Connecting

Overview

In order to use the internet you need to connect your computer up to the Web. There are many ways this can be achieved;

From Home you will need to connect via your telephone (using a modem or ISDN connection) to an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

From an existing Network you will need to set up a connection to the Web backbone either directly or via an ISP.

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Win 3.x uses a program like "trumpet" winsock that dials a modem then logs on the user to a remote computer connected to internet

[Trumpet winsock]

Win95 comes standard with Dial-up networking, which is now used by most browsers (using Win95).

[Win95 dial-up - initial screen]

Clicking [Connect] starts the modem dialing;

[loging in to voyager]

Unfortunately (or fortunately) competition is so fierce between the Internet Service Providers (ISP's), that charging is constantly changing.
In some cases users can subscribe for a set fee to unlimited access, through to a time based fee where you only pay for connect time.
Selecting the right ISP for you will depend on how you intend using the connection (eMail, news or WWW).

Some Internet Service providers (ISP's) charge by the Megabyte.
Some will also have a basic monthly connection fee.
If newsgroups are kept on a server maintained by your ISP downloads MAY be free.

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Local

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