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Windows 98 Professional Reference

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- 26 -
Windows 98 and Remote Communication


One of the most powerful and flexible features in Windows 98's arsenal of networking and communications tools is its remote communications features. The most common use of the remote communications features is accessing the Internet, but there's a wealth of other possibilities: setting up the machine as a dial-in server, creating virtual private networks, and so on.

Windows 3.x was originally shipped with little more than the ability to contact a host computer through a dial-up with a dumb terminal interface. Later, the Internet became a public phenomenon instead of a private resource, and dial-up connections to the Internet became commonplace. Dialing directly into a host was

no longer the only way to connect, and far from the most efficient. At this point, Windows 95 was introduced, and because of Windows 95's open-ended networking and telephony architecture, it was relatively easy to give Windows 95 dial-up connectivity that could use every available network protocol, including and especially TCP/IP.

All of these features have been carried over into Windows 98 and enhanced considerably. Windows 98 also contains support for the new protocol named Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), which lets people use dial-up connections to create virtual private networks (VPN) using public networks, such as the Internet. VPNs make it possible to safely connect to private resources, such as a shared network drive, without fear of someone intercepting the communication.

Windows 98 includes features that make it possible to fully exploit TCP/IP's capabilities. One such feature is Multilink, which enables you to bond together several dial-up or ISDN connections and treat them as a single TCP/IP link with a single address. This increases throughput and bandwidth dramatically.

Another new feature to Windows 98 is the Dial-Up Server, which was originally provided as part of Plus! for Windows 95. The Dial-Up Server enables users to dial directly into your computer and use it either as a gateway to other systems (such as the Internet) or simply as a repository for files or resources. Previously, the only way to do this was with a third-party program (such as Symantec's pcANYWHERE), or with Windows NT. You'll learn more about Windows 98's Dial-Up Server in Chapter 29, "Windows 98 as an Internet/Intranet Server."

In this chapter, you'll learn how to do the following:

Understanding Dial-Up Networking Capabilities

Dial-Up Networking is the catch-all description for any Windows 98 services that allow a modem, ISDN line or other dial-up device to serve as a connection to a network. When using Dial-Up Networking, any software that requires a network connection operates seamlessly with a modem, albeit with slower throughput than a full-fledged network link.

NOTE: The term dial-up device is used to refer to hardware that uses a phone line or other non-dedicated network cable to make a connection to a network server. Dial-up devices can include modems, ISDN adapters, cable modems, and ADSL adapters. It does not refer to network hardware such as network interface cards, switchers, routers, or hubs.

Dial-Up Networking is not, by default, installed with Windows 98 unless you have also installed a modem and the appropriate network protocols, such as TCP/IP.

Generally, Dial-Up Networking is used to make three kinds of connections in Windows 98: Internet connections, connections to virtual private networks (VPNs), and direct connections to host computers (for BBSes, gateways, or remote-control software).

Internet Connectivity

Connecting to the Internet is probably the single most common use for Dial-Up Networking in Windows 98 because much of Windows 98's feature set is enhanced and enriched by having an Internet connection.

Connecting to the Internet through Dial-Up Networking requires that you know the name and server addresses of your Internet provider and that you have the TCP/IP protocol installed in your network stack and bound to the Dial-Up Adapter. Most ISPs provide client software that performs the configuration and dialing for you, but it's best to learn how to perform the needed configurations yourself. This is described in detail later in the chapter.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) Connectivity

A virtual private network, or VPN, is a new and extremely useful technology that makes it possible to use the Internet as a secure backbone for a private network.

One of the VPN protocols, PPTP, is Microsoft's variant of TCP/IP, which is used to establish a private communications channel with a specific computer. It can be used over either a direct-dial or third-party (for example, general Internet) TCP/IP connection. Other protocols used to establish VPN connections include IPsec and SOCKS, but this chapter focuses on using PPTP.

As mentioned before, with PPTP you use the Internet as the backbone for your communications, rather than setting up a dedicated dial-up connection. PPTP also affords much greater security than conventional Internet protocols, which prevents transmissions across the Internet from being intercepted and keeps unauthorized users out of the network you want to share. Finally, PPTP lets you make use of high-speed dial-ups and uses less hardware than a direct-dial setup.

Direct-Dial Connectivity

One of the most secure ways to establish communication between two computers is to have one dial directly into the other. Direct-dial connectivity was the basis for nearly every computer BBS until the explosion of the Internet.

There are many third-party products and protocols that support direct-dialing, such as Symantec's pcANYWHERE 32.

The big drawback to using direct-dial is that for each individual connection to the server, there must be a separate telephone line. Bigger organizations can better afford to implement direct-dial, but unless the number of dial-ups is limited to one or two, this can be a costly scheme to implement for smaller organizations (such as homes or businesses).

Protocols Used in Remote Communications

There is no real way to forge a data connection between two computers without both of them using a common protocol. This section looks at the most common protocols used in Windows' remote communications components.

TCP/IP

Right now, TCP/IP is the protocol. The Internet is built on it, and many computers and operating systems (including Windows) use it as the main communication standard between computers in local area networks. It's flexible and universal; it can be adapted to serve a great number of needs, and there's almost no operating system or computer that can't make use of it.

When TCP/IP is used with remote communications to connect to an Internet dial-up, there are two basic ways TCP/IP can be implemented: SLIP and PPP.

IPX/SPX

IPX/SPX (an abbreviation of Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange) is the protocol on which the Novell Netware operating system is based. Like TCP/IP, it's routable, meaning it can be used on wide-area networks as well as LANs.

IPX/SPX is generally not used in Windows 98 (or Windows-to-Windows) connectivity, unless you are dialing into a Novell-based server that has resources that can only be accessed through IPX/SPX, such as a print server or a network drive. However, some LANs do use IPX/SPX without having Novell resources simply because it's a convenient and routable protocol that requires far less setup than TCP/IP. However, non-Novell IPX/SPX LANs are becoming less common because of TCP/IP's omnipresence.

NetBEUI

NetBEUI is the least flexible of the most commonly used network protocols. Because it's not routable, it is designed to work only in LAN environments of 50 nodes or fewer. Windows 98's remote communications support NetBEUI, but it should only be enabled when dialing into a network that explicitly requires it, such as a private LAN.

PPTP

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol, as mentioned before, is a Microsoft protocol for creating virtual private networks across the Internet. It is not the only protocol for creating VPNs, but because it comes as part of the available Windows 98 networking components, it is the only one covered in this chapter. Other protocols, such as SOCKS or IPsec, require third-party implementations.

Servers Used in Remote Communications

Every remote communications setup needs a server. Sometimes the term server can be misleading because a server doesn't have to be a powerful computer. The server is just the generic name for whichever computer is hosting the connections. When you set up remote communications in Windows 98, it's important that you know what type of server is hosting your connection. With this knowledge you'll be able to correctly configure your networking settings and get the best possible throughput and feature set.

UNIX or Generic Internet

If you are using Windows 98 to connect to the Internet, chances are you are dialing into a UNIX system of some sort. Most ISPs use a variety of UNIX to provide connectivity both within their network and to the outside world. Most of these providers use PPP (rather than SLIP) in their TCP/IP connections and do not support IPX/SPX or NetBEUI because there is no need for it.

Windows NT 4.0 or Higher

Windows NT servers can carry a great variety of services, from conventional Internet and PPP connectivity to IPX/SPX and NetBEUI. If you are using an Internet provider that uses NT servers, you generally don't need to know this; your connection will be a generic PPP dialup. You need to configure explicitly for a Windows NT 4.0 server only when you are accessing shared resources, such as network drives or printers.

Windows NT 3.5/3.1 and Windows 3.x

If you are making connections with older versions of Windows or Windows NT, you need to be explicit about this in your Dial-Up Networking settings. Older editions of Windows NT (those prior to 4.0) had their own proprietary Microsoft protocols, and these have been included in Dial-Up Networking for the sake of backwards compatibility. Generally, these older proprietary protocols are not used unless you know that you will be dialing into or making contact with an older server.

Windows 98/95

Connecting between Windows 98 machines (or from Windows 98 to Windows 95 machines) on a LAN was simple enough before. However, the provisions for dialing directly from one machine to another--or accessing another machine securely through the Internet--were limited and only possible through third-party products. The addition of the Dial-Up Server and PPTP in Windows 98 fixes both of those shortcomings and makes Windows 98 a viable platform for hosting a low-cost dial-up or PPTP server.

Installing Dial-Up Networking

When Windows 98 is first installed, it installs the Dial-Up Networking components as a matter of course if a modem is present. Dial-Up Networking cannot be installed without a modem or ISDN device present.

If you have a modem present, you should see a Dial-Up Networking icon when you open My Computer (see Figure 26.1).

Figure 26.1

The Dial-Up Networking icon, as it appears in My Computer.

Installing Dial-Up Networking Manually

If you have a modem installed, but no Dial-Up Networking icon is present, then you need to install Dial-Up Networking manually as follows.

1. Go to the Control Panel and open the Add/Remove Programs icon. Click the Windows Setup tab and select Communications.
2. Click Details to bring up the list of components under Communications (see Figure 26.2).

Figure 26.2

The Dial-Up Networking component as listed in Add/Remove Programs.

3. Check the box for Dial-Up Networking and click OK. Click OK on the Add/Remove Programs Properties sheet. The computer prompts you to insert the Windows 98 CD-ROM or to specify a path to the needed files.
4. Reboot when the computer has finished copying files.

The main component of Dial-Up Networking is the Dial-Up Adapter, which can be seen in the Network Configuration sheet (see Figure 26.3). This driver enables the network stack to look at the modem as though it were another network adapter and to treat the data being pumped through it in that fashion.

Figure 26.3

The Dial-Up Adapter in the Network Configuration sheet.

NOTE: America Online, or AOL, installs a dial-up adapter of its own into the network stack. If you are not using Windows 98's own Dial-Up Networking, AOL's adapter assumes the same function. If you are using DUN and AOL, delete the AOL dial-up adapter to avoid conflicts.

Installing Commonly Needed Network Protocols

Not every network protocol is needed for Dial-Up Networking. In fact, having superfluous protocols installed can degrade the performance of the network link even if you're not operating on a dial-up connection. Here is a list of the common types of dial-up connections and the necessary protocols.

Checking Protocol Bindings

If you are using Dial-Up Networking in conjunction with other kinds of networking--for example, if you also have a LAN through which files and printers are shared--then you should change the bindings of the needed protocols and not delete them entirely. For example, if you have an Internet connection through a dial-up line and a LAN, you will probably be using TCP/IP for the Internet and either NetBEUI or IPX/SPX for the LAN. If you open the Network Properties sheet (available through the Network icon in Control Panel), you can see the arrangements of the bindings. In Figure 26.4, NetBEUI is bound only to the LAN interface (the SMC EtherPower adapter), whereas TCP/IP is bound exclusively to the Dial-Up Adapter. There are two main advantages to doing this:

Figure 26.4

Two protocols bound to two different adapters.

If you're just using TCP/IP for everything--Internet and LAN connections--then you need to have TCP/IP bound to both the Dial-Up Adapter and the LAN adapter. By default, whenever you install any new protocol, it is bound to each adapter in the system, so you might not have to change anything if you've installed TCP/IP already. Figure 26.5 has an example of how this is represented in the Network Properties sheet.

For a more complete discussion of network protocols and network bindings, read Chapter 21, "Understanding Windows 98 Networking."

Figure 26.5

One protocol bound to all adapters.

Configuring Hardware for Dial-Up Networking

It's wrong to assume that the default configuration for a modem produces the best results. The majority of the time, you'll need to tune your modem's settings to get the fastest possible connection and the best possible throughput.

On-Board Hardware Settings

Actually, the best place to start is with the computer itself. If you are running Windows 98 on a pre-1995 computer, check to see what kind of UART the computer is using. A UART is the controller chip that governs a serial port and comes in two basic varieties: 8250 (old and slow, not capable of anything above 9600 baud) and 16500 and higher. Older computers that use an 8250 or original--version 16550 (as opposed to a 16550A or higher)--will not be able to get the highest possible throughput from modems that run at 33.6 Kbaud or faster.

To determine what kind of UART is being used with your modem, open the Control Panel, then Modems. Click the Diagnostics tab; then select the modem whose UART you want to poll from the list and click More Info. The computer polls the modem for a few seconds and then produces a report like the one in Figure 26.6. The type of UART you have installed is described there.

In the Figure 26.6, the UART is listed as an NS 16550AN. This is a revised version of the original 16550 UART that has the capacity to handle high-speed throughput, the variety needed for modems that perform at better than 33.6 Kbaud. If you are using an internal modem, you should still receive a report about which UART is being used in the modem. Many internal modems don't use the most recent variety of UART either and should not be relied upon for heavy use.

Figure 26.6

The Modems Diagnostics report, with the type of UART installed.


TIP: If you discover that your external modem is connected to an on-board port that uses an older UART, don't panic. It's possible to buy a COM: port with a state-of-the-art UART chip for less than $20 from most computer suppliers. The port is mounted on a 16-bit ISA adapter and can be set to use any of the four common COM: port addresses. Also remember to disable the on-board COM: port that uses the same address if you're planning on replacing an existing COM: port with it.

Software and Hardware Compression Settings

Most of the protocols that are used over dial-up connections employ compression of some kind. TCP/IP, for instance, can be compressed through settings in Dial-Up Networking. However, this software-level compression often causes performance and throughput degradation when it's coupled with the hardware-level compression that is present in most modems.

Modem hardware compression is not designed to compress binary data, but rather to accelerate ASCII or 7-bit transfers. When this compression is coupled with the binary-level packet compression used in Windows' TCP/IP stack, throughput can actually be slower, and there's the additional overhead of compression in the modem itself. I have personally seen throughput on a 56K modem be degraded down to nearly half because of this problem.

The solution, at least where TCP/IP is involved, is to disable all hardware-level compression and use TCP/IP packet and header compression. Start by disabling modem compression.

1. Open the Modems window from Control Panel, and select the modem that you plan to use to perform Dial-Up Networking; click Properties.
2. Click the Connection tab of the Properties sheet. Click the Advanced Settings button.
3. In the Advanced Connections Settings window, uncheck the Compress Data check box. If it's already unchecked, leave it alone. (The Use Error Control and Required to Connect check boxes should be enabled, however.) See Figure 26.7 for an example of how this should look.

Figure 26.7

Turning off hardware compression for a Dial-Up Networking modem.

4. Click OK to return to the Connection tab; then click OK again to return to the Modems Properties sheet. Click Close. You should reboot to make sure the settings take effect.

The next step is to enable software-level compression, which is discussed during the actual configuration of Dial-Up Networking settings.

Hardware Buffering

Recent-model UART controllers support a data-flow buffering scheme called FIFO, or First In/First Out, which maximizes throughput in both directions. Some modems do not have this feature enabled by default, but it's relatively easy to activate.

1. Open the Modems window from Control Panel; select the modem that you plan to use to perform Dial-Up Networking, and click Properties.
2. Click the Connection tab of the Properties sheet. Click the Port Settings button, which brings up the Advanced Port Settings window (see Figure 26.8).
3. Click the Use FIFO Buffers check box to turn it on. Remember that you need at least a 16550 UART to exploit this feature.
4. Move both the Receive and Transmit Buffer sliders all the way to the right. This maximizes the use of the FIFO buffer for both sent and received data.
5. Click OK on the open windows to close them down.

TIP: If you experience a lot of data errors or even a dropped connection, especially if you're using a slower computer (such as a 486/50) while using Dial-Up Networking, try decreasing the FIFO buffering a notch. A slower computer might have trouble keeping up with buffered high-speed communications.

Figure 26.8

The Advanced Port Settings/Hardware Buffering window.

Other Settings and Configurations

There are a host of other minor settings and choices that can affect the quality of your Dial-Up Networking connection.

Configuring Dial-Up Properties

This section covers how to create and edit a Dial-Up Networking connection. A connection is stored as an icon in the Dial-Up Networking folder. Each connection can be set to contact a different host through a different phone number and use different network properties and connectivity settings.

When a connection is activated, it prompts the user for a password (unless one has already been supplied in a previous DUN session). It then dials out and makes the connection.

To create and edit DUN connections, open My Computer, and then Dial-Up Networking. For an example of what the DUN folder looks like with a connection already in it, see Figure 26.9.

Generally, the DUN folder is empty save for the Make New Connection icon.

Deleting an existing connection is done in the same fashion as deleting a file: drag the icon for the connection to the Recycle Bin, or select it and hit the Delete key.

Figure 26.9

The Dial-Up Networking folder with a connection already in it.

The Make New Connection Wizard

When you activate Make New Connection, this brings up the Make New Connection Wizard, which is covered here step-by-step.

1. The first screen of the Make New Connection Wizard (see Figure 26.10) prompts you for a name for the computer you are dialing and the device you will use to make the connection. The name is arbitrary and is only for your own identification. For example, if you dial into an ISP, you could call this one Internet.

Figure 26.10

The first screen of the Make New Connection Wizard, where you enter the name of the connection and the device used to make it.

2. The Device Selection drop-down lists all the DUN devices available in your system--all modems, all ISDN devices, and so on. Select the appropriate device from the list. (If you click the Configure button, the properties sheet for the selected device appears.) Click Next to continue.
3. The next screen (see Figure 26.11) prompts you for the area code and phone number of the computer you are contacting. Enter the appropriate number and area code. If you are calling a computer in another country, select the country code as well. Click Next to continue.

Figure 26.11

Entering the phone number and area code for the remote computer.

4. The final screen of the wizard confirms that you've created a connection. Click Finish to save the results, or Back to return to earlier screens and make changes.

After the connection is saved, you can edit more of the properties in it by right-clicking the icon for the connection in the Dial-Up Networking folder and selecting Properties.

Connection Properties

The Properties sheet for a Dial-Up Networking connection is divided into four tabs: General, Server Types, Scripting, and Multilink.

General

The General tab of the Connection Properties sheet, as shown in Figure 26.12, deals with the most basic properties of the connection: the phone number and the connection device.

Figure 26.12

The General tab of the Connection Properties sheet.

The Area Code, Tele_phone Number and Country Code fields are identical in form and function to the ones featured in the DUN Wizard. The only new field is the Use Area Code and Dialing Properties check box, which should be checked to take advantage of the area code and location information already entered into the system.

The Connect Using drop-down list is also identical to the one featured in the DUN Wizard. If you want to change which dial-up device is used with this connection, you can select one from the list. The Configure button, as with the DUN Wizard, brings up the modem's Properties sheet.

Server Types

The Server Types tab (see Figure 26.13) contains some of the most important settings that you will need to make Dial-Up Networking work properly. Know what kind of connection you'll be making and to what kind of server before you change these settings.

Figure 26.13

The Server Types tab.

Type of Dial-Up Server

This drop-down list contains all the types of dial-up servers that can be accessed through Windows 98's Dial-Up Networking.

Advanced Options

The Advanced Options subsection of the Server Types tab has several check-box options that need to be examined carefully because using the wrong settings can prevent you from logging in correctly.

Allowed Network Protocols

With each connection, you need to explicitly state which network protocols will be used. Dial-Up Networking only allows three at this time: NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, and TCP/IP. Depending on the kind of resources you're connecting to, check the appropriate boxes. For instance, an Internet-only connection needs TCP/IP and nothing else. Someone dialing into their remote NetWare server to access both shared resources on the server and the Internet would check IPX/SPX and TCP/IP.

If TCP/IP is checked, then you must click the TCP/IP Settings button and fill in the needed information, as detailed in the following section.

TCP/IP Settings

When dialing into a TCP/IP-based server, you need to provide the IP address information for both your computer and the host. Your network administrator or ISP can provide you with these numbers. The TCP/IP Settings window is shown in Figure 26.14.

Figure 26.14

The TCP/IP Settings window.

Scripting

The Scripting tab (see Figure 26.15) lets you associate a script with a Dial-Up Networking connection. A script contains a set of instructions on how to perform the login and user- and password verification phase of the connection. Scripts use an .SCP extension and are plain-text files. Details on how to write a script are given later in the chapter.

Figure 26.15

The Scripting tab.

Windows 98 includes three prewritten scripts that can be modified or used as-is to perform DUN connections.

All of these scripts can be accessed by hitting the Browse button and choosing the appropriate filename. If you know the name of the script you want to use, you can enter its file and pathname in the File Name text box, or you can punch Browse and hunt for it manually.

The Step Through Script option, when checked, lets you go step-by-step through a script when it's running and determine if the script is running correctly. Start Terminal Screen Minimized turns off the terminal screen display entirely when the script is running in the event that you don't need visual confirmation of what's happening.

Multilink

The Multilink tab (see Figure 26.16) lets you enable the Multilink feature in Dial-Up Networking, which allows more than one modem to be treated as a single device. Two 56K modems on separate lines could be channel-bonded in this fashion to act like a single 128K device.

Figure 26.16

The Multilink tab with no additional devices installed.

If you don't have more than one modem installed, Multilink is not available, and the only option available is Do Not Use Additional Devices.

If you do have extra modems and want to bond them together for this connection, click the Use Additional Devices button. This enables the options in the lower part of the window:

Figure 26.17

The Edit Extra Device window.

Dial-Up Scripting

A fair amount of the time, you will be using Dial-Up Networking to access a network that has a fairly rigid login procedure. Dial-Up Networking can intelligently detect and respond properly to standard Login and Password prompts, but it can't deal with the elaborate logins that CompuServe or many smaller ISPs might use. To that end, Dial-Up Networking has a scripting engine, called Dial-Up Scripting. With it, you can write a simple script to handle oddball prompts, wait for instructions, send commands and, to a degree, change line settings.

To create a script for a Dial-Up Networking connection, open the connection's Properties sheet, go to the Scripting tab, and type the name for a script (remember to use the .SCP extension) in the File Name text box. Click Edit. You'll be prompted to create a new file; when you answer Yes, Notepad appears with a blank document.

Listing 26.1 shows a sample script. If you are already familiar with scripting or programming, a good deal of this is familiar territory.

Listing 26.1  Sample Script

proc main
    transmit "^M"
    waitfor "Login:"
    transmit $USERID
    transmit "^M"
    waitfor "Password:"
    transmit $PASSWORD
    transmit "^M"

endproc

The first line in the script has the command proc main. Proc is an abbreviation for procedure, or a set of commands to be executed. Main is the label used to describe the procedure where all execution in the script starts. The endproc statement tells the script processor where that procedure ends.

TIP: All DUN scripts need to have a main procedure or they won't work correctly.

The two most commonly used commands are repeated several times throughout this script: transmit and waitfor. There are several other commands:


NOTE: Some ISPs force you to provide your name with a symbol in front of it, which denotes a PPP or SLIP connection. For example, for PPP connections, Netcom requires you to put a hash symbol, or #, in front of your username.

When the script terminates, the computer attempts to negotiate a connection with the host and begin the session proper.

After you've customized the script to your Internet provider, you need to bind it to your connection. Highlight your connection in Connections check box, and hit Browse to locate the script you just wrote. You can also check the box to step through the script one line at a time or uncheck the box to start the terminal screen minimized, which enables you to see your script in action.

WARNING: Make sure that your Dial-Up Networking connection does not bring up a terminal window after dialing because it would interfere with the script. To check this, right-click your connection; choose Properties, press the Configure button, and finally click the Options tab. There, you can turn off the Bring Up Terminal Window Before/After Dialing options.

Multilink

Multilink, previously only available in Windows NT, is a simple way to cheaply expand the bandwidth available to Windows 98 and Dial-Up Networking. If you have more than one modem installed in your computer, you can bond the two together to create a virtual connection that has the bandwidth of both devices combined. For example, if you had two 56K modems, together they could be treated as a single 128K device.

Multilink has its limitations. It requires a server or an ISP that explicitly supports it. Some ISPs are aware of Multilink and do not allow it on their servers to prevent the obvious bandwidth-hogging that this would enable. Also, it cannot be used on two separate ISPs. Finally, it requires a separate modem and a separate phone line for each discrete connection; two modems obviously can't be used on the same line!

To enable Multilink, right-click your connection, choose Properties, click the Multilink tab, and add a Multilink device as described previously. The next time you dial out with this connection, both devices dial simultaneously and use the same login script and server parameters to connect.

Here are some of the most common problems with Multilink and their solutions.

Using Dial-Up Networking

Now that you've learned how to create and edit Dial-Up Networking connections, let's put it to use. In this example, you're going to make a connection to a local ISP node. Assume that the DUN connections settings are already set up properly. You'll be using a PPP connection with a server that can work automatically with DUN's login/password protocols, so no scripting is needed.

Dialing Out and Logging In

To use a DUN connection, click (or double-click, depending on how Explorer is configured) the icon for it in the Dial-Up Networking folder to activate it. When activated, you get the Connect To window (see Figure 26.18).

Figure 26.18

The Connect To window.

Click the User Name and Password fields and fill them in with the appropriate settings for your ISP or server. that passwords are only echoed as asterisks. (In this case, the hash symbol in front of the user account name is required by Netcom to identify a user with a PPP account. Your own ISP might work differently.)

The Save Password check box, when checked, preserves the password field for future sessions. Leave this unchecked if you are concerned about security; then the machine will prompt you for the password each time you fire up the connection. Checking the box leaves the password in the field the next time you bring up the connection.

The Phone Number field contains the phone number of the ISP or server you are dialing into. If you change this here, the changes aren't permanent unless you make a successful connection.

The Dialing From field lists all the possible machine locations configured into Windows 98. Because each location uses a different area code, the dialing information might change if you change this. Clicking the Dial Properties button brings you to the My Locations tab (see Chapter 6, "Control Panel.")

When everything is ready, click the Connect button. The computer then attempts to dial out and contact the host system. You see a Connecting To... dialog box, as shown in Figure 26.19.

Figure 26.19

The Connecting To... dialog box, while dialing out to a server.

After the computer finishes dialing, the Connecting To... dialog box shows you prompts to indicate how far along it is in the login process.

If the connection is successful, the Connection Established dialog box appears (see Figure 26.20). You also will see the DUN Monitor icon in the System Tray (see Figure 26.21).

At this point, you should have access to the network resources available from the server. If you are using DUN to access an ISP, then all Internet-related applications should be working. If you are dialing into a remote server to access remote drives or printers, your Network Neighborhood should update to reflect the newly available resources.

Figure 26.20

The Connection Established dialog box.

Figure 26.21

The Dial-Up Networking Monitor in the System Tray. The green lights indicate data transfer.

If you double-click the DUN Monitor icon, you get more details about the connection (see Figure 26.22).

Figure 26.22

The Dial-Up Networking monitor, expanded.

Configuring PPTP

Making a PPTP connection between two computers requires that you have PPTP installed on both of them. PPTP is installed as an adapter driver in the Network Control Panel.

To install PPTP, open the Network icon of the Control Panel and click Add to add a new driver. Choose a new Adapter, and then click on Microsoft for the manufacturer and Microsoft Virtual Private Networking Adapter for the adapter itself. When you click OK and begin the actual install, Windows 98 installs both the adapter driver and the NDISWAN protocol, which is needed for wide area communications. You need to reboot the computer to make the changes take hold.

After you have PPTP's adapter and protocol set up, you also need to configure a Dial-Up Networking connection to use PPTP. This is done separately from the DUN connection you use to connect to the Internet because the Internet is used only as the transport. Here's how to configure a new DUN connection to use with PPTP:

1. In the Dial-Up Networking folder, click Make New Connection to start creating a new DUN connection.
2. When asked for a device to use for the connection, select Microsoft VPN Adapter instead of a Modem. Click Next.
3. Type in the host name or 32-bit IP address of the computer you are connecting to. Click Next. The new connection is saved.

To make use of the PPTP connection, simply launch it the same way you would a conventional DUN connection. For example, if you're on a LAN and you use PPTP to talk privately to another computer, launch the PPTP DUN connection.

If you need to use a DUN connection to access the Internet, launch that first, and then launch the PPTP connection after you're logged in and connected to the Internet.

Troubleshooting Dial-Up Connections

When a Dial-Up Networking connection fails, most people are inclined to grow frustrated because of the number of possible variables. Being systematic and checking the most obvious things first can help you cut down enormously on the amount of troubleshooting needed.

Here is a list of problems and recommended solutions for troubleshooting Dial-Up Networking:

Dial-Up Server

Dial-Up Server is a new add-on component for Windows 98 that enables you to use a Windows 98 machine as a dial-up server. All network resources that are available through the system--shared drives, TCP/IP access--are made available to a user who dials in.

Installing Dial-Up Server

Dial-Up Server is not installed by default. To install it, open the Control Panel, and then click the Add/Remove Programs icon. Select the Windows Setup tab; then click Communications and Details. Check the Dial-Up Server check box to install the Dial-Up Server program and then click OK. You'll be prompted to provide the Windows 98 CD-ROM or a path to the needed files. You must also reboot the computer for the changes to take effect.

Configuring Dial-Up Server

After you have Dial-Up Server installed, you'll need to configure it for the modem(s) you plan to enable caller access on. To edit Dial-Up Server settings, open the Dial-Up Networking window and select the Connections menu item and then select Dial-Up Server. The Dial-Up Server window appears (see Figure 26.23).

Figure 26.23

The Dial-Up Server window.

Each modem available to the system is listed as a separate tab in the Dial-Up Server window. Configuring Dial-Up Server works on a modem-by-modem basis, with all modems set by default not to accept incoming calls. Choose the modem you want to set up to accept incoming calls and select Allow Caller Access to enable that modem.

The Password Protection: Change Password button lets you set a password to be used by all users who dial in. When you click it, you get the Dial-Up Networking Password window (see Figure 26.24).

Figure 26.24

The Dial-Up Networking Password window.

If you've already been using a password and want to change it, enter it into the Old Password text box. Type the new password in both the New Password and the Confirm New Password text boxes; then click OK to return to the Dial-Up Server window.

The Comment text box lets you provide a simple line of text to describe the modem. You can leave this blank if you want.

The Status text box, which is not editable, shows the current state of the modem:

If a user is currently connected, you can disconnect them manually by clicking the Disconnect User button.

The Server Type button lets you configure what kind of dial-up server you want your computer to behave like. Click it, and the Server Types window appears (see Figure 26.25).

Figure 26.25

The Server Types window.

The Types of Dial-Up Server drop-down list lists two basic types of dial-up server behavior that you can have Dial-Up Server emulate:

The Enable Software Compression check box enables users dialing in to use software compression in their network stack (usually for TCP/IP connections). It should be checked, unless you do not want to enable compression for some reason.

The Require Encrypted Password forces the clients to submit a password that is encrypted. (You can enable encrypted passwords in the Server Types tab of the properties for a DUN Connection.)

Dial-Up Server in Operation

When at least one modem is enabled for dial-in in Dial-Up Server, an icon appears in the System Tray that indicates Dial-Up Server is working (see Figure 26.26). You can access the Dial-Up Server Properties window by double-clicking the icon. To shut off the icon, you must disable all caller access on all modems.

Figure 26.26

The Dial-Up Server icon.

Conclusion

This chapter discussed how you can connect to the Internet using Dial-Up Networking and how you can create Virtual Private Networks and Dial-Up Server connections hosted through Windows 98. The power of Windows 98's remote communication features is immense. If you have a phone line, the whole of the Internet can be as close to you as your desktop.

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