Maximum WOW!
by Kris
CompuServe has formally released their new, integrated online service targeted for computer amateurs and their kids. While this service provides much less content than the "big four" online services, it does hold exciting possibilities to those of us who desire unlimited Internet access on a high-availability national network. Though they do not officially offer this kind of network access to WOW! customers, this article will show you how to exploit this reliable, pervasive, and unlimited connection for your Internet needs using the dial-up scripting tool that comes with the CD-ROM version of Windows 95.
Many of us live in areas where there are a number of "Mom and Pop" Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that offer unlimited Internet access for a flat monthly fee. Some of them only give you this rate if you pay up to one year in advance! The primary problems people experience with these small providers are a distinct lack of network reliability, constant busy signals, and nonexistent phone support.
Undoubtedly, many of us have bad experiences both with the local "Mom and Pops" and even new-comers like AT&T Worldnet. While it's not perfect, WOW! offers their customers unlimited dial-up access to the WOW! service for a flat $17.95 per month (as of this writing) with the reliability, accessibility, and support of online veteran CompuServe.
If you already have a CompuServe account, you get $3 off the monthly rate. That's cheaper than the annual agreements at most of my local providers for the same access.
WOW! works over CompuServe's newly-upgraded, nationwide PPP dial-up network. We can take advantage of this heavy investment for reliable Internet service. WOW! works exclusively over a TCP/IP connection using a new 32-bit version of CompuServe's PPP dialer. CompuServe veterans may notice that the procedures described here can be used with their CIS accounts, but such use is still subject to the service's costly per-minute rates and should only be used with the unlimited WOW! account.
When the user starts WOW! and enters a password, WOW! looks for a file called WSOCK32. DLL to establish a TCP/IP connection with the WOW! data center. That file hooks into the 32-bit dialer (CID.EXE) which, in turn, dials up the local CompuServe number, verifies your username and password, and formally opens a connection.
The WOW! program, in turn, talks to the WOW! data center through this connection to verify the username and password information a second time. You are then fully on the Internet, but you're locked into using WOW!'s interface and its crippled version of Microsoft Internet Explorer and their internal chat system. Yuck!
Okay, this is great if you want to use WOW!, but what about IRC, Netscape, Java, Telnet, and a better newsreader? WOW! says you can't use these things at this time, but you really can if you use the built-in Internet tools that come with Windows 95!
Follow the steps listed below. Some of the steps may vary depending on when your Windows 95 CD-ROM was released and whether your system has already been set up for Internet access. In any case, this cookbook should give you a good start (this is a hacking magazine, right?). If you own a Macintosh, you can also use a Mac PPP dialer to connect to the Internet side of WOW! using the script below as a reference!
1.) Install WOW!, set up an account, and write down the access number and your Internet e-mail address. Note: The e-mail address is completely different from the WOW! login ID.
2.) If you don't already have it, download and install Microsoft Internet Explorer from www.microsoft.com. It will put an icon on your desktop called "The Internet", but don't double-click on it just yet!
3.) Install the "Dial-Up Scripting Tool" (located in Admin\Apptools\DScript on the Windows 95 CD-ROM).
4.) Click on the Start Menu and go to the Control Panel -> Internet and click New Connection.
5.) Type a name for your new connection - "WOW!" is probably a good idea - and choose the modem you'd like to use. If you don't have a modem listed, set it up!
6.) Click Next and type in the access number you wrote down in Step 1.
7.) Click Next and then Finish. You're not done yet, though.
8.) Click on the Start Menu and go to Programs -> Accessories -> Internet Tools -> Dial-Up Scripting Tool. If the tool isn't there, look for scripter.exe on your hard disk and run it.
9.) Find your new "WOW!" connection in the window on the left. Click it.
10.) Type a file name in the text box on the right with an "SCP" extension (e.g., WOW.SCP). Click Edit.
11.) Type the following into this new file and save it.
12.) Click Apply and click Close.
13.) Remember that "Internet" icon that appeared on your desktop in Step 2? Double-click it now!
I'll leave it to you to choose all the defaults and obvious choices. Your IP address is automatic, and the DNS servers are 149.174.211.9 and 149.174.211.10. Your username is your WOW! email address, complete with the "@" sign and domain "wow.com" (e.g., username@wow.com).
Finally, the "email" option should be unchecked. When finished, double-click on The Internet again. This can also be done from the Internet control panel or the Dial Up Networking folder under the My Computer icon.
14.) Once connected, you can use any Internet application along with the WOW! application. If you want to read news, the news server is news.compuserve.com or news.spry.com. Your pick.
15.) Now that your connection works, let's tune it a little. For maximum performance, go to the Internet control panel again and click Properties -> Server Type. Uncheck the Log On to Network option and disable NetBEUI and IPX/SPX Compatible. While it isn't necessary, this will shorten logon time by four to six seconds because it tells Windows 95 not to bother looking for network servers that don't exist.
If you have trouble, check the help file for Dial-Up Networking and the Internet Control Panel. Some of the Start Menu shortcuts may not be in the same place on every system. If you don't want to use the "Internet" icon, try going to the My Computer icon and look for a folder called Dial-Up Networking.
In addition, the login script may change from time to time (it changed once during the first month of WOW!'s existence). Keep in mind that your email address is really username@wow.com and that you can only read your email from the WOW! application itself.
To log into the WOW!-specific areas using this new connection, delete the following files from the WOW! directory: WSOCK32.DLL and WINSOCK.DLL
This tricks the main WOW! application into using your new connection! You should never have to use the WOW! dialer again!
I hope this article helps you save money on your Internet connection and allows you to gain maxi-um use of your unlimited WOW! account to chat, read news, browse the web with a real web browser, and maybe even chat with a relative on Iphone. You can even use this connection to avoid long-distance charges and busy signals on America Online and The Microsoft Network for the cost of the WOW! monthly fee!