<sect1 id="connectivity-ppp-overview">

    <title>Overview</title>

    <para>

        This chapter describes how you can use the Point-to-Point

        Protocol (PPP) to create collaborative networks in situations

        where the telephone network is the only medium you and your

        friends have access to.  With PPP you can prepare a server

        computer to provide internet services for client computers

        that use the telephone network as medium for data transmition.

        The configuration described here can be thought as one client

        computer that establishes connection to a server computer in

        order to use the internet services it provides, however, based

        on this concept, other configuration are also possible to

        satisfy situations where more than two computers need to be

        involved.

    </para>

    <para>

        The operating system used by both server and client computers

        will be &TC;; release 5.5<footnote>

        <para>

            Thank to my friend Manual Chavez Manzano (Manny) for

            finding a way to download this release of &TC;; and bring

            it to me as a gift when I was completly isolated from

            Internet without any possibility of downloading it by

            myself.

        </para>

        </footnote>. The configuration described in this book doesn't

        use third party software. All the software needed in this

        configuration is available inside &TC;;.  In case you are

        using a different operating system in your client computer,

        you'll need to look the appropriate application your operating

        system provides to establish PPP connections and configure it

        to establish connection with the server computer described in

        <xref linkend="connectivity-ppp-server" />.  Generally, the

        most you need to establish connection with the server computer

        is a telephone number and the credentials for authentication,

        if any.

    </para>

    <para>

        In this chapter you'll find how to configure your client

        computer to dial-up the server computer automatically when

        client applications (e.g., e-mail clients, web browsers, etc.)

        request data transmition for the server computer at a moment

        where no connection has been established with it, yet. Also,

        this chapter covers different considerations you could take

        into account to keep the telephone line as free as possible,

        so different client computers be able of establishing

        connection to the same server computer as quickly as possible.

    </para>

</sect1>