Connecting to the Network

This chapter explains how to set up your computer so it can access the Internet.  It also explains how to set up your computer to work in a stand alone network, and how to use World O' Networking to access files and resources on remote machines.

This chapter covers the following topics:

Before You Start

Connecting to the Internet

Network Preferences

Setting Up a Stand Alone Network

DialUpNetworking Preferences

Stand Alone Plus Modem

World O' Networking

Before You Start

This section lists the network hardware that's recognized by the BeOS, and defines some of the terms that are used throughout this document.

  Hardware

To connect to a network, you need a network adaptor card. This is the card that you plug into your computer, and to which you connect your Ethernet or modem cable. The BeOS supports the following cards:

• PCI   These cards are inserted into one of the PCI slots on your computer.
  • DEC 21040/21041/21143-compatible cards
  • 3COM 3C503, 3C900, 3C900B, and Fast Etherlink XL (3C905 and 3C905B)
  • Intel EtherExpress (Intel only)

• ISA   These cards plug into the ISA slots of Intel-based and BeBox systems.
  • NE2000-compatible cards for Intel and BeBox
  • 3COM EtherLink II-compatible cards for BeBox

• PCMCIA   These cards plug into a PCMCIA slot.
  • NE2000-compatible cards

• Power Macintosh On-Board Networking.   This comes bundled with Power Macintosh-compatible computers that have built-in Ethernet networking.

BeOS for Intel supports all brands of external modems, and Rockwell and Lucent based internal modems.  BeOS for Power Mac supports external modems only.

For the most up-to-date list of hardware that's compatible with the BeOS, go to Be Product Support.

  Terms

The following terms are used throughout this chapter. Although you don't need to know precisely what they mean, you should at least be familiar with the ballpark they play in.

• Internet Service Provider (ISP).  An ISP is a company that provides access to the Internet. Typically, the ISP lets your computer access the World Wide Web and provides e-mail services.

• Internet Protocol (IP) address.nbsp An IP address is a set of four numbers, each ranging from zero to 255, separated by periods; for example, 192.168.0.67. Every computer connected to the Internet must have a unique IP address.

• Host name and domain name .  A host name and domain name are, taken together, a human-readable version of your IP address. The host name is the name of your computer; the domain name identifies the company, ISP, or other organization that your computer is "attached" to. For example, in the name fido.be.com, "fido" is the name of a computer within the domain "be.com".

• Domain Name Server (DNS).  A DNS is a computer that knows how to convert IP addresses into host/domain names. If there's a DNS machine on your network, you can access other machines by their host/domain names—for example, DNS lets you specify www.be.com in a NetPositive browser window.  Without DNS, you would tell NetPositive to take you to 207.126.103.9.

• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). A DHCP server is a machine that can answer all your Internet address questions for you. DHCP makes configuring your computer easier—you don't have to supply an IP address, for example—but not all computers have access to DHCP.

• Point to Point Protocol (PPP). PPP is how you get on the Internet if you're using a modem (as opposed to connecting to the Ethernet). If you use PPP, you don't need to specify an IP address for your computer. Instead, you have to supply the phone number, user name, and password that you use to connect your modem to the net. You get this information from your ISP.

• Gateway (aka "router"). A gateway is another computer, identified by IP address, through which your computer transmits data from your local network out to a larger network or the Internet

• Subnet mask. This is an IP address that's used to locate your local network. In most cases, the subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.

Connecting to the Internet

There are two ways to connect to the Internet: By Ethernet or by modem.  The first two things you do when preparing your computer to connect to the Internet apply to both camps:

1. Connect your network hardware—network adapter cards, modems, cables—to your computer, following the instructions that came with the computer or network hardware.

2. Gather IP address information from your network administrator or ISP.

• If you connect via Ethernet, use the Network Preferences application.

• If you connect by modem, you use the DialUpNetwork Preferences.

Network Preferences

If you're connecting to the Internet through the Ethernet, you use the Network preferences application to configure your network connection. If you're connecting through a modem, you should go to the section Dial-up Networking: Connecting by Modem.

When you launch Network, you see this window:

  Identity

The Identity tab is where you identify your computer and manage the interfaces to your computer's network cards. 

Names

The Names section ask for information that identifies your computer as a node on the Internet. You typically get this information from your ISP or your network administrator. If you're creating a stand-alone network, see the section "19420: head3: Dialup Networking Preferences\xd1 for Modem Connections" for instructions on what to fill in here.

Network Interfaces

The Network Interfaces section lets you Add... a new network card interface, or Modify... or Remove an existing one. When you add a new interface, it's listed in the scroll view in the body of the section.

To add a new interface, do this:

1. Click Add... to bring up the network interface dialog, shown here.

   

2. Find your network card in the Network Interface: pop up list. If you don't know what your card is, you may be able to figure it out by opening up your computer and looking at the card—or you can just guess.

3. Fill in the IP address information. If there's a DHCP server on your network, click Obtain settings automatically (DHCP) and let the system get the numbers for you. Otherwise, click Specify settings and fill in the information yourself. 

NOTE: If DHCP can't get all the information for you, switch to Specify settings, fill in the missing info, and then switch back to Obtain settings automatically (DHCP).

4. If you click the Config button you'll see your network card's Port: and IRQ: numbers and its internal address (this is not the same as the IP address). The defaults are port 300, IRQ 5, and address c8000, which work in most cases. You can change these, but unless you know what you're doing you probably shouldn't. Note that for some cards, the Address: setting doesn't appear.

5. When you're done playing with the interface configuration, click Add (back in the Network Interface dialog).

  Services

Use the Services tab of Network preferences to refine your network configuration:

• FTP Server. If you want other computers to be able to download files from your BeOS system, check this box. Then click Login Info... and enter a name and (optionally) a password, and press Done. 

• Telnet server. Check this box if you want to allow users to log in to your BeOS from a remote computer. If you haven't already entered a user name and password, click Login info... and do it now. (The Telnet and FTP servers use the same user name and password.)

• AppleTalk. Check this if you want to print to an AppleTalk printer.

• IP Forwarding. This is often referred to as multihoming, because it requires two network cards or interfaces. Check this if you have one local area subnet connected to another. The other systems on your local network should use your IP address as their gateway (or router) address. 

  Saving, Restarting and Testing the Network

When you're done configuring the Network preferences, click Save. Saving tells the system to record your settings. When you Save, a dialog will ask you if you want to restart networking—you almost certainly do.

If you want to restart networking using the Network window's current configuration, but you don't want the settings recorded permanently, click Restart Networking instead of Save. 

NOTE: Restarting networking interrupts currently running network operations, such as retrieving mail or downloading a web page.

Your BeOS system is now configured for accessing the Internet. To test the connection, launch NetPositive and try to connect to a known web site (such as www.be.com). If the connection is refused (and you should try a few different sites just to make sure the trouble is on your end), click Restart Networking again. If you still have no luck, check all your settings in the Identity tab.

Backing Up and Restoring Network Configurations

Once you set up your system for networking, you can name the configuration and save it so you can restore it later. This is particularly convenience if you have more than one configuration and you want to quickly switch between settings.

To save a configuration, click the Backup button in the Configurations portion of the Services tab. This window appears:

In the Backup as: field, name the configuration and press Done to save it.

To restore a configuration highlight it in the Configurations list and click Restore. The restored configuration replaces the current settings. The new configuration doesn't take effect until you restart networking.

Setting Up a Stand Alone Network

You may want to connect your BeOS system to other computers in a stand alone Ethernet network. Those "other computers" can be running BeOS, or Windows, MacOS, or a Unix-based operating system. A set of IP addresses have been set aside specifically for stand alone networks. To configure your BeOS system for a stand alone network do this:

1. Bring up the Network preference, and fill in the Name fields (in the Identity tab) so the Domain name: and Host name: fields are empty, and the two DNS: fields are 0.0.0.0, as shown here:

   

2. Add... a new network interface.

3. In the Network Interface dialog, find your network card, choose Specify settings and enter the following values:

   

• The IP address: is 192.168.0.N, where N is a number between 1 and 254 (inclusive).

• The Subnet mask: is 255.255.255.0.

• The Gateway: is 0.0.0.0.

Unless you configure one of the computers on your network to act as a DNS, you won't be able to reach the other computers by name. You'll have to use their IP addresses instead.

Dial-up Networking:  Connecting by Modem

If you make your network connection by modem, use the DialUpNetworking preferences. When you launch the app, you see this window:

1. Open the Connect to: pop up and choose New.

2. Type the name of the new connection in the panel that appears and click Done.

   

3. Back in the Dial-Up Networking window, type the phone number, user name, and password that you use to connect to the network, as supplied by your ISP. Check Save Password if you don't want to enter your password each time you connect.

   

4. Click Settings to bring up the connection settings panel.

5. Check Use static IP address and type in your IP address. If you don't check this, the IP address will be configured dynamically via PPP.

6. Enter a Primary DNS: and Secondary DNS: address. These addresses are not configured dynamically.

7. Choose a Server Type: from the popup. Unless you know your ISP has a Unix login, choose Standard PPP.

8. Click Done.

9. Back in the Dial-up Networking window, click Modem and in the panel that appears select your modem type, the serial port that your modem is connected to (1 or 2), and modem speed.

   

10. If Auto dial is on, whenever you attempt a net connection to an address that's not on your local network, the net server automatically dials out for you.  However, if any Ethernet interface you've added in the Network preferences defines a gateway, auto-dialing won't work. Check Pulse Dialing if you love rotary phones; check Display chat when connecting if you want the connection panel to display the progress of your dial-up connection; check Log all bytes sent/received if you think you'll need a binary dump of everything sent and received over PPP.  This is handy if you need to debug your modem connection. 

11. Click Done after you've made your selections in the modem panel. 

12. When you return to the Dial-up Networking window, click Connect to start your connection. 

You can have multiple connections, either to several ISPs or different accounts within an ISP. The configurations that you create are stored as "connection files" in /boot/home/config/settings/ppp.  For easy access, you may want to place links to these files on the desktop.  Double-clicking a connection file (or link) will automatically start the connection.  Pointing NetPositive at a web site, checking your mail, or performing any other web-accessing activity will automatically start the connection as well.

To delete a connection file, choose Delete from the Connect to: pop up, or simply throw the file in the trash.

Making a dial-up connection places a dial-up icon in the Deskbar's Status View that remains until you disconnect. Movement in the icon indicates traffic flow. You can press on the icon for a context menu that lets you select one of your saved connections and either connect or disconnect.

Stand Alone Plus Modem

You may want both a stand alone network and a modem connection to the Internet. This is common in small businesses or home office situations where multiple systems are connected, and only the BeOS system has a modem connected. You'll want to communicate with both the local systems and outside network services.

To set this up, do the following:

1. Use Network to set up an Ethernet-based network interface for the stand alone network. Add a network interface for the appropriate Ethernet connector as if you were setting up a stand alone network (see Setting Up a Stand Alone Network).

2. Use DialUpNetworking to configure a modem connection.

3. Save and restart networking.

Once you complete this configuration, your BeOS system will be active on both network interfaces.  You can communicate with devices on your local network through the Ethernet interface.  Whenever you attempt to access a service that's not on your stand alone network, the BeOS initiates a PPP connection.  While connected to the outside network by modem, you can still communicate with any device on your local network.

World O' Networking

World o' Networking (WON) is the BeOS interface for sharing files and services over a network.  WON gives you access to files and resources located on networked Windows machines or on Unix machines running SAMBA.  When you start WON, a Tracker window opens to show you these remote files and services.  You can treat this window just like any other Tracker window—for example, you can drag and drop files into and out of the WON window.

A BeOS machine can act as both a network client and a network server.

To use WON:

1. Open the /boot/optional/experimental/WON/ folder (or go to the optional/experimental/WON/ fodler of the Release 4.5 CD if you didn't do a full install) and launch WONSetup.

   

2. In the WON setup panel, check File and Printer sharing, and choose a workgroup.  This is the name given to a group of machines; if you're unsure of the workgroup name, choose "Workgroup".

3. You need to get a user name and password from your system administrator.  Enter these, and confirm the password.

4. Check Show hidden mounts if you want to be able to see what else is on the network, although you won't be able to access anything that would otherwise be hidden.

   

5. Click Done to launch the WON server. The World O' Networking icon will show up on your desktop:

6. To open WON's Tracker window onto the network, simply double-click the World O' Networking icon.

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   The Be User's  Guide,
   for BeOS Release 4.5.
   

   Copyright © 1999 Be, Inc. All rights reserved.