Connect to Earthlink by Dial-Up or DSL

Most of this connection material was obtained from postings to the USENET Newsgroup earthlink.tech-support.dsl in the year 1999 and revised by me after trying each of these connection methods. You can read about My DSL experiences…

 

The telnet portion is from postings I have made to Help-Net mailing list.

Connect to EarthLink Dial-Up with Red Hat Linux

  1. Start your X session by typing startx at your shell prompt.
  2. Click somewhere in the root window and open the Red Hat Control Panel from the pop-up menu. Or, open an xterm and type control-panel & (type the “&” symbol) then press enter.
  3. Open the Modem icon in the Control Panel window.
  4. Select your modem’s device location (cua0=COM1; cua1=COM2; cua2=COM3; cua3=COM4)
  5. Click OK to save your settings.
  6. Open the Network icon.
  7. Click the Name button and enter the following:
    • Domain: earthlink.net
    • Name Server: 207.217.126.81 (if you can enter a second DNS address, enter 207.217.77.82)
  8. Click the Interface button, then click Add. Select PPP and click OK (you’re adding ppp0).
  9. Enter the following information:
    • User: ELN/your_username
    • Password: your_password
  10. Highlight ppp0 and click Edit, then set your modem speed:
    • 14.4k modem: 38400bps
    • 28.8k modem: 57600bps
    • 33.6k modem: 57600bps
    • 56k modem: 115200bps
    • Communications:
      • Init: AT&F or AT&F1 if you do not know the proper initialization string for your modem.
      • Phone Number: enter your local EarthLink access number
      • Select Modem: select your installed modem
      • Click the Network button in the Control Panel.
      • MTU: 576 (you can experiment with MTU=1500, also).
  11. Click the Interface tab.
    • To connect, highlight ppp0 and click Activate. To disconnect, click De-Activate.
    • To check your connection, open an xterm and type tail -f/var/log/messages
    • Check that you have been assigned an IP address and that no error messages are reported.

The following site has a great deal of information about Suse Linux: http://www.stanislowski.com/leah/

Connect to EarthLink Dial-Up with Win 95/98

The following instructions will allow you to manually set up your
Windows 95 or Windows 98 operating system to connect to EarthLink:

  1. If you do not have an account, you will need to set one up with EarthLink Sales (800-395-8425) before continuing.
  2. You are going to need your operating system installation software, so make sure you have it handy
  3. Double-click My Computer on your desktop.
  4. Check to see if you have Dial-Up Networking, if you do, skip to step 5 then step 22 and continue.
  5. Double-click the Control Panel icon.
  6. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
  7. Click the Windows Setup tab.
  8. Click the Communications component.
  9. Click the Details… button.
  10. Put a check in the box next to Dial-Up Networking.
  11. Click OK.
  12. Click Apply.
  13. Click OK.
  14. You will be prompted for your installation software, at which point you will insert it to proceed to the next step.
  15. Wait for Dial-Up Networking to install.
  16. When you are told to restart, click OK.
  17. Click the Start button.
  18. Click Shut Down.
  19. Select Restart the computer?
  20. Click Yes.
  21. Wait for your system to restart.
  22. Click the Network icon in the Control Panel window.
  23. Click the IPX/SPX-compatible Protocol component.
  24. Click the Remove button.
  25. Click the NetBEUI component.
  26. Click the Remove button.
  27. Click the Add button.
  28. Click the Protocol component.
  29. Click the Add button.
  30. Click Microsoft under Manufacturers.
  31. Click TCP/IP under Network Protocols.
  32. Click OK.
  33. Click the Add button.
  34. Click Client.
  35. Click the Add button.
  36. Click Microsoft under Manufacturers and choose Client for Microsoft Networks on the right hand side.
  37. Click OK.
  38. You should now have only three network components: Client for Microsoft Networks, Dial-Up Adapter, and TCP/IP.
  39. Click the Dial-Up Adapter Component.
  40. Click the Properties button.
  41. Click the Bindings tab.
  42. TCP/IP(- Dial-Up Adapter) should be the only one checked.
  43. Click the Advanced tab.
  44. Click Use IPX header compression, in the Property field.
  45. In the Value field, click on the down arrow and select No.
  46. Click OK.
  47. Click the TCP/IP(- Dial-Up Adapter) component. Note: In Windows 98, you will receive a prompt regarding changing the TCP/IP properties. Click OK at this prompt to proceed to the next step.
  48. Click the Properties button.
  49. Click the DNS Configuration tab, select Disable DNS.
  50. Click the WINS Configuration, select Disable WINS Resolution.
  51. Click OK.
  52. Click the Identification tab.
  53. In the Computer name field, type your username in lower-case characters
  54. In the Workgroup field, type your real name or a company name if you so desire
  55. Click OK.
  56. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.
  57. Wait for the computer to restart.
  58. When you see the login prompt, click OK without entering a password; when asked to confirm the password, again leave it blank and click OK. (This will ensure that you will not be prompted to login to
  59. your own computer again.
  60. Close the Control Panel window.
  61. Double-click the Dial-Up Networking icon in the My Computer window.
  62. Double-click the Make New Connection icon.
  63. Under “Type a name for the computer you are dialing” type EarthLink.
  64. Click the Configure button.
  65. Check that the Maximum speed setting is correct for your modem (for 14.4 modems use 19200, for 28.8/33.6 modems use 38400, and for 56k modems use 57,600.)
  66. Make sure that “Only connect at this speed” is not checked. Click OK.
  67. Click the Next button.
  68. Determine which access number (POP) is local for you. A list of EarthLink access numbers are available at: http://www.earthlink.net/home/access/numbers.html
  69. Type the area code and telephone numbers in the appropriate fields.
  70. Click Next.
  71. Click Finish
  72. Click the EarthLink icon.
  73. Click File from the menu bar.
  74. Click Properties.
  75. Click the Server Type button.
  76. Uncheck “Log on to network”.
  77. Uncheck “NetBEUI”.
  78. Uncheck “IPX/SPX Compatible”.
  79. Click the “TCP/IP Settings” button.
  80. Select Specify name server addresses.
  81. In the Primary DNS field, type 207.217.126.81
  82. In the Secondary DNS field, type 207.217.77.82
  83. Uncheck “Use IP Header Compression” and click OK.
  84. Click OK again.
  85. Click OK one more time.
  86. Double-click on the EarthLink icon.
  87. For Username type ELN/, immediately followed by your EarthLink username. For example, ELN/username. (ELN is uppercase and username is lower case)
  88. For Password type your login password. (password is case sensitive)
  89. Check off Save Password
  90. Click Connect
  91. Once you are connected you will either see a timer counting the seconds you are connected, or you will see the dialer minimize to a small icon on the right side of your taskbar. From here you can open up a browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Connect To EarthLink Dial-Up with Win NT

The following instructions will allow you to double check your settings within Windows NT to ensure they are optimized for a full connection:

  • From the desktop, double-click My Computer.
  • Double-click Dial-up Networking.
  • Click on More
  • Click on Edit entry and modem properties…

From here:

  1. Select the Basic tab.
  2. Check “Use Telephony dialing properties.”
  3. Uncheck “Use another port if busy.”
  4. For Entry name, enter EarthLink.
  5. Enter the country code and area code of the number you are dialing, plus the phone number itself.
  6. Under “Dial using,” select your modem.
  7. Click the Configure button.
  8. Set the Initial speed (BPS) to one of the following speeds:
    •    If you have a 33.6 modem, set the BPS to 38400
    •    If you have a 56K modem, set the BPS to 57600
  9. Make sure all three Hardware Features boxes are checked (if applicable) and that “Disable modem speaker” is not checked.
  10. Click OK.
  11. Select the Server tab.
  12. The Dial-up server type should be “PPP: Windows NT, Windows 95 Plus, Internet.”
  13. For Network Protocols only TCP/IP should be checked.
  14. Make sure “Enable software compression” is checked, but leave “Enable PPP LCP extensions” unchecked.
  15. Click the “TCP/IP Settings” button.
  16. Select “Server assigned IP address” and “Specify name server addresses.”
  17. For Primary DNS, enter 207.217.126.81
  18. For Secondary DNS, enter 207.217.77.82
  19. Leave the Primary WINS and Secondary WINS servers at 0.0.0.0.
  20. Check both “Use IP header compression” and “Use default gateway on remote network.”
  21. Click OK.
  22. Select the Script tab.
  23. Make sure None is selected.
  24. Select the Security tab.
  25. Select “Accept any authentication including clear text.”
  26. On the New Phonebook Entry window, click OK.
  27. The phone book entry for EarthLink should be selected in the Phonebook entry to dial field. Click the Dial button.
  28. A window will appear asking for a username, password, and domain.The first two are required. Your username should be prefixed with ELN/ and the username should be in lowercase; when typing in the password pay special attention to both spelling and case. Do not enter anything for the Domain. There is also an option to Save Password, which can be selected if desired.
  29. Click OK to dial into EarthLink.

Once you are connected, a window will appear informing you that you have successfully connected to the Dial-up Server. Click OK to close this window. You are now connected and may use any Internet software such as Internet Explorer (installed with Windows NT).

Connect to EarthLink DSL with Linux

See the FAQs at: http://www.carricksolutions.com/linuxpppoe.htm

Get the PPPoE client from David F. Skoll at: http://www.roaringpenguin.com/pppoe/

This version only requires:

  • A Linux system with a 2.0- or 2.2-series kernel.
  • Kernel support for “packet sockets”. All standard distribution kernels include this.
  • The pppd daemon, version 2.3.7 or later.
  • A working Ethernet card.
  • ADSL service and an ADSL modem.

Set your login and password in your pap-secrets file (usually found in /etc/ppp/pap-secrets) to something as follows:

userid@earthlink.net
* mypassword

Now set your options file (usually found in /etc/ppp/options) to the following…..

## options file ##
name userid@earthlink.net
lock
local
nodetach
nocrtscts
noauth
noipdefault
noaccomp
nobsdcomp
noccp
nodeflate
nopcomp
novj
novjccomp
defaultroute
hide-password
sync
passive
persist
mtu 1490
mru 1490
asyncmap 0
lcp-echo-interval 240
lcp-echo-failure 3
## end options ##

Enter your DNS numbers in /etc/resolv.conf

If you don’t know what your DNS numbers are, just login to Windows using WinPoet, go to an MS-DOS prompt, and type “ipconfig /All | more” and you should see your DNS numbers near the top of the output.

Windows 98 IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . : [name you gave to your PC]
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . : 207.217.77.82
                              207.217.120.83
Node Type . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
[snip remainder]

After that’s finished, you should be able to type:

  • ifconfig eth0 0.0.0.0 up (replace eth0 with your actual ethernet device)
  • pppoed -I eth0 -R 999 (replace eth0 with your actual ethernet device and the -R 999 with the number of times pppoed should retry connecting if the connection gets disrupted, you may omit the retries if you like)
  • then type “ifconfig”

If so then you just connected to the internet in Linux using PPPoE (:>)

 

A good test to see if it’s actually sending/receiving would be to do an “nslookup earthlink.net” if it works then your DNS is working correctly so you should technically be connected to the Internet…

Another option is to get PPPoE from Jamal Hadi Salim at: http://www.davin.ottawa.on.ca/pppoe/

This one requires some knowledge in kernel compiling so I would suggest getting the Linux HowTo from http://metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/Kernel-HOWTO

If you don’t know how to do it, I suggest the “make xconfig” method for selecting your options, as it makes it so much easier. It’s not so hard but it does take some knowledge of what you have installed in your computer.

I also suggest you get the 2.2.13 kernel source since there isn’t a patch for the 2.2.14 kernel and I have not tested it myself to see if it works still…you can get that from here: ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.2/linux-2.2.12.tar.gz

Connect to EarthLink DSL with Windows98/SE/ME/2000

  1. Download and install Winpoet 2.0 When Winpoet 2.0 has completed downloading, you must double click on it and you will be prompted to extract the files.
  2. Notice that the files are extracted to a new folder named “winpoet20” located on your “C” drive (c:\winpoet20).
  3. After the files are successfully extracted, CLOSE the WinZip Self-Extractor and proceed with the installation.
  4. To INSTALL Winpoet you must go into your “C” drive (thru “My Computer” or “Windows Explorer”) and into the “winpoet20” folder and launch the file named “WinPoET” or “WinPoET.exe”, which will guide you through the installation.
  5. At the end of the installation you will get a message stating “Setup is not complete because the iVasion PoET adapter is not yet installed.”
  6. To install the iVasion PoET adapter go to Control Panel
    • Click Add/Remove Hardware
    • Click Next then select Add/Troubleshoot a device
    • Click Next (wait for the search to finish) then click Add a new device
    • Click Next
    • Select “No, I want to select the hardware from a list”
    • Click Next
    • Select “Network Adapters”
    • Click Next
    • Click the “Have Disk” button
    • Type C:\Program Files\Ivasion\WinPoET
    • Click OK
    • Highlight “iVasion PoET Adapter”
    • Click Next
    • Click Next again. You will then receive a prompt stating “Digital Signature Not Found”
    • Click Yes
    • Click Finish. Restart your computer before continuing with the next step.
  7. Select network card and have disk.
  8. Driver is in where ever you installed WinPoet (default is C:\Program Files\Ivasion\WinPoET
  9. Right click on my network places and click properties.
  10. Select make new connection, next, dial-up to private network (if internet wizard comes up, click on cancel and check never show box again), next (ivasion poet adapter (serial 6-0)), next (don’t put any number), next,
  11. finish.
  12. If the new WinPoET icon is not on your desktop, you must go into the WinPoET folder and create a shortcut to the “WrDialer”. The WinPoET folder should be in C:\Program Files\iVasion\WinPoET and within that folder you will find the “WrDialer”. Create a shortcut (right click on it and select create shortcut) to this file and place the shortcut on your desktop. Launch the new shorcut to WrDialer (white with blue wave) on your desktop and proceed connecting to the Internet with your new DSL with your logon information in the following format…
    Username = ELN/yourusername@earthlink.net
    Password = yourpassword
  13. An alternative solution is RASPPPoE for Windows 98/SE/ME/2000 and is available at http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~normanb/

Telnet to EarthLink POP Server

If you are having problems accessing the mail server, you can attempt to telnet into the mail server to verify that you are actually reaching the server correctly. Sometimes the profiles within your mail client will corrupt causing you problems logging in. This will verify whether the problem is on your side or Earthlink’s.

This method is also useful for deleting a mail message that cannot be downloaded to your PC with your normal e-mail program.

    1. Connect to the Internet
    2. Click on Start
    3. Click on Run
    4. Type: telnet
    5. Click OK
    6. Click on Terminal
    7. Click on Preferences
    8. Make sure there is check mark in front of Local Echo and then click OK
    9. Click on Connect
    10. Click on Remote System
    11. In the Host Name field type: mail.earthlink.net
    12. In the Port field type: 110
    13. Click on Connect
    14. Type: user yourusername
    15. Press enter
    16. Type: pass yourpassword
    17. Press enter
    18. You will see text similar to this on the screen:
+OK EarthLink POP server (version: EL_3_10 ) at pop05.earthlink.net.  <22180.965
773764@pop05.earthlink.net>
user geboyd
+OK Password required for geboyd.
pass xxxxxxxx
+OK geboyd has 2 messages (1379 octets).
      NOTE: Depending on the amount of mail in your mailbox the last line can take several minutes to be displayed.

See RFC1939 Post Office Protocol – Version 3 for details

      You can now use the following commands:
* POP Basic Command Summary *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
USER userid     (Enter your e-mail username)
PASS password   (Enter your mailbox password)
LIST            (List the number of mail messages and their sizes in bytes)
LIST 4          (List message number 4)
STAT            (Tell me how many messages there are and total size)
TOP 4 10        (Show me the first 10 lines of message number 4)
DELE 3          (Delete message number 3)
RSET            (...on second thought, don't delete any messages)
RETR 5          (Show me all of message number 5)
UIDL 2          (Show unique message-id of message 2)
LAST            (Tell me the number of the last message accessed)
NOOP            (Do nothing. Useful for testing the server's response)
QUIT            (I'm done. Let me outta here)

When done, type quit and you should see something like this.

quit
+OK Pop server at pop05.earthlink.net signing off.
  1. Click on the close button to close the telnet window. NOTE: If you delete (DELE) a mail message and don’t use RSET to restore it, then when you type QUIT, the message is deleted irretrievably and cannot be viewed by your normal e-mail program.

References: