INTERNET AND INTRANET USE WITH A PC: EFFECTS OF ADAPTER CARDS, WINDOWS VERSIONS AND TCP/IP SOFTWARE ON NETWORKING PERFORMANCE Available to Purchase

The experience is reported of access to the Internet from a common notebook computer connected to a local area network based on Ethernet and TCP/IP network protocols. Products used were: • network adapters in the form of PC cards from two product generations; • PC‐DOS and Windows 3.1 and various additional TCP/IP software packages, or Windows 95 with included TCP/IP software from Microsoft; • various 16‐bit or 32‐bit network application programs compatible with Windows Sockets. The main conclusions are that (even with the same basic microcomputer): • large differences (probably larger than expected by most users) exist in the data transfer speeds obtained with various combinations of hardware and software components; • newer combinations of PC cards and software are easier to install and offer greater stability as well as higher transfer speeds, so that upgrading is probably worthwhile for most users.