If the Mac has a Control Panel called either PPP or Remote Access then that Mac is using Open Transport/PPP.

This is the "official" PPP software from Apple that comes with the operating system "System 8" and is normally installed by default. It can be deactivated in the installer and therefore may not show up, but in most Macs that are at least 2 years old and are running an up-to-date OS this should be installed.

Here's how to use it:

• Pull down the Apple menu, from the upper-left part of the screen, and select Control Panels.

• Look for the icon TCP/IP and double-click it. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• In this window, pull down the very top menu labelled Connect via: and select PPP. (If there are other options for "MacPPP" or "FreePPP", don't select them. Just select "PPP"). Make sure the menu under this, Configure, is set to Using PPP Server. In the fields below this make sure that the appropriate DNS servers and Domain are entered, then close the Control Panel.

• Look for the Control Panel Modem and double-click it. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

  This is where you define what port the external modem is connected to and what modem driver to use. Pull down the very top menu labelled Connect via: and select the port that the modem is connected to.

  All Macs have 2 Serial ports, Modem and Printer. If the user is unsure of which one is being used, the physical ports are labelled on the back of the Mac: turn the chassis around and look at them. The modem port will have a little picture of a telephone above it and the printer port will have a little picture of a printer above it.

  The pop-up menu below this is where the modem drivers are selected. Open the menu and select from the list the one appropriate one for their model.

  The buttons below this control whether the modem speaker is on, whether to use tone or pulse dialing, and whether or not to ignore the dial-tone. Select this last option if the dial-tone sounds fine but the modem is having problems detecting it.

  Close the Control Panel.

• Look for the Control Panel PPP or Remote Access and double-click it. (This Control Panel changed names with later versions of System 8, being called "PPP" in earlier versions and now called "Remote Access" in more recent versions". This was done simply to keep users confused). You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• This is the dialer. Enter the required username, password, and phone number. Then dial by clicking the Connect button. Various options related to automatic dialing and idle-disconnects can be accessed via the Options button at the bottom of the window.

  All messages and errors related to the dialing process will appear in the bottom portion of the window under Status. If the connection is successful this part of the window will show the connection speed and other modem-type information. The user is now ready to waste time surfing the Web.

If the Mac has a Control Panel called Config PPP then that Mac is using MacPPP.

This is the freeware PPP stack that has been around forever, before Apple included it's own PPP dialer into it's operating system. It used to be distributed by the University of Michigan on every Mac-related web site on the planet but it's no longer supported. But it's still very common, and can be used even if Apple's own PPP stack is installed.

Here's how to use it:

• Pull down the Apple menu, from the upper-left part of the screen, and select Control Panels.

• Look for the icon TCP/IP and double-click it. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• In this window, pull down the very top menu labelled Connect via: and select MacPPP. (If there are other options for "PPP" or "FreePPP", don't select them. Just select "MacPPP"). Make sure the menu under this, Configure, is set to Using PPP Server. In the fields below this make sure that the appropriate DNS servers and Domain are entered, then close the Control Panel.

• Look for the Control Panel Config PPP and double-click it. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• This is the dialer. In this main window select which port the modem is connected to and then click the Config button at the bottom of the window. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• This is where you define the modem-speed, phone number, and any required init-strings. The "PPP Server Name" at the top of the window is just any name you choose for this configuration. You can create multiple configurations and give each one a seperate name. Enter the username and password by clicking the "Authentication" button on the bottom-left of the window. The functions available in the other buttons are optional. Click Done.

• Back in the main window click the Open button at the top of the window and the modem will dial. Notice the 2 little sad faces to the left of this window, above the text "PPP Down". If the connection is successful this text will change to "PPP UP" and the little sad faces will turn into happy faces.

  The user is now ready to play games over the Internet.

If the Mac has either a Control Panel called FreePPP Setup or a little icon of a telephone in the upper-right portion of the Mac's menu-bar, then that Mac is using FreePPP.

This is a freeware PPP stack that is a revision of MacPPP, described above. It's a result of a collective effort by the FreePPP Organization to update MacPPP and make it easier to use.

Here's how to use it:

• Pull down the Apple menu, from the upper-left part of the screen, and select Control Panels.

• Look for the icon TCP/IP and double-click it. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• In this window, pull down the very top menu labelled Connect via: and select FreePPP. (If there are other options for "PPP" or "MacPPP", don't select them. Just select "FreePPP"). Make sure the menu under this, Configure, is set to Using PPP Server. In the fields below this make sure that the appropriate DNS servers and Domain are entered, then close the Control Panel.

• Look for the Control Panel FreePPP Setup and double-click it, or click on the little telephone in the menu-bar and select Open PPP Connection. You'll see a window that looks like this:
  

• Select the pop-up menu next to Connect to and select New Account. You'll see this window:
  

  There are 3 tabs along the top of this window. In this first tab, give the account a unique name (you can create multiple dial-in accounts), and enter your username and password.

  Click on the second tab, Dialup, and you'll see this window:

  

  In this window, enter the ISP's phone number. You only need to do this in the first Main Number field. The other fields are only if you want to enter alternate numbers to dial in case the first one fails.

  Click on the third tab, Options, and you'll see this window:

  

  This window doesn't need to be filled in, since it contains redundant fields that are already present in the "TCP/IP" Control Panel. So don't do anything here. Just click OK.

  Back in the main window there is the second pop-up menu, From. This doesn't need to be configured. It just lets you define area-codes and long-distance prefixes that should automatically be added to any phone numbers. If you want to fill it in, select this menu and select New location. You'll see this window:

  

  Back in the main window there is the third pop-up menu, Using. This is where you define your modem speed, flow-control, init-strings, and other modem-related settings. Select the pop-up menu and select New Modem. You'll see this window:

  

  Give the modem config a name if you want (it's not required) and set all of the options to reflect your modem. Click OK when you're done.

• Now, back in the main window, click the main Connect button to dial. If successful the user is now ready to start spamming.