From: lanzo@tekelec.com (Mark Lanzo)
Subject: Re: TCP/IP access on packet radio...
Organization: Tekelec, Raleigh, NC
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 17:58:48 GMT

In article <1992Dec13.062842.16886@mail.cornell.edu> eric@j30264293.reslife.cornell.edu (Eric L. Beyer) writes:
>-- 
>  One last round of stupid questions for now --
>
>   1) Once I have an IP assigned, are there any fees associated with
>      accessing the SLIP link?
>
>   2) Is it considered rude to be on that SLIP link for great lengths of
>      time (an hour or so), which is average for IRC/Usenet (for me,
>      anyway)?
>
>   3) Are there any restrictions on the kinds of services I can use with
>      that link (other than the usage restrictions inherent in using
>      packet at all)?

I may have missed something here (like something discussing this SLIP
link).   If you are accessing a private link of someone else (a landline
or somesuch), then that's between you and them (and maybe the FCC).

TCP/IP is just a protocol.  The fact that you are running TCP/IP does
not mean you are accessing any link, tapping into the Internet, Arpanet,
Usenet, etc.  If you run TCP/IP, then you'll be able to establish TCP 
based connections to other stations in your area which also are running
TCP.  Nothing else is implied.  TCP/IP just adds layers on top of the
raw AX.25 connection, to do things like error detection & correction,
routing, assembling individual packets into sequenced streams, etc.

It is possible that some station in the area has a connection to some 
other "network" such as the internet or Usenet or Fidonet or whatever,
and that you may be able to use this other station as a gateway into
that other network using your packet station; however, this isn't
directly related to your use of TCP/IP (you could probably use straight
AX.25 connection to this hypothetical other station and still get
the same gateway access).  If you are running TCP/IP, and you are
connecting to another TCP/IP packet station and that station has
other links [besides the Amateur packet links], then it is possible 
that you have effectively become part of that other network, depending
upon what interconnections that station allows.  It is possible that 
there won't be such a gateway station in your area, so the only
thing you'll gain by running TCP/IP is "improved" connectivity
between yourself and other stations running TCP/IP, with tools like
"telnet" or "ftp" (applications which use the TCP/IP transport
mechanisms).  The TCP/IP software you use (such as NOS) will undoubtedly
do e-mail too; probably using SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
sitting on top of the TCP/IP layer again.

The problem here is that there are rigid definitions for a lot
of these and related things -- TCP, IP, Internet, physical layer,
transport layer, SMTP, etc. -- but we often tend to lump a lot
of these things together using a term like "TCP/IP" as a generic
for a lot of things which we tend to associate together but
which are in fact not.  This can be particularly confusing for
someone who hears a term like "TCP/IP" and gets the impression
that this implies the Internet, Usenet, or somesuch.

Well, I hope this clarifies things a little bit.  I realize that
I have been a bit long-winded here and hope I wasn't explaining
the obvious.  I also hope that I have not said anything which is
too far off base -- I am definitely not an expert in such matters
and don't proclaim to be ... so take my statements with a grain of 
salt.

          73  --Mark Lanzo-- KD4QLZ
          lanzo@tekelec.com

Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.packet