
Surfing the Net From the Sticks!

                                 Rural Access to the Internet
                             Copyright 1995 by John M. Campbell

The big online service brag is that over 90% of the population is just a local call away!   So - what about the rest of us?  I live in a rural area, where CompuServe (CIS), America Online (AOL), Prodigy, Pipeline, etal. require a long distance call.  The WindoWatch editor lives even further out in the boonies - about thirty miles from me.  How do we rural folks, and more specifically business, teachers, parents and students access  the urban riches offered by the major online services and the Internet?     

The answer, for many of us, is an enterprise that has been making its way into smaller areas - the Local Internet Service Provider.  These businesses are now springing up in the most unlikely places as the
thirst for Internet access increases.  Typically, ISPs are relatively small business operations having local servers and high-speed connections to a distant mainframe computer that, in turn, has a direct Internet  connection.  For example, my ISP uses a host MicroVAX mini-computer, connected to a Bell Atlantic 56K frame relay link to MountainNet Integrated Services, a commercial Internet provider for business and education located 70 miles away in Morgantown, WV. 

What's a Deal and What's the Best Deal?
When there are several local ISPs in an area, it becomes important to examine the services each has to offer.  Even when only a single ISP is within a local calling area, certain questions should be asked before deciding whether to subscribe, since some services may be too limited to be worth the subscription fee. Important questions to ask before signing on are:

1.  What services do I get for my money?  

Most providers offer at least an email address and usually, limited storage space on their server for incoming mail.  The provider should have a POP3 server for incoming mail, and a SMTP server for out-going mail.  Its a good idea to inquire whether the provider plans to allow each user storage space on their server for a personal Web page.  If so, consider this a value-added service.   

Of course, some sort of Internet connection is the primary attraction.  This connection may take the form of SLIP, PPP, SHELL, or some combination of these.  When available, a PPP connection is the most desirable, since it is usually the easiest to configure on one's computer.  SHELL connections, once the rule, are to be avoided.  With only a SHELL account, one is dumped at the UNIX prompt, and most Windows-based Internet software becomes unusable.  It then becomes necessary to obtain, and learn to use, UNIX-style text-based utilities.  This is very uncool for the average person because the language is completely unfriendly and becomes part of  a struggle for the new user trying to learn online skills.  There is a joke to the effect that the Berkeley campus at the University of  California is best known for two exports, UNIX and LSD, and that this combination is not a coincidence.

An Internet provider should provide 28.8K modem lines - the more 
the better.  Anything less that an 28.8 connection slows Web browsers to a crawl, and some of the newer technologies, such as the Cuseeme video conferencing scheme, won't work at all at lower modem speeds.  A sufficient number of lines is required to meet the demands of sub-scribers.  If the user too often is greeted by a busy signal, the service might as well not exist.  

Ask if the provider provides customer support.  Setting up a SLIP/PPP connection on a computer is not easy.  Regardless of what dialer/Winsock is employed on the user's machine, there are a number of settings that must be configured properly.  Does the provider furnish connection scripts for Trumpet and Windows 95?  Is a user manual available?  The provider can't be expected to teach basic computer operation, but there will be questions to be answered, especially during the initial setup.  Another question that should be asked is whether the provider furnishes the basic tools needed for Internet access, such as shareware Winsocks, mail readers, FTP utilities and Web browsers.   While these can be obtained from other sources, the provider who makes them available to customers is performing an extra service.

2.  What will it cost me?

Normally, ISPs will charge a monthly fee for their services.  In add-ition, there is often a one-time setup fee.  The provider may levy add-itional charges for time used over and above a stated monthly allow-ance.  Storage space for your own Web page may be an extra cost item.  My ISP currently charges a $10 setup fee, and $25 per month for combined SLIP/PPP Internet access and a SHELL account.  They do not set a time limit.  This pricing probably is on the generous side, but other providers should be in the same ball park, price-wise.  If you can comparison shop, find out about down-time.  Ask customers of competing local ISPs what their experience has been.  A lower rate is not a bargain if the provider has considerable down time, or lacks an experienced technician(s) to provide customer assistance.

Also, you should compare the cost of a local Internet connection with 
what you would have pay to reach your favorite online service, or major Internet provider, by calling one of their own nodes long-distance.  Consider how frequently you use the Internet.  PSI Pipeline offers unlimited Internet access for only $20 per month.

Add to this basic cost, whatever you must pay the phone company for long-distance calls.  If you don't cruise the Net that often, the $25 or more you would have to pay a local ISP monthly may not be such a bargain.  On the other hand, an ISP may make sense even if you live in an area where an online service has a local node.  The last time I checked, CIS offered only a 2400 bps node in Charleston, WV.  A person living in that city might well be ahead to pay a local ISP for a higher speed PPP connection to CIS in preference to the slow local node.  There are many factors to consider in determining cost-effectiveness.   

So now you have chosen a local ISP, and you have managed to con-figure Trumpet or Windows 95's Slip/PPP module (congratulations
- not an easy task) to connect with the service.  What tools do you
need, and where to find them?  

The Internet is information.  To access that information, you will want to consider the following tools:
 1.  A Web Browser
 2.  A Usenet News reader
 3.  Telnet capability
 4.  An FTP utility
 5.  An Archie utility
 6.  An IRC utility
 7.  An Email reader

The first decision to make is whether you want all of the above, and
perhaps other capabilities available under a common interface, or as
separate software packages.  The first approach is probably the best
for new users, and there are an increasing number of pre-packaged
Suites on the market.  Of course, the major online services offer
Internet access via the same propriatory front-end software that
connects the user to their own services, and that software can be used
via your local Internet provider.  But this route to The Internet can
be expensive.  In effect, you are paying Compuserve, Prodigy or AOL to provide you with much of what you already have access to, at no
additional cost, by virtue of your ISP.   Before going this route,
investigate the Internet suites that are available.  Examples of the
newest include CyberJack (Delrina), Emissary (Wollensock), and the
Internet Suite from Quarterdeck. 

I have used trial versions of all of the above, so I know that they offer a Web Browser, Telnet, News, Email, FTP and IRC, and can be used
via a PPP connection provided by a local Internet provider.  The only
additional service that might be needed is access to a Usenet news
feed.  (More on this later.)   These products do differ in interface and ease of configuration.  I can offer no guidance as to which is best.  What is right for one user may be wrong for another.  My advice 
is to seek out others who are using these tools, and ask questions.  Or, find out what others consider the strong and weak function of each program by hanging out on the online conferences devoted to such issues.

The greatest flexibility is offered by separate Internet utilities, each devoted to a single purpose, or in the case of Web Browsers, several 
uses.  Many of these separates have the added virtue of being freeware or low-cost shareware.  The most popular Web Browser is Netscape.  The latest beta version is free, and the program is updated frequently.  If you want the latest, greatest, cutting-edge technology, Netscape is really the only choice at the moment.  Various flavors of Mosaic are also popular.  The most popular browsers also offer email and news capability, although these functions are not the equals of separate mail and news programs.  FTP is a given with browsers.  Telnet capability, so far, requires a helper application. (see below.)

People have a tendency to defend their choice of email and news
readers with a ferocity one normally associates with baseball fanatics at World Series time.  You should look for programs that handle both reading and posting mail and news offline.  It doesn't make sense to tie up your local providers lines with tasks that can be done offline.  In this regard, be wary of the suites and Net Browsers discussed above.  Some have email and news modules that only operate online.   Here, I am going to give some advice.  Look at Forte's Agent and its less capable but still excellent free version (Free Agent). It's an excellent Usenet news program, and the commercial version ($30) does a decent job with email, thus killing two birds with one stone.

Before proceeding to other Internet tools, it's time to consider the
problem of finding a decent Usenet news provider. In many cases your
local ISP makes a nearby news source available at no extra charge.
However, most local Usenet sources only carry selected groups, and
their feeds often are delayed by several days, or longer. There are over 30,000 newsgroups out there.  If the ones you want aren't available through the local provider, or are outdated when you receive them, you must look elsewhere, and be willing to pay extra.

I discovered that, surprisingly, information about the locations of
Usenet providers is difficult to find.  A Web search only yielded a few commercial outfits, along with numerous public access sources. I take public access to mean free.  I suspect that many of these are not reachable through a PPP/Slip connection, and those that are probably do not carry the full Usenet feed.  What about commercial news pro-viders?  I finally tracked down some through dfw.internet.providers news group.  I'm not going to name those I did uncover, since some of the smaller providers do not appreciate publicity that might bring hordes of new customers they are ill-equiped to handle.  Expect to pay $10 to $30 monthly for a subscription to one of these commercial Usenet servers.  After you locate one, but before committing yourself, ask how many groups they carry and how current their feed is.

Remember, subscribing to a major online service, like AOL, gives you  access to most of the Usenet groups.  The downside is that you are limited to using the service's front-end software if you connect via PPP/Slip from a local ISP.  You can't use your choice of news readers unless you connect with the service by dialing one of it's own nodes, where user names and passwords are checked before the Internet connection is established.  Doing this, of course, negates the notion of saving long-distance charges by subscribing to a local ISP.
More information about Usenet providers can be found on the Web at:  
            http;//library.usask.ca/hytelnet/sites2.html

You probably will want a Telnet application.  There is a popular pro-gram called Ewan, and its free.  But Ewan, like some other freeware
Telnet applications,  lacks the ability to upload or download anything from the system you connect to.  It only permits looking at the remote
screen, making it rather useless for connecting to, say Channel1. Make certain any such app you consider does allow file transfers. One that does meet this requirement is a shareware program NetTerm.
Another is QmodemPro for Windows 95.  This is a commercial
communications package that offers about all of the Telnet bells and
whistles one could ask for.

Archie and FTP utilities work together. The first searches the Internet for files; the second retrieves them.  There any number of good ones available.   If you like the idea of using the Internet as a CB Radio, you will also want to investigate IRC utilities.  I have no advice to offer here. 

The best place I have found to learn about what's available in the way
of Internet utilities is the excellent Shroud's CSWApps List, on the
Web at:
                http://cwapps.texas.net

Another good source on the Web is The Ultimate Collection of Windsock Software, at:
                http://www.tucows.com/ 

Between these two sources, you will find a gold mine of Internet
applications and other goodies.  Shroud provides complete
descriptions and ratings, as well as links to the sites from which
the programs can be downloaded.

Hopefully, this article has provided some insight into the Internet
solutions that are now available for those of us who live in places
that were deemed unprofitable by the big online services and Internet providers when they chose where to place local nodes.  We may not ---have to continue enriching  AT&T, MCI et al. to  surf the net.    The local Internet provider is a resource well worth investigating.

John M. Campbell, a regular contributor to WindoWatch, is  the author of a number of informative and humorous articles which have appeared in WindoWatch. He is employed as the Manager of the Elkins, WV Unemployment Compensation office. 

                         
 
                         ww


