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I am not an expert on anything. I am just an enthusiastic end-user of the TCP/IP software I describe in this tutorial. I have been using Windows TCP/IP software since early in 1993, so I have watched a variety of products as they matured into professional level applications. The particular clients I describe here are the ones I depend on every day to do my job and earn my living. I have no compelling reason to look for alternative TCP/IP clients.
Under Windows 3.1, I used 16-bit versions of client software available prior to September 1996 with a direct connection to an ethernet network using a Western Digital or SMC ethernet card with the Trumpet Winsock shareware TCP/IP protocol stack and WINSOCK.DLL. In addition, I used 16-bit versions of most of the clients with FTP Software's commercial package PC/TCP version 2.2 and/or version 2.3. In the latter case I obtained the most recent version of FTP Software's WINSOCK.DLL file by anonymous ftp from FTP Software's anonymous ftp site. The Trumpet and FTP products both used a packet driver interface to the network card.
I also used most of the 16-bit clients on a Windows for Workgroups network using Microsoft's add-on TCP/IP package. This package is available from Microsoft's anonymous ftp site under the filename WFWT32.EXE (November 29, 1994 | 680,621 bytes), a self-extracting archive file.
Prior to September 1996, I also used most of the 16-bit client software under Windows 95.
With a SLIP connection I used most of the client software with Windows 95 on a laptop computer. In addition, I used most of the clients with Trumpet Winsock over both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 on a laptop. With Trumpet Winsock over Windows 3.1, I used both a dial-up connection to a SLIP server and a modemless connection to a SLIP server through an IBM/ROLM digital switch at various times.
After September 1996 I was using Windows 95 exclusively and no longer had access to a Windows 3.x PC. I was running only Windows 95 on the 486 and Pentium computers that I had access to, and I was using only 32-bit client software. Thus, I could no longer comment on 16-bit clients suitable for use with Windows 3.1 or Windows for Workgroups.
As of April 1997, my dial-up Internet access is through a Pentium computer running Windows 95 to connect to a Windows NT Server running Remote Access Server. This provides me with a PPP connection to the Virginia Tech campus network, which has a direct connection to the Internet. From my office at Virginia Tech I am using Windows NT Workstation 4.0 on a 200 MHz Pentium Pro computer with a direct connection to the Internet. Thus, I am using 32-bit software exclusively.
As discussed elsewhere, the client software described in this paper should run with any TCP/IP protocol stack that offers Winsock support. If your PC is now using a network operating system that does not include Winsock support, you should check with your vendor to find out if Winsock support is available. If Winsock support is not available from your vendor, then it may be possible to install the Trumpet Winsock TCP/IP protocol stack over your existing network drivers using a small program known as a packet driver shim. Instructions for this configuration are included in the Trumpet Winsock documentation.
Continue to Sources for Winsock Information
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Revised: December 28, 1999
Harry_M_Kriz , [hmkriz@vt.edu]