• Double-click on TCP/IP. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• Click on the 2 pull-down menus near the top to select which port to use and whether the configuration will be manual or via DHCP. For connecting to a LAN select "Ethernet". Then select "Manually" if IP addresses are assigned staticly or "Using DHCP Server" if addresses are issued from a DHCP server. Then enter the relevant IP, mask, and domain information below.

• Close the window. No reboot is necessary since Open Transport makes all changes on the fly.

• You can create several different configurations of IP settings, such as one for when connecting to the LAN and another for dialing in over PPP, and selecting each one when needed. Assuming the configuration you just created was for the LAN, pull down the "File" menu and select "Configurations". Click "Rename" to name the current configuration, something like "LAN Config". Then click "Duplicate" to make a new configuration, give it a name, something like "PPP Dial-In Config", then click "Make Active". Now modify the configs to work with your PPP dial-in process. You can select each configuration as needed, without needing to reboot.

• MacTCP is the original TCP/IP stack for the Mac. Apple replaced it with OpenTransport sometime around the mid-90's, which is their new over-all networking software. You can either download Open Transport and update your Mac, or you can use MacTCP, which works pretty good.

• Double-click on MacTCP and you'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• The 2 icons near the top of the window indicate which port you want to run TCP/IP over. For connecting to a LAN click once on the "Ethernet" icon. For dialing in over PPP click on the other icon. Then click on the "More" button at the bottom of the window. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• In the upper left, click "Manually". DHCP isn't supported with MacTCP. "Server" here refers to MacIP, Apple's pre-DHCP dynamic address-allocation solution, which isn't used much anymore.

• In the lower left type the address of the default gateway for your LAN.

• In the upper right click on the pull-down menu next to "Class" and select the Class address you've been assigned. It will usually be "C". This will cause the Subnet Mask under it to set itself correctly.

• If your subnet mask doesn't have a "0" at the end, drag the little pointer above the keyboard until the mask is correct right above it.

• Finally, enter your domain-name and DNS servers in the lower right. If you use more than one DNS server, enter the the same domain-name but a differnt DNS server in each line, and click the "Default" button next to the primary DNS server.

• Click the "OK" button, and close the original window. Reboot and you're done.

Protocol names on the Mac are designed to confuse. Apple's own protocol that is used for printing and sharing files between Macs is called AppleTalk. Depending on what physical media the protocol is running over, that protocol will be called by a different name, all using the word Talk in the name. On Ethernet it will be called EtherTalk, on Token Ring it will be called TokenTalk, on FDDI it will be called FDDITalk. The old networking media that all Macs support that use phone-cable to connect Macs together at 230K is called LocalTalk. Just remember that the protocol itself is always called "AppleTalk". Any other kind of "Talk" is the media it's running over.

The protocol AppleTalk is distinct from the protocol TCP/IP. This will always be called TCP/IP. A user may have a Mac on an Ethernet network and will be running both AppleTalk and TCP/IP on it, and when asked what protocol he's using he will generalize and say "EtherTalk", even though he's using AppleTalk for printing and TCP/IP for accessing the Internet. Users will often be ignorant of this. Just remember: both protocols can run together at the same time just fine, and dial-up/Internet problems are always related to TCP/IP, not whatever-Talk.

AppleTalk is easy to troubleshoot on a single-subnet LAN. If the user can pull down the Apple menu and select the Chooser, and then click on the printer driver and see a printer-name on the network, then AppleTalk works. (As long as the printer is turned on). If nothing is seen in the Chooser, turn on AppleTalk in the Chooser, and then open the AppleTalk Control Panel to select the correct port to send AppleTalk traffic out. (The choices will be Ethernet, Modem, or printer ports. The correct choice is usually Ethernet).