate viewer applications -- explained below). You can also search for a topic across all Gopher servers on the Internet by using an application called Veronica, which is accessed from many Gopher servers. Mosaic: Mosaic is an improvement over Gopher, and the hottest application on the Internet. The Mosaic interface looks like an encyclopedia page on your monitor. Click on any highlighted object to move to the related page for more information. Mosaic is highly visual and can incorporate sound and pictures with the interface. You also need to add viewer applications (explained below) to see graphics or video clips or sound. (New commercial versions of Mosaic may have viewer applications built-in.) Many Gopher and FTP databases can also be accessed from within the Mosaic application. The downside of Mosaic is that it is not well indexed yet so you need to know where information is in advance. And Mosaic servers can often get bogged down with traffic, so response times may be unacceptably slow in many cases. Viewer Applications: Information on the Internet is stored in a variety of graphic, video and sound formats. You need the appropriate application software on your computer in order to view or hear those images. Without the viewer applications, Gopher and Mosaic are largely limited to text. The viewer applications are available in freeware and shareware on the Internet. Some common ones for PCs can be found by using an FTP application and connecting to the following server: address: ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu subdirectory: /PC/Mosaic/Viewers User name: ftp Password: your e-mail address Some commonly used viewer programs for IBM compatibles are: Gif files (graphics): wingif.exe (or jview386.exe) JPEG files (graphics): jview386.exe MPEG files (video): mpegplay.exe Sound files: wham.exe Equivalent Macintosh applications and viewers are also available on ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu server. Commercial TCP/IP Software for Internet Access The following companies make commercial Internet software. Their list of features changes rapidly, so contact them for information. You may still need to get additional software such as Gopher, Mosaic and the viewer applications. Wollongong TCP/IP for Windows 800-872-8649 Netmanage Inc. Internet Chameleon 4.0 for Windows 408-973-7171 sales@netmanage.com Super TCP/NFS for Windows Frontier Technologies Corp. VersaTerm Synergy Software (for Macintosh) Spry Inc. Internet in a Box Microphone Pro Will include a MacSLIP driver (for Mac) Quarterdeck Office Systems - for Windows with Mosaic included Mosaic Software Mosaic software may be difficult to find in commercial packages because it's relatively new. The freeware version along with the viewer applications it requires can be found -- after you get access to the Internet -- by using your FTP application to download the appropriate files from this Internet address: Address: ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu Gopher Software Gopher software can be obtained by using your FTP application and connecting to the following address: Address: boombox.micro.umn.edu directory: /pub/gopher