On 18 Jan 97  19:02:02, Mike La Pietra assaulted All and I about Amiga's & the
Net

 MLP> I'm in desperate need of help (in more ways than one ;) ) re: the
 MLP> viability of hooking my Ami (stock A1200 with 6 Megs of RAM) into the
 MLP> Net (via A Maesto 14.4 FME modem)...

Mike,

Not EASY without help but easy WITH it. ;-}

 MLP> Firstly, is it possible? I mean, REALLY possible with RELIABLE,

Oh yeah. Using my 2000/030 on the net NOW.

 MLP> bug-free software and connections? If so:

As bug free as any other prog. Amitcp works, in all the time I have used
it, bug free. Other software you use for news/email and other things may
not be. It isnt AMITCP's fault then.

 MLP>         What software do I need?

Amitcp or Miami.

 MLP>         Where can I get/buy it?

Amitcp is a fully working, non-crippled demo. Miami, I am not 100% sure
about as it has a MUI based installer and using MUI on the net is not a
real GOOD idea. I know some people love MUI to death but it definitely
slows things down. 

For news and email there are many progs. It boils down to need and taste.
My personal choice for both news and email in one prog is Thor but use
version 2.2 as the later versions have some probs not yet resolved. 2.2's
probs dont seem as bad to me.

 MLP>         Do I need to modify my Ami to make it work?

Not your Amiga but your startup-sequence/user-startup, yes.

 MLP>         Will everything run at a reasonable speed?

Depends on how much load you put on the Amiga, what ram you have etc. I
have a 25Mhz 030 in my 2000 and it is fine for the net with what I run.
With your 020, you should be OK as well (if you dont have higher than an
020) but I suggest that, like I, you dont run MUI.

 MLP> I'd love to hear from someone out there who's actually DONE IT! Some

Done it, doing it, helped many people set it up. ;-}

 MLP> people have told me to forget it - it just doesn't work, yet others are

That's just crap. Tell them to find some other reason to sprout crap. ;-}

 MLP> vehement in telling me it's as "good" as any other
platform etc.. I'd

That depends on what you want to do. The news and email prog I use is
damned good. Can be setup to auto uudecode, auto base64 decode etc etc
which isnt ALWAYS a good idea so it can be setup NOT to auto do it but wait
for you to click on an icon present on screen. I do the latter.

 MLP> really like to separate the facts from the bullshit.

Plenty of that will assault your ears, no doubt. ;-}

 MLP> Now, here's my SPECIFIC problem.... I need to dial up real-time
 MLP> stock/share prices (Aust only), either directly from the ASX (or
 MLP> provider) or through the Internet. Another list:

You can dial in to your provider with a simple term prog set for that
reason (which is not as good at ALL - been there, done that) or use Amitcp
with PPP which is what *I* use and laugh your way onto the net! I simply
type "startnet" in a shell, it dials my provider, creates the
link and then because I use AmitcpV4.0 DEMO, it shows me a requester and I
click on it. All works fine from there. ;-} Dont be taken in by
"DEMO" as it is non-cripppled if using for yourself only.

 MLP>         Is anyone out there doing this already on their Ami?

Yep. Been doing it for some years, too. ;-}

 MLP>         If so, how did you set it up (contacts, costs etc...)?
 MLP>         Who are you going through?

Depends where you are. Eg, near what major city?

 MLP> I'd appreciate ANY feedback from those of you out there who may know
 MLP> what to do. My biggest fear at the moment is the realisation that
 MLP> otherwise I'll be walking into my study to face a Wintel machine in the
 MLP> near future.....

Taint THAT bad. ;-}


Oh I see. ADELAIDE. Hmm.... my suggestion is to buy Australian INTERNET
magazines and go through the Adelaide sections of those mags looking for
the phone numbers. The details are usually out of date by the time they get
to print so ring each one and ask prices then make your minde up from
there. For example, I pay $30 a month, no other charges, no limits. I also
have a provider with over 700K in net bandwidth... might be over 800K now.
;-} Just because something is CHEAP, it isnt necessarily right. Some ISPs
are marginally cheaper than mine and run on puny 64K or 128K links. Keep
that in mind. You can sit for AGES waiting for a reply at that rate, when a
few people are online at once.

A bit of help for you. Keep my Internet address (below). When you get
yourself an account and assuming you havent set your Amiga up for TCP,
email me and I will email you a copy of the setup I use now with
instructions. Just follow them and you should be on the net soon,
thereafter. One word of warning, get used to UUDECODING in email. Your ISP
might be able to help you, at a local phone call, there. ;-}

Hope that is of some help.

Rgs, Greg.

gregh{at}fl.net.au

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