From the Vault: Historic Perspective
DSI has been working with Macs for over 15 years. Check out our historic how-to articles for Mac users:
How to do the Mac PPP Thing
revised 1/10/95OK,
You need get a hold of two control panels: MacTCP and Config PPP, also one extension: PPP. MacTCP needs to be version 2.0.4 and would be included if you bought Apple's System 7.5.
The most effective way that I have found to acquire MacTCP is to call MacZone at 800-248-0800 and order Hayden Books' Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh, 2nd Edition. This is currently $26.98 and contains MacTCP ver. 2.0.4. In addition to that critical control panel, you'll also get a variety of internet software and plenty of useful information.
Drag these three items to the closed system folder.
First let's open MacTCP.
Make sure that PPP is selected in the first window of MacTCP. This tells the system that we want to use Point to Point Protocol to reach out through the modem.
Next, hit the [More] button and make sure that "Server" is selected on the upper left of the second window. This means that the aloha.net machine will give you your address off of your ID when you log on.
On the upper right of the second window, mouse the "A" value to "C".
On the lower right of the window, edit the domain name to "aloha.net". Edit the corresponding IP address to 204.94.112.34. On the next line down, put a dot by itself "." for domain name and then paste the same number from above into the IP address field.
Next, go to Config PPP and configure a new PPP server.
First make sure the port is set to modem or as is appropriate for your setup. Hit the [Config] button on the lower left and give your name of choice to this server, perhaps "HOL". After this, set the port speed for as fast as your modem can go. Put in the phone number of the service in your area, and put in any command string that your modem likes in the Modem Init field.
Look for the Authentication button in the lower left. Go to the authentication window and enter your account ID in lower case with a big "P" in front of it like this: "Praj". Next, enter you password exactly and case sensitive into the password field. Hit [OK] and [Done] buttons to exit the two windows.
At this point you should restart your machine and attempt your first connection. You'll need some kind of internet client program on standby to test your connection, Eudora is usually the thing.
After you've restarted, make an alias for the control panel Config PPP. You'll be accessing this one a lot as it is the gate through your modem that you will open and close when you want to run internet programs.
Hit Config PPP and observe the little Mac faces that are sad right now. Hit the [Open] button. If all is well with your modem, you'll be dialing out.
If your modem does not start operating at this time, drop everything and go to a familiar terminal program like Microphone and try connecting that way. After you've verified that your modem is working OK then try the PPP connection again. By the way, if you're connected to the aloha.net machine, you may want to download the latest NetScape™ software. It's 1.0 at this writing.
Just set your terminal emulation to VT-102 and follow along on LYNX the menu driven browser to the Internet Software area. When you click on the Netscape file you'll be downloading it. Make sure your terminal software supports Z-modem file transfer protocol.
If you are successfully dialing out, you should see a message come up after connection that reads "Establishment". Watch this for a few seconds and you'll see it change quickly to "Authentication" and "Network". When this is done, the little Mac faces will be smiling and you'll be connected to the internet in a new TCP/IP kind of way.
At this point you may run any internet program, the best one to start with is Netscape™. It will drop you right into company headquarters if you run it now. Not every one has a copy of that when they first start out so an alternative is Eudora, the email client.
Eudora will need to be set up in the configuration window under the special menu. Set POP Account to your ID @ your machine (raj@aloha.net). Set your real name if you wish. Set the SMTP server to hookomo.aloha.net. Set your return address to wherever you want to receive mail. Set your dialup Username to your ID with a "P" in front (Praj@aloha,net)
When this is done you can hit "Check Mail" under the File Menu or Command-M. this command will cause Eudora to reach out through the PPP connection and check for any mail for you. You'll probably have some mail from your service provider giving you more details about your account.
The Eudora program is very intuitive about the various things you might want to do with email. You should find it a breeze to operate.
If you didn't make this far, something basic is wrong. Review the steps or contact me for help.