LINGUIST List 4.462

Tue 15 Jun 1993

Sum: Internet Connections

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. Susan Pintzuk, Summary: Internet Connections

Several weeks ago I posted a query about public access to the
Internet: I wanted to make a local telephone call in Brooklyn and
connect to a computer in Philadelphia. I got a lot of responses, too
many to acknowledge individually here -- thanks to all of you who sent
me information. It has taken me a long time to post this summary
because I wanted to investigate all of the suggestions I received.

Some people asked why I couldn't use Telnet to connect to Philadelphia
directly from my computer at New York University. I should have
stated in the original query that I wanted to find a connection that
did not go through NYU.

I had hoped, of course, to find a free connection to the Internet.
Unfortunately, this does not exist, at least not in New York.
However, there do exist a number of service providers that operate in
different regions of the United States at reasonable fees, perhaps as
low as $100 per year; the fees of course vary, depending upon where
you live, what services you want, and how much connect time you need.

Lists of service providers are available by USENET, e-mail, and
anonymous FTP, so I will not include the names of any individual
service providers in this summary. Instead, I give below instructions
for obtaining four different lists; the four lists overlap, but they
all contain information not found in the others. If anyone would like
a list of service providers in the New York City area, please contact
me directly.

1. PDIAL (The Public Dialup Internet Access List)
 a. USENET: PDIAL is posted regularly to alt.internet.access.wanted,
 alt.bbs.lists, ba.internet, and news.answers
 b. E-mail: To receive the current edition of PDIAL, send e-mail to
 info-deli-servernetcom.com, with the subject "send PDIAL"
 c. Anonymous FTP archive sites:
 1. Information Deli FTP site:
 ftp.netcom.com [192.100.81.100]
 /pub/info-deli/public-access/pdial
 2. As part of a collection of public access lists:
 vfl.paramax.com [128.126.220.104]
 /pub/pubnet/pdial
 3. From the Merit Network Information Center Internet
 information archive:
 nic.merit.edu [35.1.1.48]
 /internet/pdial
 4. As part of an Internet access compilation file:
 liberty.uc.wlu.edu [137.113.10.35]
 /pub/lawlib/internet.access
 5. As part of the news.answers FAQ archive:
 pit-manager.mit.edu [18.172.1.27]
 /pub/usenet/news.answers/pdial

2. NixPub (Public/Open Access UNIX Sites):
 a. USENET: NixPub is posted regularly to comp.misc,
 comp.bbs.misc, alt.bbs
 b. E-mail: To subscribe to the nixpub-list electronic mailing list,
 send e-mail to mail-serverbts.com, with the body of the message
 containing "subscribe nixpub-list [your name]"
 c. Anonymous FTP archive sites:
 vfl.paramax.com [128.126.220.104]
 /pub/pubnet/nixpub.long
 /pub/pubnet/nixpub.short

3. NNSC (NSF Network Service Center):
 Send e-mail to info-servernnsc.nsf.net, with the body of the
 message as follows:
 request: nsfnet
 topic: referral-list
 topic: other-providers
 topic: help
 request: end

4. SRI Network Information Systems Center: Chapter 4 of the book
 Internet: Getting Started.
 Anonymous FTP to ftp.nisc.sri.com
 /netinfo/internet-access-providers-us.txt
 /netinfo/internet-access-providers-non-us.txt

I also found the following references quite useful, for general
background on Internet and on Internet connections:

Dern, Daniel P. 1992. Plugging into the Internet. Byte, October 1992.
 Pp. 149-156.
Krol, Ed. 1992. The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalogue.
 Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly & Associates.

Susan Pintzuk
pintzukbabel.ling.upenn.edu