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Getting online can be a bear... but..Apr 05 '01 (Updated Aug 13 '01) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line It shouldn't be too hard to pull off folks. I can do it and I have no patience :)
If you are having trouble getting your Dreamcast to go online you probably have one of two problems. You are either trying to use America Online or you a trying to use a free service. I can hopefully solve one of these problems. First of all, AOL. I'm sorry, you can't do it. You absolutely cannot use AOL on your Dreamcast. AOL does not function like a regular dial-up ISP (it should dang it..) so you can't do it. In addition, it would probably be too slow to be any fun anyway. I've tried playing PC online games over AOL and it just doesn't work. Free ISPs on the other hand, do work to a degree. The following work for sure: NetZero, Juno, BlueLight and DocISP. Each one requires a few tweaks but they do work. The problem with most of these is the username is too long to input into the DC. If its not it still gives a message saying "your username blah blah is incorrect." This probably means the PC software functions as a type of decoder to turn your username into something else. Luckily for us someone realized this problem and did something about it. There is a program readily available on the net called Raspy. It was designed to decode these screen names so you could use free ISPs on Palms. It works the same way for the DC. Sign up with an ISP, download and run Raspy, input all the info and bingo. Problems with this: Well, its arguable how legal it is. You signed up to the free service admitting you'd view their ad banners, this gets around that. As a result you may get threatening letters (notably from NetZero) saying they will delete your account and whatnot if you don't stop. Well, lets just say its not that hard to make another account you know? So, if you really feel you must do this, I suppose you can. The other negative is disconnects. Some people using BlueLight for example get disconnected after exactly 45 minutes online, some after two hours. Whether this is a function of the ISP or just the number you are dialing into is still up in the air. I ultimately feel you are much better off paying $10 a month to get an ISP that is more reliable. Peoplepc.com is a very good option. They give you a free month to try it out first and you can't go wrong with that. Ok, so you decide to get a non-free, non-AOL ISP (or you already have one), so now what? You will need to first use the Web Browser disk that SHOULD come with your Dreamcast. Keep this in mind if you buy one used. My friend did and he didn't get a browser disk. If you don't have one you can find an old issue of ODCM as they all came with a browser. Also, most games will allow you to input this same data. Unreal Tournament has the best interface for inputting it (especially for setting up two ISPs) and again, this data will save to the system memory and work for other games. This browser allows you to input two different ISPs, a nice addition if one is usually busy. You input your username (almost always including the @isp.com) password, dial up number and DNS numbers. Most people run into problems with the DNS numbers. DO NOT change these numbers unless your ISP specifically tells you to. They will be set automatically (or at least should be) when you log in with your DC the first time. Some ISPs will require you to set new numbers. Just ask your ISP, they'll be happy to tell you. There are some advanced options to fiddle with including changing your modem init string. Some people have said that by changing it you can speed up the modem. From what I can tell that is just plain wrong and you are better off leaving it alone. Once all the info is loaded into the DC's memory you won't need to re-enter it. You can now log on to the 'net with your Browser disk. If you want to play a game online, load that game, not the browser disk. Once the game is loaded it will probably have an option for "network play." Select that and your ISP info you entered before should pop up. Sign on and have fun :) Keep in mind that the ISP info is saved directly to your Dreamcast's internal memory not to a memory card. For this reason you are free to use whatever memory card you wish. Here are the list of online ready dreamcast games that I can think of right now (I have reviews up for many of them) Chu Chu Rocket Phantasy Star Online Star Lancer Quake III Arena Unreal Tournament NBA2k1 NFL2k1 Speed Devils: Online Racing Tetris Online Daytona 2001 Star Lancer Worms World Party Outtrigger Alien Front Online There may be some more I'm forgetting which I will add later. I hoped this little guide helped and feel free to ask any questions you may have.  |
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