Getting Your Amiga on the Internet 1999

by Dale Roethig
From the March 1999 Monitor

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As the Internet and the World Wide Web were designed not to be computer-specific anyone can cruise the Infobahn, I have compiled a list of what Amiga users will need. There are now a lot of good products for Amiga Internet surfers. In some cases these are better than what the rest of computerdom uses. Many of these products are available at Safe Harbor Computers, our local Amiga dealer. Their number is 414-548-8120.

You will need the following to get on the Internet with your Amiga:

1. Amiga OS 3.0 or higher. (3.1 upgrades are made for the A500/2000, A3000, A4000 and A1200).

2. 1MB CHIP memory and a minimum of 3-4 MB of FAST memory. To check on how much memory your Amiga has, click on the WorkBench screen and examine the numbers shown at the top. Values over 900,000 for Graphics memory indicate that you have a 1MB or larger Agnus chip. Values for OTHER memory indicate how much FAST memory you have.

3. A hard drive with a minimum of 10MB of free space. More space is desirable for browser and e-mail caches.

4. A 68020 is the minimum CPU. A faster CPU (like the 030, 040, or 060) is desirable as they speed up the processing of images and can enhance dowload times. Due to the efficiency of the Amiga, my 1200 with 50Mhz 030 is almost as fast as my K6-2 300Mhz PC for web surfing. Apollo and Phase 5 make very fast 060 accelerators for the A1200, 2000, 3000 and 4000. The Phase 5 Cyberstorm Mark III also has a slot for an onboard graphics card which really makes it fly.

5. A 14.4K baud modem is the absolute minimum for net surfing. A 28.8K or faster external modem is much better as these speed things up quite a bit. External modems are the norm for Amigas as no internals are made. Two brands are standouts for Amiga use. The Supra modems made by Diamond and the U.S. Robotics modems made by 3Com. The SupraExpress 56K external, the US Robotics Sportster 56K external and the US Robotics Voice FAX Modem Pro external all work well with the Amiga. These modems support the new V90 standard and work well with Amigas. The SupraExpress needs a 9-pin to 25-pin serial port adapter for the built-in cable and the Sportster and Voice FAX Modem Pro both need a standard serial cable. NOTE: A high-speed serial port card for the A2000, A3000, A3000T, A4000 and A4000T will overcome the bottleneck in the Amiga serial port and allow one to get full speed from 28.8-56K modems. The Villagetronic's IOBlix is a Zorro2/3 slot card offering four high-speed serial ports and ECP/EPP bi-directional parallel port.

6. A TCP-IP Stack and web browser. Miami 3.0 and Genesis, (an easily installed updated AmiTCP) are good choices for the TCP-IP stack, which dials up and gets you online with your Internet provider. Miami and Voyager-NG support SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption for secure on-line ordering with your charge card at Web sites, like Safe Harbor's, that support SSL. AWeb II 3.x and Voyager-NG are the current Web browser favorites, both do a good job of cruising the web. AWeb's big advantage is JavaScript support, which Voyager-NG currently lacks. Voyager-NG requires MUI (Magic User Interface) a shareware program, provided on the NetConnect 2 CD. For those without CD ROM drives, AWeb II is supplied on floppy disk.

7. The new NetConnect 2 CD is an all-in-one Internet solution. Its selection of programs, includes Genesis, Voyager-NG, MUI 3.8, AmiRC (Internet relay chat), Microdot-II (e-mail/news client), AmTerm, NetInfo, X-ARC (Archiver/Unarchiver for ZIP, Lha, Lharc) and NC Controller. These are well-integrated and work well together. It provides everything needed for web browsing, FTP downloads, e-mail, IRC, even a modem program, all in one package. A good choice for the CD ROM owner.

8. An Internet provider. An Internet provider supplies the phone connection to the Internet. Avoid AOL as they only support Intel and Mac. Almost all providers use PPP access, which is what you want. Cost is typically $19.95 per month for unlimited access. Make sure the phone number provided is a local call to avoid long distance charges.

9. While not a necessity, a graphics card like the Picasso IV or the new Cybervision PPC is a very nice addition. Graphics cards display higher resolution and provide many more colors than the standard Amiga. This can eliminate color dithering so images appear more life-like and these cards can provide dramatic speed increases when displaying graphics images.

10. If you wish to send and receive e-mail messages or join discussions in the large variety of newsgroups, you will need an e-mail program and a newsgroup program. There are several e-mail and newsgroup programs for the Amiga. Your Internet provider must also provide you with a unique e-mail address before you can use e-mail. Two commercial e-mail programs are Air Mail Pro and Voodoo. YAM is a popular shareware e-mail program. New York is a newsgroup program that allows you to subscribe to various Internet newsgroups to read or submit messages. If you have an alternative method of accessing the Internet, there are shareware e-mail and newsgroup readers available.

11. The Internet boasts a feature called Internet Relay Chat, which allows you to engage in real-time conversations online. AmiRC is the best IRC client for ANY computer. You can get it in a number of different ways, on the NetConnect 2 CD, download it from the Aminet archive, or off one of the Aminet CDs.

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Updated: 04/23/99

gdkohler@execpc.com