The Internet on a Budget - Part 3

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Connecting Your Computer to the Internet:

First you need to get a local "ISP" (Internet Services Provider). The ISP 
will either give you a disk (or CD-ROM) that will configure the computer 
and install the basic tools needed to get on the 'Net or give you the 
information needed to get and install those tools. You'll need three 
things: a "TCP/IP stack" (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol 
-- the basic driver that "speaks" to the Internet); an "API" (Application 
Programming Interface -- the connection between the driver and the 
applications); and the Internet applications themselves. Of course you 
will also need a "modem" (MOdulator-DEModulator -- it transmits digital 
information over the 'phone lines)and a telephone connection to physically 
connect to the 'Net.

Each computer platform (Windows 3.1, Macintosh, Linux, etc.) needs a 
different set of these tools so I won't go into any detail here, you'll 
find the information needed for each platform from your local user group 
or computer guru. Installation and configuration is also different for 
each platform so follow the instructions given you by your ISP

Some of the applications you'll need will be a "dialer" (a way to dial and 
connect the modem with the ISP's computer -- usually supplied by the ISP) 
and a "browser" that allows you to "surf" the World Wide Web and which 
usually contains an "e-mail" application and a "news reader" application 
in addition to "ftp" for transferring files.


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Prepared by Peter Conrad Cumminsky, consultant, ASEE, CET, Team OS/2 
(707) 987-9484
Visit my Computer Taming web site at 
URL:http://www.angelfire.com/biz/taming/ 


(C) Copyright 1993-1998 peterconrad@hotmail.com