Last updated: 11 November 2000
Yes, I connect to Free-Online using an Acorn RISC PC running the ANT Internet suite.
Here's how I did it:
(Actually, I'm not sure you can still sign up to Free-Online: I think they want you to sign up to plus.net.uk instead. However I'll leave this section intact as it shows the general principles.)
Well, I must admit I cheated a bit here. I used a PeeCee at work to log onto www.free-online.net and complete the sign-up process. However, it should be possible to do from an Acorn machine provided that your browser supports Javascript (e.g. Oregano, or recent versions of WebsterXL).
Make a note of your username and password when you sign up. If you follow the "obvious" path through the signup procedure (i.e. you click on "Other" when it asks you what browser you are using) you will get a handy confirmation screen you can save or print-out as you choose.
Right, let's cut to the chase. Here's my provider file for the ANT Internet suite. I won't guarantee that all the parameters are 100% correct, but it should be good enough to get you going:
# > Inet:Providers.UK.FreeOnline # ANT Internet Suite script for a service provider # # Provider name FreeOnline # # # # Machine name domain[, IP address] .free-online.co.uk, Dynamic # # Dynamic IP supported? (YES/NO/FORCE) FORCE # # PPP supported? (YES/NO/FORCE) FORCE # # Protocol: prompt? (YES/NO), Special features[, PIPEX User prefix] NO, -1 # # Mail fetching server, transport type (SMTP/POP2/POP3/IMAP) mail.free-online.net, POP3 # # Mail sending (SMTP) server, News (NNTP) server relay.free-online.net, usenet.plus.net.uk # # DNS servers (IP addresses) 212.159.11.150, 212.159.13.150 # # PoPresence locations, telephone numbers Local, 08451444222 # # Login scripts (Special features is -1) pxScript= start_ppp(); # # Email address EXAMPLE@EXAMPLE.free-online.co.uk # # ISP homepage URL http://www.thefree.net # # Time server # # Proxy servers (Scheme, Server:port, Exclude)
You can just cut-and-paste the above section: it's ready-to-roll.
I was using version 1.31 of the ANT suite, so I created a new file called "FreeOnline" in !InetSuite.Internet.Providers.UK_a-m using a utility that is capable of writing PKZIP-format archives (e.g. SparkFS).
I've been told that with later versions of the ANT suite, you can create a directory called "NewISP" in !InetSuite.Internet.Providers and then copy the (plain text) provider file to the "NewISP" directory.
There are two steps to this: (1) Configuring the suite and (2) Configuring the applications.
Firstly, configuring the suite:
If you wish to retain connectivity via your existing ISP, I strongly recommend that you install a fresh copy of the ANT suite in a new directory. Don't forget to copy over the new provider file you created above.
Now, start up the ANT suite and run up the Configuration application. Click on "Provider Setup" and select "FreeOnline" from the list of providers (in UK_a-m if you did it the way I did). This will fill in most of the information for you.
The only information you need add/change here is your host name (in my case it was zedtoo.free-online.co.uk) your login name and your password (you DID remember to make a note of them when you registered, didn't you?). Once done, click on "Close"
FreeOnline, in common with all the other free ISPs, requires you to present CLI (Caller Line Information) when you call their number. This means you can't put 141 on the front of the number, and if you've asked for your number to be permanently withheld, you'll have to go into "Modem setup" and add the proper dial prefix that re-enables CLI for that call (I think the number is 1470, but check with your telephone service provider).
Now for the applications.
We'll start with mail. Click on "Mail Setup" in the Configuration window. You should have two entries there, looking something like this:
Mail server User Options ----------- ---- ------- mail.free-online.net zedtoo <POP3 relay.free-online.net >SEND
You need to change some details for the POP3 entry.
Click MENU (the middle mouse button) over the pop.free-online.net
entry, click on Edit... and amend the username and password
accordingly. Now go up to the "Server" entry at the top of
the Mail account window and add /ucb to the end of the server name.
It should now read: mail.free-online.net/ucb
Close that window by clicking on "Set", and
then close the "Mail Setup" window.
Now it's time to configure the Usenet newsreader. Click on "News Setup" in the Configuration window. In the top right corner of the window is an option labelled Use XHDR. I suggest you try it with the box unticked to begin with: if you subsequently find you can't retrieve news articles, come back here and tick the box.
If you want to fetch news, set the "Transfer News" entry to "Upon modem connection", then select the newsgroups you are interested in, as described in the ANT manual. If you don't want to fetch any news at this stage, set the "Transfer News" entry to "Manually".
Click on "Close" to close the News setup window, then click on "Save" to save your configuration.
Finally, check your Fresco setup by loading Fresco, then clicking MENU (middle mouse button) on the Fresco icon on the iconbar. Select "Choices..." from the menu, then click on "Proxies". All of the proxies should be unticked. If any proxy is selected, untick the box and remove any details from the adjoining fields.
If you made any changes here, click on "Set" to close the Proxy settings window, then click on Save in the Fresco choices window.
Well, there you have it. A bit wordy, but if you're at all familiar with reconfiguring the ANT suite you'll know it's a relatively straightforward procedure.
P.S. If you get lots of "Bad CRC" errors (or PPP errors) appearing in your status logging window, try reducing the modem speed to 57600 or even 38400.
Please send comments to: webmaster@zedtoo.free-online.co.uk