As part of the general (mis)perception that 8088s (and 286s) are worthless, you'll encounter the popular belief that pre-Windows computers are pre-Internet as well. Truth be told, you can do your share of net cruising with an old DOS-box as long as you have the right tools. Hence this page.

If you're already connected to the internet through a LAN (Local Area Network), then you don't need to worry about the software that actually connects you to the internet, because you're computer's already got it -- you can proceed to the next section. (Faculty and Staff at most colleges would fall into this category.) But if you're dialing in with a modem, you're going to need some software to make good on the job.

There's plenty of simple dial-up software out there, if all you want to do is check your shell account for email and such. One nice program for these purposes is LapTalk: it's extremely small, so it won't take up space on your hard disk (less than 100K); it's scriptable, so you can write mini-programs (scripts) for dialing in, thus automating your login procedures; it's highly configurable, in terms of screen colors, modem ports, and all; and it even lets you quit the program without breaking your dial-in connection, so you can start up other internet programs once connected.

One problem with Laptalk I've encountered is terminal emulation: it doesn't seem to handle VT100 emulation, which is pretty much a standard for Unix shell accounts; so programs like Lynx (discussed below) appear all screwed up on the screen. A dial-in program that performs much better on this score is Telix, which is something of a DOS classic in its own right. Telix is also highly configurable, has a nice user interface, and lets you develop very powerful and complex scripts (if you're willing to learn its SALT scripting language, which is basically the C programming language). The downside of Telix is its size, weighing in at more than 1 Meg (though I managed to get it, plus the bare DOS system files, on one floppy for my hard-diskless 286 laptop).

Beyond that, you've basically got your SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) software and your PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) software. Which one you use depends on what you want to do, and what software you want to run. It also depends on where you're dialing in to: some sites and companies only allow PPP connections. Basically, the general prejudice again old DOS-boxes extends to ISPs (Internet Service Providers), who often assume everyone's using Windows 95 or a Power Mac. (If you're shopping for an ISP, look for one that allows both SLIP and PPP connections, and a shell account. Anyone with an account on UX1 has a shell account, and can make both SLIP and PPP connections by dialing in to 581-7301.)

But there are SLIP and PPP packages for DOS. UMSlip is a SLIP package designed to work with Minuet (discussed below); it uses a fairly easy scripting language, and lets you configure it for your user name and password in a drop-down setup menu (rather than "hard-coding" it right into your scripts), with the password showing up only as a string of diamonds (so people can't read it over your shoulder, or open the program later and find it).

There is also PPP software available for DOS. Lately I've been playing with EtherPPP, which is a simple, command line DOS program that works just fine on my 286s. It comes with its own packet driver (an interface between your internet programs and your modem connection). You just type in a command at the DOS prompt -- "ppp" -- with the settings for your computer. I use this:

ppp /c2 /s14400 /dscript

This tells EtherPPP to dial through the modem on comm port 2("/c2"), with modem speed 14400 ("/s14400"), and use the dialin script. EtherPPP uses a script named "dial.ppp"; here's a copy of my dial.ppp script for logging in to Netcom:

send "at\r"
recv 3000 "
OK\r\n"
send "atdt3739800\r"
recv 60000 "netcom login:"
send "#binkly\r"
recv 20000 "Password:"
send "yeahlikei'mgonnatellyoumypassword\r"

Then I'm logged in, and EtherPPP gives me my current IP address, which is different each time (it's a "dynamic IP"), so I gotta make note of it. It's a series of 4 numbers, looking something like this: "208.184.9.45". Since Minuet (discusssed below) uses a DOS environment variable (basically, a customized DOS setting) called "myip," I set that variable as soon as EtherPPP hands it to me, by typing:

set myip=208.184.9.45

When I'm all done, and want to log out, I run another program (which comes with MeritPPP) called "termin," and which kills the packet driver and drops the PPP connection. I call it through a batch file called "end.bat". Here it is now:

@cd c:\comm\meritppp
@termin 0x60

A cool little utility that works with MeritPPP is IPread, which captures your IP address when you log in with MeritPPP, and automatically sets the environment variable to that number (so you can skip that "set myip" business in the previous paragraph, and let the computer do the busywork for you -- which is what computers are for). IPread copies the IP address to a temporary file, uses it to set the environment variable, and then deletes the file. Here's a little batch file called "ip#.bat" that puts IPread through the hoops just described:

@echo off
IPREAD > setip#.bat
if ERRORLEVEL 1 goto NoRun
call setip#.bat
:NoRun
del setip#.bat

@call ppp.bat
@call ip#.bat
@call min.bat
@call end.bat

The most recent version of Bobcat (discussed below) also has its own PPP dialer software, and apparently records the IP for you.

There are a couple of internet software combos worth mention for the DOS user. First -- and perhaps foremost -- is Minuet, a package originally developed for students at the University of Minnesota. Minuet is (or was) a DOS-user's internet dream, featuring: a very nice graphical interface, with drop-down menus (a la Macintosh), a Pop-mailer (like Eudora or Netscape mail), Telnet, graphical FTP and Gopher interfaces (looking like the File Manager in Windows 3.1), as well as finger, uuencoding, binhexing, a calculator -- and more! Unfortunately, Minuet is no longer being developed or supported by its creators; but old versions are still available for download. The latest version I've found is 18 (though there are rumors of a version 19 about). However, later is not always better: I've had serious problems getting (and keeping) Minuet v. 18 running; and its web browser unequivocally sucks anyway. Moreover, version 18 takes up more of your computer's hard disk and memory, so it's not especially suited to really old DOS boxes. Try version 16 instead -- it's still available from FDisk:

Minuet requires a packet driver (a software interface between Minuet and the internet connection). This is taken care of if you're on a LAN that uses packet driver software. (This is the setup at EIU -- so anyone with an office 8088 or 286 should be able to set up Minuet without much trouble. I've got it running successfully on several 8088s there.) If you're not on a LAN, you need to get a packet driver to shuttle information between Minuet and your dial-in program. Some software, like MeritPPP (discussed above) comes with a packet driver; otherwise you'll need to get some packet driver software. This isn't a problem, as packet drivers are available on the major software archives.

If you're trying your hand at Minuet through a dial-up connection, you might want to look at the Minuet FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). It's a couple of years out of date by now -- but then again, so is Minuet.

If you don't want to mess with packet drivers, you can use a different, somewhat more stripped-down internet package for DOS called NetTamer. It offers email, Telnet, FTP, and a Web-browser (which is generally judged to be not that great).

Dan Komaromi has written a really good tutorial on how to set up PPP software (PPPShare), and use the Pegasus email program for DOS. It's definitely worth checking out.

I've tried a couple of (text-only) web browsers for DOS -- DOSLynx and Bobcat -- though I haven't had the greatest success with either of them. The versions I've used were quite slow on old machines (naturally), and tend to hang up or crash fairly frequently. Bobcat is a later revision of DOS Lynx, and seemed to work a little better. However, Bobcat is still under development by its author, Wayne Buttles, and an improved version (with its own PPP dialer and all) came out just last Fall.

If you have a shell account as part of your internet access, check to see if Lynx is available. Lynx is a Unix program, on which both DOS Lynx and Bobcat are based, but which I've had better success with so far. At the command line of your shell account, try typing "lynx" (no quotes) -- Lynx should start right up. Lynx some nice features (besides being way more stable than DOS Lynx or Bobcat): first, it lets you custom-set the Lynx home page, by setting the appropriate environment variable. I added this line to my .cshrc file, in order to make Lynx start on my web page:

Second, like most web browsers, Lynx allows you to save links to a bookmark file. And while Lynx originally uses its default bookmark file, you can change this setting, and use any bookmark file you like. That's useful, because Lynx can, in particular, use a Netscape bookmark file just fine. (Both Netscape Navigator and Lynx use a web-page for a bookmark file.) So if you (or a friend) have a full set of Netscape bookmarks, you can ftp a copy of that bookmark file to your shell account, and set it as the Lynx bookmark file.

Third, you can feed Lynx a particular URL (web page address) right from the Unix command line. So, e.g., "lynx http://www.yahoo.com" starts up Lynx on Yahoo's main page. This is especially handy, since it allows you to make Unix aliases to favorite web pages. In my .cshrc file, I have several aliases set up like this:

Then (after logging in again), typing "yahoo" at the command line will start Lynx on Yahoo's main page.

The only real problem I've had with Lynx (other than lame web pages that refuse to offer alternatives to pictures) is terminal emulation: while Lynx looks just fine on my 486 (using QVTerm) and my Mac Plus (using ZTerm), the screen is all screwed up on both my 286s, running several different comm programs. Telix seems to be the only program that displays Lynx screens flawlessly, though Minuet's telnet works OK for the most part.

For more information on Lynx, check out these sites: