IS Recommends Open Transport/PPP for Macintosh Dialup

Albert Willis

If you use a Macintosh and connect to a network via dialup, it may 
be time to upgrade a related software component - your PPP (Point-
to-Point Protocol) client. IS recommends that you use Open 
Transport/PPP 1.0 with MIT's Tether dialup service.

OT/PPP lets you connect your computer to remote TCP/IP networks 
such as MITnet and the Internet using a modem and the telephone 
system. It takes advantage of Apple's Open Transport networking 
architecture, and lets you use AppleScript to automate connecting 
and disconnecting. 

Two New Control Panels 
From the user perspective, OT/PPP consists of two new control 
panels: Modem and PPP. The Modem control panel is a model of 
simplicity: you select the port to which the modem is connected (or, 
in the case of a laptop, the PC Card slot) and the modem model. 
OT/PPP uses what Apple is now calling modem scripts to handle the 
specifics of each modem. Apple Remote Access (ARA) users will 
recognize these as Communication Control Language (CCL) files. In 
fact, ARA 2.1 and OT/PPP 1.0 use the same CCLs. Unlike older 
versions of ARA, OT/PPP stores the CCLs in a folder called Modem 
Scripts, which resides in the Extensions folder in the System Folder.

The use of CCLs makes configuring a modem very easy: you select 
your modem from a pop-up menu in the Modem control panel. The 
associated CCL handles the details of making the connection, such as 
connection speed, initialization string, and whether to enable error 
correction. OT/PPP comes with CCLs for 38 different modems and 
ISDN adapters, including ones for the Motorola Power 28.8 and the 
Global Village Silver, Gold, and Mercury modems. If you are trying 
to use a modem for which OT/PPP doesn't have a CCL, check with the 
manufacturer. For the adventurous, Apple offers an unsupported 
utility for creating CCLs, called the Modem Script Generator.

The PPP control panel is where you enter your username, password, 
and dialup number for connecting to a PPP service. You can set 
options to get reminders that you are still connected and to start a 
PPP connection when an application such as Eudora or Netscape is 
launched.

You can also access OT/PPP's activity log from the PPP control panel. 
The log is useful if you want to know what goes on behind the scenes 
during a PPP connection. It also contains information that can help 
diagnose connection problems, should they arise.

System Requirements
To use OT/PPP 1.0 you need:

* A Macintosh with a 68030, 68040, or PowerPC processor
 
* Mac OS 7.5.3 or later
 
* At least 8MB of RAM
 
* Open Transport 1.1.1 or later

While IS recommends using OT/ PPP 1.0 for connecting to Tether, it 
will continue to support MacPPP for machines that can't use Open 
Transport.  

Getting OT and OT/PPP
You can download OT/PPP 1.0 and the latest version of Open 
Transport (1.1.2) from 

http://web.mit.edu/ist/help/macos/

(You can also download Macintosh system software from this site). If 
you have Mac OS 7.5.3 or 7.5.5, you should update to Open Transport 
1.1.2 and then install OT/PPP 1.0. The installer for Mac OS 7.6 and 
7.6.1 includes the option to install OT/PPP; if you have done this, all 
you need to do is download and install Open Transport 1.1.2.

An OT/PPP manual is available in  Portable Document Format from

http://web.mit.edu/ist/help/macos/otppp.html

Viewing this document requires the Acrobat Reader, which you can 
download for free from net-dist.mit.edu. In addition, Balloon Help 
and Apple Guide are well implemented in OT/PPP 1.0.

Questions?
If you have questions about installing or using OT/PPP, call the 
Computing Help Desk at x3-1101 or send email to <mac-help@mit.edu>.