SOHOConnectionTM v2 README

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  1. Overview
  2. Glossary
  3. System Requirements for the Gateway computer
  4. System Requirements for other LAN-connected computers
  5. Obtaining & Installing SOHOConnectionTM
  6. Obtaining JavaTM

Overview

SOHOConnectionTM enables multiple computers on a LAN to share a single-host
Internet connection. It combines elements of a proxy firewall with extreme
ease of use to permit non-technical users to implement an enterprise level
facility set using entry-level resources.

It is a cross-platform JavaTM application delivered and configured via the
Internet.  Configuration is maintained with a simple web page and stored in
a remote configuration server.  The SOHOConnection program code on your
network is automatically updated with the latest features.

Any number of users with a TCP/IP connection only to their local LAN may
send and receive email, browse the World-wide Web, perform FTP transfer or
even use instant messaging services such as ICQTM using the Internet
connection of one single machine.  It does not require a dedicated
computer, as the small SOHOConnectionTM client will run in background leaving plenty
of resources to support other tasks.


Glossary



  SOHO-LAN               A Local Area Network on which several computers
                         share the Internet connection of a single one
                         using SOHOConnectionTM. Typically, such a LAN
                         uses IP addresses from the one of the
                         RFC-defined "unregistered" ranges, such as
                         10.10.10.x

  Internal network       Another term for the SOHO-LAN.

  SOHO-Gateway           The computer on the SOHO-LAN which also has the
                         direct connection to the Internet - for example,
                         a dial-up connection, cable modem or xDSL.

                         The remote Internet host which delivers the
  Configuration Server   configuration and updating component of
                         SOHOConnection.

System Requirements for the SOHO-Gateway computer

SOHOConnectionTM is written in JavaTM and will run on any computer which
has a Java 2 Language Interpreter (JVM) installed and which can provide the
basic capabilities required.

Many systems will already have Java 2 support installed. If yours does not,
Sun Microsystems offer a free Java 2 run-time which you can download from
their web-site and which is also distributed on the latest AOLTM CD.

SOHOConnectionTM runs on your SOHO-Gateway computer and provides automatic
network configuration and name-resolution to the second and subsequent
computers connected to your SOHO-LAN. It does perform either function the
machine it is running on itself. In other words, the SOHO-Gateway computer
must have fully functioning Internet and LAN connections in order for it to
be able to export this capability to other LAN-connected machines.

This machine will usually have two IP addresses; one for its interface to
the SOHO-LAN and one for its interface to the Internet. The latter will be
supplied by the Internet access provider (either statically or
dynamically). In cases where the Internet connection requires Ethernet (eg
Cable modem, ADSL), two network interface cards are likely to be required.

Please note that IP addresses apply to interfaces not to computers; a
computer with interfaces onto two distinct networks will usually have two
IP addresses, one for each. This is called a multi-homed host. By
definition, the SOHO-Gateway must be multi-homed.

The network configuration for the computer which will be your SOHO-Gateway
must:-

   * have a static IP address assigned to the ethernet card (for connection
     to your LAN) which is within the same subnet as the address-range you
     wish to be used for automatic configuration of additional computers.
     We recommend that this should be 10.10.10.1 with a sub-net mask of
     255.255.255.0.
   * have a functioning connection to the Internet. Your Internet Service
     Provider should have supplied details of how to configure this. The IP
     of this interface may be either statically or dynamically assigned. In
     cases where the Internet connection also requires Ethernet (eg Cable
     modem, ADSL), a second network interface cards may be required.
   * be able to resolve internet names correctly.
   * not be running another name server or DHCP server

Unfortunately, some Apple MacintoshTM computers have a restricted TCP/IP
implementation which does not allow simultaneous connection to the Internet
and to a LAN. This prevents them acting as a SOHO-gateway (but it does not
prevent them from using one).

Windows 95 does not properly support two network adapter cards and thus
cannot be used to run SOHOConnection in situations which require this eg
cable-modems, xDSL.

Windows 98, Windows NT, Linux and most other UNIX variants are suitable for
all types of Internet connection types.

Operating System Specific Requirements

Microsoft Windows 95

There are several shortcomings in the original release of Windows 95 which
prevent stable operation of SOHOConnection. The following patches
(obtainable from Microsoft's support server) were found to be necessary in
testing:-

   * setup.exe (UPD001 through UPD010)
   * coverpg.exe (UPD960202a)
   * krnlupd.exe (UPD960202a)
   * iosupd.exe (UPD960319a)
   * ws2setup.exe (Winsock 2)

Users of subsequent Windows 95 releases should consult Microsoft's support
information to determine which of these fixes have been applied. We also
recommend Ben Jos Walbeehm's excellent site for concise information on
available Windows 95 fixes and some useful support tools.

Windows 95 will not properly support two network adapter cards and thus
cannot be used to run SOHOConnection in situations which require this eg
cable-modems, xDSL.

Microsoft Windows 98

There are no known problem with running SOHOConnection on Windows 98.

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0

There are no known problem with running SOHOConnection on Windows NT 4.0.
Testing was conducted with service pack 3 applied and application of the
most recent service pack is recommended.

Linux

Some UNIX systems, including some older versions of Linux, do not correctly
handle the global broadcast address [255.255.255.255] which is used by
DHCP. This will manifest itself as an inability for clients to obtain an
address from SOHOConnection by DHCP. The following workaround has been
tested for Linux and may be applicable to other UNIX variants:-

  1. Create a fictitious host entry in /etc/hosts with the address
     255.255.255.255
     eg. 255.255.255.255 all-ones
  2. Set a route to this host via the interface which corresponds to the
     NIC connection to your SOHO-LAN
     eg. route add -host all-ones dev eth0.

Obtaining & Installing SOHOConnectionTM

Visit the Servlet Inc web-site and complete the on-line registration. You
will be emailed a user-id which you will need to complete your
configuration.

Windows 95/98/NT

   * Download setup.exe (includes JRE) or setup2.exe (if you already have a
     suitable Java 2 JVM). This is a self-extracting Installshield package.
     Please note, this may not contain the latest version of SOHOConnection
     but the installed version will automatically upgrade itself if not.

     Please note that we recommend obtaining Java directly from Sun
     Microsystems or other supplier and using it for all Java applications.
     The inclusive bundle is provided for convenience only.

Macintosh/Imac

   * At the time of writing, MacOS TCP/IP did not support multi-homed
     hosts and is thus unsuitable for running SOHOConnection.

Unix Systems

   * Download SOHOConn.jar into chosen location
   * start SOHOConnection from the command-line:-

     java -cp SOHOConn.jar sc2 &

   * incorporate this into your start up scripts (eg rc.local)

Starting SOHOConnectionTM for the first time

The first time SOHOConnectionTM runs, it requires that you enter your
personal user-id that will have been emailed to you when you registered.
Until this is done, SOHOConnection will run with a default configuration
which is unlikely to match all your requirements. Please note, if you want
to run more than one copy of SOHOConnection (eg on different LANs) you need
to register for a separate user-id for each.


  1. Visit the configuration web-site and specify settings appropriate for
     your use.
  2. Establish your connection to the Internet and start SOHOConnectionTM.
  3. Personalise your client by entering your user-id via the Configure
     menu item. [Image]
  4. Restart SOHOConnection.
  5. Watch for a message indicating that a configuration update has been
     downloaded.
  6. Restart SOHOConnection.

Every time you start SOHOConnection and periodically while it is running,
SOHOConnectionTM will "phone home" to check for configuration or code base
changes so that you always have the latest build. It does not matter if no
Internet connection is available when it tries to do this, SOHOConnection
will keep trying until it becomes available. If revised code is downloaded,
the console will display "Restarting recommended" to advise you to stop and
restart SOHOConnectionTM at some convenient time.

System Requirements and set-up for Additional Computers on the SOHO-LAN

It is recommended that you allow SOHOConnection to automatically configure
the additional computers on your LAN using its built-in DHCP server. To
allow this, additional computers must support and be enabled for automatic
configuration using DHCP.

Microsoft Windows

Please note that on Microsoft Windows, any manually-specified networking
parameters will override those supplied by DHCP. If you are converting from
a previous static configuration, it is important that any such values are
cleared in addition to enabling automatic configuration.

Windows 95/98

   * Open Start / Settings / Control Panel and click the Network icon
   * Choose the "Configuration" tab
   * Select "TCP/IP Protocol" for your network adapter from the list of
     devices and protocols in the "Configuration" tab
   * Click "Properties..."
   * On the "IP Address" tab, select "Obtain an IP address from a DHCP
     Server" - ensure that any values in "Specify an IP Address" are
     removed - not just "grayed out"
   * On the "DNS" and "WINS" tabs, make sure no values are specified for
     DNS or WINS servers.
   * Click "OK" to close the TCP/IP properties dialog.
   * Click "Close" to close the Network Control Panel.
   * Restart your machine if prompted to do so.

Windows NT 4.0

   * Open Start / Settings / Control Panel and click the Network icon
   * Click the "Protocols" tab
   * Select "TCP/IP Protocol" and click "Properties..."
   * On the "Ip Address" tab, select "Obtain an IP address for a DHCP
     Server"
   * On the "DNS" and "WINS" tabs, make sure no values are specified for
     DNS or WINS servers.
   * Click "OK" to close the TCP/IP properties dialog.
   * Click "Close" to close the Network Control Panel.
   * Restart your machine if prompted to do so.

Apple Macintosh/IMac

   * Open Control Panels - TCP/IP
   * On the "Connect Via:" choose "Ethernet"
   * on the "Configure:" choose "Using DHCP Server"

Configuring applications

These notes apply only to additional computers on a SOHO-LAN. The
SOHOConnection is not involved in connections from the SOHO-Gateway
computer itself. For applications which support SOCKS, use of this protocol
is strongly recommended. See below for some applications which work well
using the SOCKS protocol alone.

Web Browsers.

Locate the proxy section under Preferences or Options. Specify proxy
details matching those specified when configuring SOHOConnection eg using
the default values:-

                   Protocol    Proxy Address      Port
                   HTTP        sohoconnection     81
                   FTP         sohoconnection     82
                   HTTPS       sohoconnection     443
                   SOCKS       sohoconnection     1080

For example, in Netscape CommunicatorTM:-
                                  [Image]

Mail Clients.

If your mail client supports SOCKS, specify the SOCKS proxy as above
(default sohoconnection:1080) and then specify mail hosts exactly as if you
were directly connected to the Internet.

If you cannot use SOCKS, enable the appropriate proxies (POP/IMAP/SMTP) and
configure the client to use "sohoconnection" as the POP3, IMAP4 and/or SMTP
hosts. With some mailers, POP accounts are defined as user@machine.name. In
this case, use the format <your-POP3-logon>@sohoconnection.

For example, using Netscape Communicator:-
                                  [Image]

SOCKS-capable Applications

   * Netscape Communicator 4.0 onwards
   * AOL 5
   * ICQ
   * AFTP

Obtaining JavaTM

We recommend obtaining and installing the Java 2 Runtime from Sun
Microsystems. This works well with SOHOConnection and also provides
plug-ins for popular browsers so that you will also have the advantage of
it when running applets. This is available free from their web-site and is
also distributed on the latest AOLTM CD.

All trademarks are acknowledged to be the property of their respective
owners.

Copyright  1999 Servlet Inc. All rights reserved.
