Windows® 98 Unleashed

Dial-Up Networking Fundamentals

In Chapter 26, “Getting Started with Modem Communications,” I showed how your computer can exchange data with remote machines by attaching a modem to the serial port and by running a phone line to the modem. In Chapter 28, “Setting Up Windows 98 for Networking,” I showed you how your computer can exchange data with machines on a network by inserting a network interface card (NIC) inside the computer and by running a network cable to the card.

Dial-Up Networking is an amalgam of these two technologies. It gives you access to a network, but a modem and phone line replace the NIC and cable. Your network access is identical to that of a machine attached directly to the network: You log on with your username and password, ...