Re: Remote TCP/IP connection using TN5250 or browser JAVA applet

Hank
At 08:59 PM 12/6/97 EST, you wrote:
>I've also been shopping for ISPs. Most of the commercial and telco ISPs are
>clueless about AS/400s. IBM was intelligent, but they wanted to sell me the
>highest price, as usual. I'm seriously considering UUNET. They were
>intelligent, and offered reasonable options to start low, and grow the
>connections to my needs. Anyone else working with them?

I'm of the opinion that ISP's don't need to know that much about AS/400s.
They need to know things like 'Ethernet', 'Token Ring', 'router', etc.
Here's some stuff from the Redbook 'Cool Title About AS/400 and the
Internet' that may help a little:

>2.3 Choosing an ISP
> 
>When you contact an ISP, you are really buying access to the Internet.  At
>this point, you should be driven by your intended use.  If you are just
>connecting to have personal access, you should look for minimum cost.
>But, if this connection is intended for your company's use, you probably
>choose differently.  The next step you have to consider is:  Which ISP
>should I contract?  For an answer to this question, you should cover the
>following options:
> 
>1.  Connectivity options
>2.  Cost
>3.  Performance
>4.  Functionality available
>5.  Service availability
>6.  Growth options
>7.  Security options
> 
>And, the answer to the question of which ISP to contact is obvious.
>Contact them all asking the questions raised in this section.  Choose the
>ISP that gives you the best service for the money.  Simple, no?
> 
>Here is a simple dialog that could be the start of your quest to find the
>best ISP in your area.
> 
>You:   Hi.  I have an AS/400 system and some money and I want to set this
>       system up to be a permanent server on the Internet.
> 
>ISP:   An AS/400 system?  What is an AS/400 system?
> 
>You:   The most popular midrange business computer in the world.  I have
>       money.
> 
>ISP:   OK, money.  I can sell you a low cost 56Kbps line using PPP that is
>       tied directly to the Internet backbone through MCI with a T1.  We
>       can also price a T1 (1.544 Mbps) also, or anything between.
> 
>You:   Well, my AS/400 system does not have PPP yet.  But, it does have:
> 
>           FDDI and SDDI
>           Wireless
>           X.25
>           Frame Relay
>           Token-Ring
>           Ethernet...
> 
>ISP:   OK, stop.  Ethernet is good.  We can drop in an IP router on your
>       Ethernet LAN.  We will configure the IP router and its PPP
>       connection back to our place over a leased 56 Kbps line from MCI.
>       We will get you a fixed IP address, domain, and provide for you a
>       domain name server.  All you have to do is to configure your, ahh,
>       400 thing, to use our IP router and domain name server.  I can fax
>       you some sample configuration options including the final cost to
>       you, both initial and monthly.
> 
>You:   Cool.
> 
> 
>Yes, this is somewhat in jest, but shows that a majority of the
>responsibility lies with the ISP.  You are paying them to provide a
>service.  The ISP that provides the best service for the lowest cost
>should win your business.  In the next section, we discuss some of the
>important questions to ask each and every ISP in your area.

Cheers

Vernon Hamberg
Systems Software Programmer
Old Republic National Title Insurance Company
400 Second Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401
(612) 371-1111 x480


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