peterm@dna.lth.se (Peter M|ller) (06/25/91)
Hi out there!
I'm looking for a commercial program that does the same thing as NCSA Telnet,
but without the disadvantages of Telnet. My main problem with Telnet is that
it sometimes quit immediately after start *without telling why* (it must know
why, otherwise it would crash, not quit, right?). Having a lot of not-so-
technical-users this is a major problem for me. Right now we are having a tough
time with what we think is a crazy bridge out there somewhere that makes all
our network activities sloooooooooooow (timeout-error upon printing 1 page
[non-complex] to a LW IINT). At this time Telnet is among the first things
that dies... Second problem: Telnet and System 7 - grrrr.
So, does such a program exist?
Thanx,
/Peter
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter M|ller
Work: Lund Inst of Technology, Box 118, S-221 00 LUND, Sweden, +46 -46 10 41 56
Home: Gunnesbov. 38, S-222 55 LUND, Sweden, +46 - 46 32 05 22
"Those where the days" (Sv: "Det var b{ttre f|rr")
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------steve@violet.berkeley.edu (Steve Goldfield;232HMB;3-6292;;MF62) (06/26/91)
In article <1991Jun25.083813.4155@lth.se> peterm@dna.lth.se (Peter M|ller) writes:
#>Hi out there!
#>
#>I'm looking for a commercial program that does the same thing as NCSA Telnet,
#>but without the disadvantages of Telnet. My main problem with Telnet is that
#>it sometimes quit immediately after start *without telling why* (it must know
#>why, otherwise it would crash, not quit, right?). Having a lot of not-so-
#>technical-users this is a major problem for me. Right now we are having a tough
#>time with what we think is a crazy bridge out there somewhere that makes all
#>our network activities sloooooooooooow (timeout-error upon printing 1 page
#>[non-complex] to a LW IINT). At this time Telnet is among the first things
#>that dies... Second problem: Telnet and System 7 - grrrr.
#>
#>So, does such a program exist?
#>Peter M|ller
Before looking for another program, I'd suggest you consider
whether there are other causes for your problems. I've been
using Telnet for a long time without seeing any of the problems
you cite. The clear implication is that there is something else
in your installation causing the problems. If so, then getting
another program may not help. The only time I've seen NCSA Telnet
quit unexpectedly and without a message is when it couldn't find
a file it needs, such as MacTCP. Usually, it prompts the user
to locate necessary files, but I'm not sure about MacTCP if you
are using a MacTCP version (the non-MacTCP versions are no longer
supported anyway--that's what NCSA told me). I assume you know
that with system 7 you have to move MacTCP to your system folder
from the control panel folder (you can put an alias in the
control panel folder if you want to access MacTCP from there).
That isn't an NCSA Telnet problem; it's a MacTCP problem. Apple
promises a new version eventually.
Also, NCSA Telnet seems to work fine with system 7, especially
version 2.4b11. I installed it on my boss' IIci and he
(definitely not a power user) hasn't had any problems.
Even 2.3 works, except that it disables the Apple menu.
Steve Goldfield
College of Engineering
UC Berkeleyowen@astro.washington.edu (06/26/91)
Good luck finding a really reliable Telnet program. I don't think a really good one exists yet. The best thing I've found is VersaTerm ($100 mail-order). It is very reliable, and well-supported. But I find its TCP/IP stuff clumsy (for instance Telnet doesn't yet support multiple sessions, though it will in a future release). The basic problem with it is it used to be a serial-only communications program, and the new TCP/IP stuff hasn't been integrated in as well as it might (esthetically speaking). But it works, and is reasonably priced (about $100 mail-order, I think). VersaTerm also comes with an FTP server. I've just started using it, but so far looks MUCH better than the one built into NCSA Telnet. NCSA's server only operates while you have NCSA Telnet running, and worse yet, it fails with most standard Mac ftp clients, such as XFerIt, HyperFTP, and VersaTerm's FTP Client). It also has worse security (VT allows you to restrict any user to read-only access; NCSA doesn't). VersaTerm is extremely well supported, and has first-rate VT-220 and Tek 4014 emulation. The fancy-graphics version, called VersaTerm PRO, also has Tek 4105 emulation (very nice) and uses vectors for its graphics, so they print better and xfer to other apps better. The second-best thing I've found is NCSA Telnet 2.4B11 (12 has slow font problems, but otherwise is also fine); it's MUCH more reliable than the version 2.3. You might try it before spending money, but if you're doing much mac-to-mac ftp, I'd spring for VersaTerm in any case! I've also tried Intercon's TCP/Connect II. It looked promising -- it has a better interface than VersaTerm -- but the ftp crashed constantly on me. This may be a quirk -- others have claimed the program is reliable and well-supported -- but tech support was no help to me, so I sent it back (30 day money-back gurantee). I also didn't like the big-ugly-monolithic program approach. Mail, news, ftp, and telnet are all combined in one program, making a mess of the menus (and command-key equivelents!). -- Russell P.S. a VT hint: lock the HOST file, so VT looks up the address each time; otherwise VT will archive the IP address in the HOST file.