From: zik@zikzak.apana.org.au (Michael Saleeba)
Newsgroups: aus.aarnet
Subject: FAQ: Australian public access Internet
Date: 31 Dec 1992 01:13:59 +1100
Organization: Zikzak public access UNIX, Melbourne Australia
Distribution: aus
NNTP-Posting-Host: zikzak.apana.org.au

                   Australian Public Access Internet FAQ
                   -------------------------------------

Draft version - 92/12/30 - PLEASE SEND CORRECTIONS / IMPROVEMENTS!
Compiled by Michael Saleeba - zik@zikzak.apana.org.au

************************************************************************

Q: Who can I go to for Internet mail and Usenet news?

A: There is a small but rapidly-increasing group of organisations
offering Internet access to the public. This includes -

 . APANA
 . connect.com
 . DIALix
 . PAX
 . Pro-Net

------------------------------ APANA ---------------------------------

The Australian Public Access Networking Association (APANA) is a
non-profit organisation aimed at bringing the Internet to our members.
Each member pays a fee which goes towards the costs of the link to
AARNet. This fee gives each member the right to connect their machine
to the APANA network. 

Some APANA machines allow logins by the general public, so people can
get mail and news access from these sites without having to become
part of APANA. It is up to each operator of each public access machine
to determine what charges if any the users will have to pay.

APANA is an Australia-wide network with around fifty machines
connected to it. Of these, nine are public access. A small group of
machines is on permanent links, providing very fast mail to the
Internet and allowing ftp, telnet, talk, and IRC within the APANA
network.

---------------------------- connect.com -----------------------------

Connect.com have not contacted me as yet. They are a commercial
concern and specialise in providing feeds to commerical entities.
Presumably if you paid them enough they would give you access.

------------------------------ DIALix --------------------------------

DIALix on the other hand specialises in providing a service to end
users. Unlike APANA (for instance) they are a commercial venture and
aim to provide a more professional quality of service - at a cost:

News is fed to end users only, otherwise DIALix is competing with its
customers for the next level of users. That is, NOT to BBS's and
public access Usenet sites. This (like all DIALix policy) is open for
discussion but the DIALix board will decide on what they consider is
best for DIALix.
      
DIALix will transfer files and Email between its customers at a rate
that returns a profit. That rate is currently 1c/minute of connect
time.
        
AARNet access is optionally provided to those that meet the AARNet
guidelines. The fee charged for this is a fixed annual amount with a
maximum byte limit. Additional traffic is charged "by the byte" to
cover the cost of providing bandwidth.

I envisage DIALix will have a network of sites Australia wide with
"live" connections between the sites and live connectivity to the
commercial Internet.

Oh. And a MUD (The Edge) is already running on the Perth machine.  You
will be able to play at 1c/min from anywhere in Australia:-).

-------------------------------- PAX ---------------------------------

PAX is another commercial public access system. Unlike DIALix they are
willing to provide feeds to other machines. They have a large
multi-platter CD-ROM archive area. Their charges are lower than DIALix
if you are logged on for more than seventeen hours every month.

------------------------------ Pro-Net -------------------------------

Pro-Net seems to be a commercially-oriented setup. No-one seems to
know much about them. I requested some information and they said
they'd send it to me, but it never turned up. If they feel like
sending something more concrete that'd be good.

************************************************************************

Q: Why do these people do it?
A: Most people seem to be in it for the money - or so they say. My
personal opinion is that we're all a bunch of net-addicted wierdos who
can't resist the temptation of infecting as many people as possible
with the same disease, even if it costs us our personal fortunes...

************************************************************************

Q: What public access machines are in my area?
A:
============================ New South Wales ===========================
hostname:                          kumear.apana.org.au
organisation:                      APANA
city, state:                       Lake Macquarie, NSW
main phone number:                 (049) 48-5408
number of lines:                   1
modem standards supported:         V32 + below; V42, V42bis, MNP5
annual contribution ($):           15
avg time to AARNet:                18 Hours
Machine, operating system:         Amiga 2000, AmigaDOS 2.05
User front-end software:           DLGPro BBS
Comments:                          kumear is run from The DUNGEON BBS. Also
                                   has extensive FidoNET echo's available.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name:           sydney.DIALix.oz.au
Organisation:   DIALix
Location:       Sydney
Dialins:        948-6918 V32 (and below) Multiple lines
Hours:          no restrictions
Charges:        1c/minute
Subscription:   visitor
Machine:        SCO Unix
Other services: Local mail and Internet news. Optional Internet write 
                access to users that meet AARNet guidelines.


=========================== South Australia ============================
hostname:                       cswamp.apana.org.au
organisation:                   APANA
city, state:                    Adelaide, SA
main phone number:              (08) 370 2365
number of lines:                1
modem standards supported:      V.32bis and below; MNP 4
annual contribution ($):        none
avg time to AARNet:             24 hours
Machine, operating system:      80386/16, 2MB RAM, 105MB disk; MS-DOS 4.01
User front-end software:        Maximus 2.01wb bbs
Comments:                       Whatever echoes/newsgroups and files I am      
				interested in and have space for,
                                this machine is not often free. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hostname:                       cumquat.apana.org.au
organisation:                   APANA
city, state:                    Adelaide, South Australia
main phone number:              (08) 287 1938
number of lines:                1
modem standards supported:      V.32 + below; MNP5, MNP4
annual contribution ($):        voluntary
avg time to AARNet:             24 hours
machine, operating system:      i386/25, 2MB RAM, 105MB disk; MS-DOS 5.00
User front-end software:        Waffle 1.65 / InterMail 2.10
Comments:                       News and Mail site, special interest in
                                weird stuff, very few files to scab,
                                almost anyone welcome!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hostname:			hal9000.apana.org.au
organisation:                   APANA
city, state:			Adelaide, South Australis.
main phone number:		(08) 371 2343
number of lines:		1
modem standards supported:	V.32 + below; MNP4
annual contribution ($):	0 (at the moment)
avg time to AARNet:		12 hours
Machine, operating system:	amiga 2000, 5MB RAM, 52MB disk; WB2.04
User front-end software:	Dillon's UUCP 1.16D
Comments:			Regestered APANA sites always welcome.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name:           pax.tpa.com.au
Organisation:   PAX
Location:       Adelaide
Dialins:        (08) 235-9010 (4 lines up to V32bis with MNP5/V42bis)
Hours:          no restrictions
Charges:        $10/per month; $10 initial fee; billed to credit card.
Subscription:   log in as "new" or "guest" - immediate registration
Machine:        Sparcstation 1 running SunOS 4.1.2
Features:	Mail is fast via SMTP rather than UUCP.
                Large archives on multi-platter CDROMs.
Limitations:	Ftp and telnet etc. are NOT available.
Other services: UUCP,SL/IP,PPP & news feeds by special arrangement (to anyone)


=============================== Victoria ===============================
hostname:                              cloud.apana.org.au
organisation:                          APANA
city, state:                           Melbourne, Vic
main phone number:                     (03) 803 1326 (2230-0630)
number of lines:                       1
modem standards supported:             V22, V22bis
annual contribution ($):               none requested
avg time to AARNet:                    18 hours
Machine, operating system:             IBM AT Clone, MS-DOS
User front-end software:               RemoteAccess/Maximus
Comments:                              note the hours.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hostname:                  guru.apana.org.au
organisation:              APANA
city, state:               Melbourne, Victoria
main phone number:         (03) 326 0440
number of lines:           2
modem standards supported: V.32 + below; MNP1-5, V.42, V.42bis
annual contribution ($):   10 (once-only)
avg time to AARNet:        12 hrs
Machine, operating system: Amiga 2000, AmigaDOS 2.04, 350Mb HD, CDROM
User front-end software:   DLG Pro BBS/OS
Comments:                  Amiga Only BBS.  All amiga Fido & Usenet
                           message areas plus others of interest to
                           enthusiasts.  550Mb files online including
                           all Fred Fish disks (1-600 on CDROM).
                           Online games & multi-user chat.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hostname:                       insane.apana.org.au
organisation:                   APANA
city, state:                    Melbourne, Vic
main phone number:              (03) 802-1195
number of lines:                2
modem standards supported:      V.32bis and below; V42, V42bis, MNP
annual contribution ($):        none
avg time to AARNet:             12 Hours
Machine, operating system:      80386/33, 4MB RAM, 180MB disk; MS-DOS 5.00
User front-end software:        RemoteAccess BBS 1.11+
Comments:                       Only Macintosh Supported.  Good Range of
                                newsgroups, as well as a Memeber of this       
                                FidoNet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hostname:			werple.apana.org.au
organisation:                   APANA
city, state:			Melbourne, Victoria
main phone number:		(03) 888 1726
number of lines:		2
modem standards supported:	V.32bis + below; V.42, V.42bis, MNP5
annual contribution ($):	48
avg time to AARNet:		1 min
Machine; operating system:	i486/33, 16MB RAM, 630MB disk; 386BSD
User front-end software:	standard unix shells (e.g. tcsh, bash)
Comments:			full >30MB/day news feed
				full access to standard unix facilities
				APANA IP network access
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hostname:                     zikzak.apana.org.au
organisation:                 APANA
city, state:                  Melbourne, Victoria
main phone number:            (03) 562-8813
number of lines:              4
modem standards supported:    V.32bis + below; V.42bis
annual contribution ($):      0
avg time to AARNet:           1 min
Machine, operating system:    Amiga 3000, 10Mb RAM, 730Mb disk; Amiga UNIX 2.1 (SVR4)
User front-end software:      UNIX tools, nn, elm
Comments:                     Full news feed, APANA ip network access


=========================== Western Australia ==========================
Name:           perth.DIALix.oz.au
Organisation:   DIALix
Location:       Perth
Dialins:        244-3233 V32 (and below) Multiple lines
Hours:          no restrictions
Charges:        1c/minute
Subscription:   visitor
Machine:        SCO Unix
Other services: Local mail and Internet news. Optional Internet write 
                access to users that meet AARNet guidelines.


************************************************************************
Q: How can I connect my own machine to the Internet?

Of the organisations only DIALix will not provide feeds. Contact APANA
if you're a hobbyist or if you're operating on a low budget. PAX could
be a good bet if you're in Adelaide. connect.com and Pro-Net are aimed
at the commercial sector.

You'll have to decide if you want to work on a dialup basis or if you
need a permanent connection. Dialup connections are usually handled
using the UUCP protocol or possibly ACSnet software. All you need is a
modem and someone will to feed you. Permanent connections require a
phone line and modem at each end at the very least, so they really
start at around $1500 equipment cost alone. These systems go to around
14kbaud. The next step is ISDN at 64kbaud and several thousand
dollars, and from there is the dreamland of Megalink and other such
wonders...

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+
|         -|-   Zik   -|-           |  "Sometimes I get the feeling   |
|      zik@zikzak.apana.org.au      |   that Schrodinger wasn't       |
|         Michael Saleeba           |   really a cat lover."          |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+


Newsgroups: aus.aarnet