Hour 8. Dial-Up TCP/IP

What You'll Learn in This Hour:

• Point-to-point connections

• SLIP

• PPP

One of the most popular methods for connecting to a TCP/IP network is a dial-up connection through a telephone line, or POTS (plain old telephone service). Dial-up networking is not as dominant as it was a few years ago, because of the arrival of broadband networking technologies, but dial-up connections are still common for travelers and many home users. This hour introduces modems and TCP/IP modem connectivity. You'll also learn about the two important TCP/IP dial-up networking protocols: Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) and Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP).

At the completion of this hour, you'll be able to

• Describe a point-to-point connection

• Describe why dial-up protocols are different from LAN-based network protocols

• Describe the difference between early host dial-up access and today's SLIP and PPP access

• Describe the SLIP data format

• Describe SLIP's characteristics

• List the components that make up PPP

• Describe PPP data format

• Describe PPP characteristics