Printable View
I have a 486dx4 running Windows for Workgroups 3.11. It has 24mb of RAM and a 116mb hard drive. Currently it has no modem. I'd like to be able to get on the internet with it. What I need to know is what I need in order to do this and how much it will cost me. Thanks.
Get a larger hard-drive an internal DOS modem or an external modem and upgrade to win95.
The best thing to do is get an internal Hardware Modem(ie operates with other OSs other than Win9x) and give Netscape 3 a go.
Having a slightly bigger harddrive,say 300-500MB will do the trick. Also you will need to get hold of an ISP(Internet Service Provider)for correct DNS settings.
PS Your system is quite adaquate for surfing the Net and there are a lot of sites dedicated to suporting Win 3.1.
All you need is any modem - up to and including 56k speed - that will run without requiring Win95/98 drivers. (No specific modem drivers are needed for DOS/Win 3.x) If the box doesn't say it will work in DOS/Win 3.x don't buy it.
It will be less of a headache to get an external modem so long as you have 2 comm ports already installed - one for your mouse and one for the modem to attach to. 2 comm ports is pretty standard on a 486.
It WILL especially be a headache installing an internal modem if you already have two comm ports. Not all internal modems may have the hardware address and IRQ settings you need to avoid a conflict with other devices already in your system. And you have to know your system and how to change hardware address and IRQ's jumpers on cards if necessary. You can avoid all that with an external modem.
Netscape Navigator 3.0 or Communicator 4.08 will run under WFW. (I'm sure there's a MicroSquish Explorer that will run on Win 3.x but hey, I'm prejudiced.) But Communicator, having a lot more features, is also going to want a lot more hard disk space to install. You could probably get by with Navigator on your hard drive but you would need a larger hard drive to run Communicator.
Don't forget that as you download stuff - even just e-mail - it takes up hard disk space. You may want to upgrade the hard drive under any circumstances.
As far as prices go: Internal 56k modems will run any where between $20.00 and $80.00, external ones between $50.00 and $100.00 If you want to upgrade your hard drive I've seen 6 Gig drives as low as $79.00 You may want to check into buying a used, smaller capacity hard drive for even less. Netscape usually comes bundled free when you sign up for internet access - and that, of course, will run an average of $20.00 a month.
NB: If you do have a preference for Netscape Navigator or MicroSquish Internet Explorer check with the ISP you are considering to see what software they offer you. Some may only offer one or the other, a few offer a choice of either browser. It's not always easy to get rid of one browser and install the other.