I have compiled this list to help users select and setup connections to internet service providers. It's primary purpose is to aid the setting up of internet connections for DOS and operating systems other than Windows. However it will also enable users to manually create Dial up networking connections for Windows without installing software which often wrecks the settings for any other ISPs they already have configured their computer to use.
Eventually it will list almost every UK ISP which provides full UK coverage, including Free ISPs and content providers. Currently the list contains 179 providers, with basic information for 11 only.
The information here has been collated from freely available data, which in almost every case is published by the ISPs themselves. This list is therefore not an aid to internet hackers.
Currently the list can be viewed in alphabetical order only. I hope to add simple database search functions in the future.
The current data template is listed below. You can see that the data is divided into two halves. Information on the left is needed to establish a connection to an ISP, while information on the right lists details of services provided.
It is not necessary to understand what each of the values actually mean, however there is some brief information here.
Connecting:
Telephone number:
The main telephone access number(s) for the ISP.
PPP:
Point to Point Protocol. Currently the most common method of passing IP data packets over ISP dial up connections.
PAP:
Password Indentification Protocol. A method which standardises the login procedure, often removing the need for complicated dial-in scripts.
IP Header compression:
IP data packets contain various information inside their headers which can if an ISP supports it, be compressed for faster data throughput.
Dial script:
A sequence of text to send and receive from the ISP to log on to their system. Most simply this involves waiting for the prompt, "Login:", then sending the user's Username, then waiting for the text, "Password:", upon which the user's Password is sent.
Servers:
IP addressing
Static or dynamically allocated local/remote IP address.
Nameservers
Sometimes so called dynamically allocated, every ISP must infact register the nameserver associated with its's domain with the NIC.
A page from James David Chapman's website.
Located at: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jchap/
Site mirrored here at: http://www.j.chap.btinternet.co.uk
