I have AOL and earthlink dialups installed trying to decide which I prefer. The earthlink dialup adapter used just TCP/IP, then I installed AOL and AOl changed both the dial up adapter and the NIC card to all three. Do I need all three? What is each protocol for? What do they mean?

Switch to TOAST.net. I have had both the others and went to TOAST. I am using the $15.95/month unlimited usage " Q Network " account for a web server. I hang up and redial in the morning and then again at night. 7 days a week, week after week. Both AOL and Earthlink use Spyware in their setups. They record key strokes and see when you stop working. After a period of time they cut you off. Also rummage your system. Under toast you just setup a dial connection under your dialup networking. Put the icon on your front. Go from there. I keep toast as a test bench but also run the Pac Bell DSL. (damn expensive though). With dialups I would stick to an external modem with tcp/ip as Toast does. I had two years on Earthlink and 1.5 years on Toast. Ran Toast and Earthlink at the same time to compare for about 6 months. Good Luck

TCP/IP is the more common protocol stack used by Microsoft and UNIX/Linux. IPX/SPX is the protocol stack use by Novell and also used by some older games. NetBEUI is a small, light protocol stack developed by Microsoft specifically for small LAN's. I've never heard of a dialup using anything but TCP/IP.

You do not need all three. IPX is used for Novell as Curt says. It can be used by other clients but it was developed for that. Novell has since switched to TCP/IP so IPX is on it's way out. NetBeui is a non-routable protocol and can not be used on the internet so you don't need that. Remove IPX and NetBEUI.