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Setting up a Proxy Server

Assuming that you now have a working networking, with TCP/IP safely installed and happily PINGing, you can now decide how to connect it to the internet. You have two main options:

  • Router/switch
    If you have a router/switch that is connected to your internet connection you can configure your Windows for Workgroups 3.11 networking setting to connect to your default router/switch gateway. (For more information about setting up a router see my section on setting up a blueyonder router/switch.)
Router / Switch diagram
  • Proxy Server
    Another option is to run a Proxy Server on the machine that has an internet connection. In this example I am assuming that you have your Windows for Workgroups 3.11 PC connected (in a peer-to-peer network) to another PC with an internet connection (see below).

Proxy Server diagram

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AnalogX Proxy Server

There are a number of excellent, and free, Proxy Servers available for download. I am very fond of the Analog X Proxy Server.

About Proxy

This is what AnalogX say about their Proxy Server:

Do you have several machines on a network, but only one connection to the internet? Wish you could browse the net from the other machines, just like you can from the machine that's connected? Then what you're looking for is called a Proxy Server, and AnalogX has just what you want.

AnalogX Proxy is a small and simple server that allows any other machine on your local network to route it's requests through a central machine.

So what does that mean in English? Simple, run Proxy on the machine with the internet connection; configure the other machines to use a proxy (it's very easy, there's a detailed description in the readme), and voila! You're surfing the web from any other machine on your network!

Supports HTTP (web), HTTPS (secure web), POP3 (recieve mail), SMTP (send mail), NNTP (newsgroups), FTP (file transfer), and Socks4/4a and partial Socks5 (no UDP) protocols! It works great with Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL, AOL Instant Messenger, Microsoft Messenger, and many more!

Are you convinced? Download and install it now!

Download

proxy.gif - 1kb Download AnalogX Proxy v.4.14 (EXE, 269 KB)

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Setting up the Proxy Server

  1. Download and install AnalogX Proxy Server on your 32-bit Windows machine. (I have successfully installed it on Windows 98se and Windows XP Professional.) To install it simply double-click the proxyi.exe file you downloaded, and follow the instructions.

  2. Open and print out the readme.txt file - which is very easy to read and handy to have in your hand when you are popping back and forth between PCs. (The readme file opens by default as soon as the application is successfully installed.)

  3. Set the browser on the Windows for Workgroups 3.11 computer to access the net through a Proxy Server.

  4. Where it asks for the name of the Proxy server, input the IP address of the PC running the Proxy Server; in this example: 192.168.0.1. It will also ask for a Port number which in the case of Proxy is 6588 for Web browsers; this is explained in the readme file.

  5. If you don't have a browser on your Windows for Workgroups 3.11 machine then install one! If you've got a CD-ROM on the Win 3.11 machine then many magazine cover CDs (certainly older ones) will have the likes of Internet Explorer 4.0 and Outlook Express 4.0 on them. If not then you can use your new network to install it off the CD or DVD-ROM drive of your Win 98 machine - or download it off the Internet and transfer the installation file via your new Windows NetBEUI network. Hey! aren't networks cool already!

  6. If you want to do more than allow the Windows for Workgroups 3.11 PC web browsing facilities then I`d suggest you read the short but concise readme that comes with the software. In the case of POP3 and SMTP mail you will need to set up mail accounts as normal, but when it asks for your POP3 and SMTP mail server addresses, simply give the IP address of your Proxy server, e.g. 192.168.0.1

  7. On the 32-bit machine right-click the Proxy icon on the Taskbar and select "Configure". You'll have an option for "Configure Email Aliases" select this and enter your email address AND your username if these are different. For example, when I first set this up I had an account with the ISP Freenetname, so my default email address (which was also my username) was frgr@freenetname.co.uk, but having been assigned a domain name which was managed by Freenetname, my usual email address was gareth@gareth-and-jane-saunders.co.uk Proxy needs BOTH in order to both send and receive email. If you only include ONE then it may send but not receive.

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POP3 Server

Another option for e-mail is to use a POP3 server such as VPop which you can download at PSCS.co.uk They offer a 30 day free trial so it may give you an idea of whats involved. Another option is Sharemail (don`t have an URL for that one) which isn`t too bad but doesn't seem to like you trying to set up more than 3 users. The other machines on the network just need to have their e-mail software configured to collect mail from the Win98 machine by using the IP address of the machine that VPop is installed on and a minor bit of configuration on the VPop server and you`re away.

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