The Internet and You

COMversations returns with more tips and tricks to help you through CyberSpace

Hi there, and welcome to COMversations '96! It's been a year since the last COMversations episode hit the pages of PC Quest, and a lot has happened since we last met.

For those who came in late….

COMversations first appeared in January 1993 issue of PC Quest. Those were "the dark ages" when a modem was considered a white elephant in India. Until December 1994, this column attempted to introduce readers to new things in the field of datacommunication, as well as give them helpful tips and tricks to make them more productive online.

There was no COMversations in 1995 for the simple reason that nothing new was happening on the Indian Datacommunication scene.

Well, things have changed. In August of 1995, India "got" the Internet (whether is really did is debatable - in fact, we shall debate it in the future). Many of us spend huge amounts of time "surfing the net" (a term I dislike intensely), hopping aimlessly from place to place in the search of Electronic Nirvana.

And hence, COMversations is back!

Let's get on with it

Getting an Internet account

A year ago, getting onto the Internet from India was a task best left to magicians or millionaires. These days, the task is as trivial as hopping across to the nearest VSNL office and paying them Rs.6,000 for an account.

But hold everything - VSNL has so many types of accounts! Which one should you choose?

The account types fall into two basic categories : "Shell Accounts" and "TCP/IP Accounts". (I'll be discussing them in detail a little later).

Shell accounts cost Rs.5,000 (plus Rs.1,000 registration charges). The subscription amount covers 250 hours of access.

TCP/IP accounts cost Rs.15,000 (plus Rs.1,000 registration charges). Again, the subscription amount covers 250 hours of access.

Within each category, VSNL provides a number of classes (like in the Government, where one is classified as an employee belonging to Class 1, 2, 3….). All the classes provide exactly the same content - i.e. the quantity and quality of services offered are the same. What changes is the price tag.

If you sign up as an individual, Shell and TCP/IP accounts cost you Rs.5,000 and Rs.15,000 respectively. If you sign up as a company, you pay Rs.25,000 for either, with no additional benefits.

Since VSNL is violating MRTP rules (charging differentially for the same quality and quantity of service) anyway, you should therefore do the smart thing - sign on as an individual, using a personal cheque or DD or even cash. If you are in fact representing a company, get the amount reimbursed from the company.

With that behind us, let's proceed to the selection of type of account.

Shell or TCP/IP?

Shell accounts limit you to the text-only tools provided by VSNL - Telnet, FTP, Lynx (character-based World Wide Web Browsing) and E-Mail.

TCP/IP accounts let you use any of the thousands of Internet tools that are available without any restrictions at all from VSNL, and they are usually graphically based.

So which do you go for?

If your requirement is just basic Electronic Mail, don't even consider the TCP/IP accounts unless you have prior experience with such things and can afford paying Rs.10,000 more for the same thing. The reason is that the e-mail facilities of VSNL are pretty good even at Shell account levels, and definitely beat taking an account with a commercial e-mail vendor who charges you on a per-message basis. With a VSNL Shell account, you do not pay for each individual message - you pay only for the 250 hours of access time that are covered by the Rs.5,000 subscription charge.

The Shell account is a great and cheap introduction to using the Internet, and if you do not have any Internet experience at all, this is definitely something you should try first. Remember that you can upgrade at any time to a TCP/IP account by paying the additional Rs.10,000.

If you are familiar with the Internet, and have the need to go beyond the functionality of a Shell account (such if you want to do Graphical Web Browsing or wish to use TCP/IP-based facilities that are not available in the Shell account), then you could consider taking a TCP/IP account.

With a TCP/IP account, you still have to dial into the VSNL computer, but instead of using facilities available on VSNL, you make use of programs that reside on your local hard disk, such as Netscape, FTP for Windows, IRC, etc.

A TCP/IP account is also easier to use for plain E-Mail because you can use programs such as Eudora or Microsoft Exchange for Windows 95 to send and receive mail. However, you may not be able to justify the additional Rs.10,000 just for this feature.

There is possibly one more additional reason for you to get a Shell account rather than a TCP/IP account - if you are not located in a city where VSNL has a direct dial-up hub. In such a case, you would be using INET or GPSS to access the VSNL Internet Gateways, and inspite of what VSNL will try and convince you of - TCP/IP over INET or GPSS is virtually impossible.

The bottom-line is that you will probably be better off "getting your feet wet" on the Internet with the cheaper Shell account option, upgrading to TCP/IP only if you really need to.

The Modem Game….

When I first started this column way back in 1993, I did so with an article on how to buy a modem. I am not going to repeat all that again now, but here are a few pointers:

Buy a cheap modem (where cheap applies to both price as well as quality) and you will probably have a lousy time online. VSNL is not very comfortable with setting modems, and though it uses great modems at their end (Motorola Codex 3266), those modems are pretty badly set. Which means that if you come along and connect with a bad modem, you are going to wish you never heard of the Internet.

If you haven't already bought a modem, buy one that your local BBS uses. BBS Sysops usually have gone through many generations of modems, and when they use one consistently, there is usually a very good reason for it. Call him/her up and ask them.

If you do not have the luxury of a BBS in your city, you are stuck with trial and error. I cannot recommend any specific brands - the best brand is the one that you have actually tried from your place. Don't settle on the first one that works - try at least three before you decide.

A cheapo 14,400 bps modem will cost you around Rs.8-10,000, a really great one will cost you around Rs.15,000. If you can afford it, buy a V.34 28,800 bps modem (cheap ones will cost you around Rs.20,000, really good ones will cost you around Rs.30,000). VSNL does not yet offer 28,800 bps access, but indications are that they will, and pretty soon, too.

You do not have to invest in a 16550 based serial card, but the presence of one will definitely make life simpler for you at high speed.

And, as always, stay away from internal card modems - a good external modem will prove its worth very quickly.

Software

If you have a Shell account, you will need a good Terminal Emulation communication software. I strongly recommend the shareware program Telix, but the HyperTerm program that ships with Windows 95 is also good. Stay away from Windows 3.x's Windows Terminal!!! That program is lousy, as are programs like BitCom and older versions of QL2Fax.

In general, communications under Windows 3.x is an exercise in futility - stick to DOS based programs for Shell access. Under Windows 95 most communication programs run decently. Under OS/2 Warp, they soar.

Make sure that whatever program you select has VT100 Terminal Emulation and supports Zmodem file transfers. A good scripting facility is also highly desirable, as is the ability to capture ASCII text appearing on your screen.

When it comes to TCP/IP, you are looking at a different class of programs. Here you basically leave the DOS world - what you require is Microsoft Windows and something called WinSock - a program layer that talks TCP/IP to the remote host.

The most common used under Windows 3.x is Trumpet Winsock, but you have a catch 22 situation here. Trumpet Winsock Version 2.1 or later work only for 30 days without registration. Version 2.0 works forever, but the required PPP support (that is needed to connect on TCP/IP mode to VSNL) is faulty and does not work.

Rather than struggle with archaic stuff like this, upgrade to Windows 95, which has built-in TCP/IP support and works like a charm. It is also extremely easy to set up, provided you also have the Windows 95 PLUS! Pack. Without the Plus pack, you'll find things rough going.

OS/2 Warp with the Bonus pack is also usable and very easy to set up.

OK, once you have established the TCP/IP connection, you need TCP/IP clients such as FTP, Telnet, E-Mail, etc. These are easily available in the shareware domain on many FTP sites. If you are using Windows 95, you'll find that most of them are already on your hard disk. The same applies to OS/2 Warp.

Winding Down

OK, that's how much space I have this month. Next month, I will take you by the hand and take you through the actual process of connecting to the Internet - including some useful tips you won't be able to live without.

Before I leave you, let me point you at my own Web pages on the World Wide Web. The main gateway to my pages is at http://pobox.com/~achitnis, and from there, you will be able to reach other sites, including the wellknown View from the Ground pages that Kishore Bhargava and I maintain on the web. Do drop by!

Cheerio!

+++ATH0

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