I have this old PC/AT Clone (see specs above), and would like
to get it on the internet..

Is this possible? I am talking about text-only...

It does have a HD, 504MB...

I doubt it. You might be able to with win 3.1. With just dos I think the best you could do is connect to a BBS--bulletin board service--if any are still around.

Text only browsers are most suitable, but it may be feasable to install Arachne GUI Browser, plenty of choice even for a 8086:

http://www.dosthealt.f2s.com/links3.htm

I was thinking about Arachne, but don't forget, this is a 286,
it's just plain sloooooow with the parsing of the HTML files
as it is, and using Arachne I would think would put more
stress on the system.

Let's not forget, this system only has 512K ram... I don't
know how to get a NIC driver, and the browser running at the
same time. by the time I get the NIC driver running, and IF I
can get the TCP/IP stack installed, I'd probably be out of RAM
by then...

Thanks for posting in Jesse. I hadn't realized there were dos browsers.

Yes Arachne will need 550 ram for setup, therefore DOSLynx Text Browser is your best bet, it will work with a mouse:

http://users.ohiohills.com/fmacall/

If you use a hardware external serial modem, there is no problem. If you want to use DSL you can lifeline it to another DOS PC via parallel laplink cable using PLIP:

http://users.ohiohills.com/fmacall/#plip

Unfortunatley 8bit NIC's are rare, as are 8bit compatable RJ45BNC/Parallel Port NIC's

Here's another link to try:

http://www.fdisk.com/doslynx/

don't forget, my 286 is 16-bit, and thus I do have 16-bit ISA
slots (only a couple...)

I do have an NIC that works on a 16-bit OR a 8-bit ISA bus.
it will autodetect what bus it's sitting on ...

Hi,

286 PCs with so little memory but a HardWare MoDem
or an NIC can TelNet to remote Lynx browsers, your
TelNet station would just run a terminal emulation
program on top of the PPP/NIC packet-driver (which
depends on the type of InterNet access). The need
for BandWidth is reduced to a strict minimum, it's
the remote server which handles Web page rendering
before this content is sent, one screen of twenty-
five lines per eighty characters each at a time...

The job is slim enough for a venerable PC-XT (8088
4.77 Mhz) with 512 Mb of memory and no Hard-Drive,
even if ANSI colours are included. The real trick
is to find suitable servers running a Lynx browser
(something quite rare these days)... FreeNets and
ISPs offering their users a shell access supported
such a service in the good old days, C.A.M. is the
last one left in my province and i haven't checked
lately... The local parsing of Web pages required
by applications like `Lynx for DOS', `NetTamer' or
`Menuet', etc. would kill your browsing experience
because of the extreme slowliness, i can't see any
better remedy than a remote Lynx browser for 286s!

Salutations,

Michel Samson
a/s Bicéphale

I have cable ISP service...

I have a domain controller in the house too, maybe if I add a modem, it could be the doslynx system for me? (I can start a telnet server on Win2k3...)

A+ Certified Professional
Network+ Certified Professional

Hi,

If i got you right, you don't use a router yet but
there's a PC with enough computing juice to act as
a "domain controller" and an ICS/TelNet server via
one of two MoDems while another MoDem will connect
your 286 using the PPP protocol at 56 Kbps instead
on its NIC? This is not what i had in mind, there
still are a few remote Lynx browsers out there! I
would just load the packet-driver and MS-Kermit on
top of it to TelNet to one of those. Kermit works
nicely on 286s and the same-name terminal emulator
is the sturdiest i ever seen after {Commo} - which
has ZMoDem instead of Kermit but would be slow, in
comparison (a typical Unix Lynx setup supports the
Kermit file transfer protocol quite well but won't
work when doing ZMoDem because it differs from the
DOS ZMoDem brand, apparently). Why Kermit? Well,
the remote Lynx browsers DownLoad files to a local
temporary directory and then you may: 1) transfer
the file via Kermit, 2) try your luck with ZMoDem,
3) leave the file on disk until you reconnect with
FTP when you're a registered member. In any case,
can you provide the FCC number of your NIC and add
to it the chip's identification? It's no big deal
connecting to remote Lynx browsers once you edited
a configuration/batch-file to suit your situation;
if the W2K3 station behaves as a router, i mean...

Salutations,

Michel Samson
a/s Bicéphale

i still have a router in the house, a wireless one.. all it does
is direct the traffic going into and out of the house.. it is
connected directly to the cable modem..

my domain controller JUST has the following rolls: DHCP,
DNS, Active Directory, Terminal Services, TELNET, NAS, and
RAS...

A+ Certified Professional
Network+ Certified Professional

Pardon me for disagreeing, but over complicating seems NOT to be the solution.

As you have a Cable Modem, all you need is a RJ45/Ethernet 4 Port Switch connected to the Cable Modem.

On the 286 you only need to load the Packet Driver for the NIC and run the version of DOSlynx (which is still developed) http://users.ohiohills.com/fmacall this will pick up the IP from DHCP, earlier versions of Lynx do not support DHCP, via RJ45 cable..

This in my opinion would be the easiest solution and yes TEXT Browsing on a 286 is not really slow considering the age of the PC and utilising modem internet speeds.

http://www.dosthealt.f2s.com/autoexec.htm

well i just tried installing a NIC on my 286...

the setup program tells me it can't find the NIC, or there is a
conflict with the base IO address... BUT the NIC has NO
jumpers (it's pnp)...

my video card has no jumpers also, so i can't set that
differently either.. (video card is some 1MB trident card with
VESA support)

A+ Certified Professional
Network+ Certified Professional

If you are in the UK I have an old Genius ISA NIC c/w driver for dos thru 9x. As far as I remember its set by either by jumpers or software interface and it has both BNC and RJ45 connectors, I know that the RJ45 works cos thats what was in my system till I scavenged a nice £com 10/100 Pci card. I`d like to see the Genius go to a good home that needs it :~)

Woof

Always proof-read carefully to see if you any words out.

thanks, but im in america.. :(

i would have had a great home for that card.. i'll have to
check my box of old cards... i might have some old jumper
style cards lying around somewhere..

A+ Certified Professional
Network+ Certified Professional

Hi,

DHCP is a nice thing to have, if only there were a
stand-alone client able to define the whole WatTCP
environment... Any chance of this ever happening?

;^)

Salutations,

Michel Samson
a/s Bicéphale

The original poster wanted to browse the web, both Arachne and DOSLynx I linked support DHCP, therefore a stand-alone client is not really relevent, but yes in the later implementation of WATTCP Stack DHCP is supported...

http://www.ertos.com/index.shtml

Hi,

Thanks so much for the refreshing interlude, Fred!

Runing no other tool than MS-Kermit, i DownLoaded:

http://users.ohiohills.com/fmacall/dlx30bin.zip

I unarchived the file, edited `DOSLynx.CFG' to get
DHCP support and defined the SMTP server to fit my
situation. There was no WatTCP configuration done
at all and yet DOSLynx v0.30 BETA connected! This
seemed promissing so i tried to launch a search on
Google but there was no field to type a request...
I went to the home page and tried to transfer from
a link with the same address as above instead, the
result: a "Not Found" error! I decided to send a
message via E-Mail as a teaser: "No mail sent"...

I recognize the extraordinary effort to keep a DOS
project alive but i still prefer Lynx v2.8.5dev.16
run on a remote Unix server accessed by MS-Kermit.

Moreover, back to his original post, i see the man
asked to get on InterNet, text-only, with only 512
Kb of memory available... It would disqualify the
Arachne SoftWare as a relevant solution, agreed!!!

I didn't attempt to go setup a similar machine for
this short test, i can't tell how it feels to have
DOSLynx parse Web pages locally on a 286 16 Mhz PC
but i did evaluate DOSLynx on 286 machines before;
ions ago because it was too unstable for my taste.

I got Lynx v2.8.5rel.1 installed besides MS-Kermit
but this one requires a couple Mega-Bytes, anyway.

Well, if the user isn't happy with your suggestion
there's the plain old MS-Kermit TelNet client that
can reach a remote Lynx browser with enough memory
left to run a file browser as Buerg's List - which
is even more true if DOS is DownGraded to v3.30 in
order to reclaim every single bit of this precious
memory the user can't aford to waste, i believe...

Given the extreme circumstance, i'm convinced it's
the best option and it's rock solid on both sides.

Salutations,

Michel Samson
a/s Bicéphale

Well, I have run DOSLynx via PLIP and ADSL on a 8086 and yes google search is OK, you need to put the cursor (CTMouse driver) in the box and press enter to load a text input box. So I believe it will work and for a newbie is easier than the other Lynx.

Would agree the other Lynx has more capatibility .........................

Hi,

I'll try DOSLynx again, and take a peek (one more)
at PLIP while i'm at it. I've got a Grid LapTop i
could use through the FIFO-less serial-port with a
former DialUp access but i switched to ADSL lately
so my PPP account had to go and the MoDem with it.

I suppose having DOSLynx v0.30 BETA available is a
valuable option to have when nothing else works...

Salutations,

Michel Samson
a/s Bicéphale

Hi Fred,

Using my IBM ThinkPad 486 50 Mhz 8 Mb RAM Mono VGA
i tried "ILnkFix 80" + "PLIP 0x61" + "YAPCBr" with
my PCMCIA WatTCP configuration loaded before PLIP.

I did the same with a P1 MMX 200 Mhz 256 Mo RAM PC
(this one got a PCI NIC) and i must let you know i
had the most satisfying afternoon, especially when
Kermit transfers reached 16K3 cps (it was 8K5 with
the P1 as a bridge) and all this after a few years
of starvation! It seemed a honnest performance in
terms of former BBS standards and i just needed to
have a Parallel Port, after all - but that's about
when my luck turned though, most unfortunately: i
learned that telnet://guest.sailor.lib.md.us won't
work past July 2006... Then, nothing that i tried
allowed me to experiment with PLIP on my GridCase2
8088 4.77 Mhz 512 Kb RAM LapTop! All the PCs were
sitting close to each other (because the InterLink
cable is six feet only); my P1 made a good YAPCBr
server and the 486 too so i finally hooked my 8088
to the later. PLIP could be loaded normally under
both IBM DOS v3.30 Fr and DR-DOS v5.00 Fr, i could
see a link existed between the PLIP packet-drivers
judging from the YAPCBr screen but i was unable to
open FTP/TelNet sessions and not even if my MoDem/
Router was the target! My 486 is on MS-DOS v6.20,
and my P1 has MS-DOS v7.10a via Win98's boot menu;
i experimented with many variations (ILnk, no ILnk
then i removed the few drivers i usually require).

Of course, PLIP wouldn't really help elswhere than
on the GridCase2, i'm afraid. But at least, i was
able to take note of the memory savings when using
v3.3 compared to v5: the gain is 64 Kb and that's
significant considering the GridCase has only 512!

Apparently, DOSLynx v0.30 BETA will be what's left
once the Sailor remote Lynx Browser is gone. I'll
resume my evaluation when i managed to use PLIP...

Salutations,

Michel Samson
a/s Bicéphale