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Demon Internet Ltd ================== Gateway House 322 Regents Park Road Finchley, London, N3 2QQ 0181-371 1234 (Sales - London) 0131-552 0344 (Sales - Edinburgh) 0181-371 1010 (HelpLine) 0181-371 1150 (Fax) 0181-371 1000 (Switchboard) Support email internet@demon.net Sales email sales@demon.net SERVICES.TXT - DETAILS OF SERVICES AND PRODUCTS OFFERED. Last updated 26th May 1995 The latest version of this document is available from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/Services.txt * Internet Connections * Consultancy and Programming Services * Modems, Serial Chips and Serial Cards * Books Please note that all prices exclude VAT. All products and services are subject to VAT at the prevailing standard rate. Contents ======== 1. Internet Connections 2. Points of Presence (PoPs) 3. Standard Dialup Account 4. Mail Forwarding Extension 5. Network Connections 6. Network Dial-up Reserved Line 7. 64K Leased Line 8. Other Demon Internet Services 9. Software for your computer 10. Downloading software 11. Joining Info 12. Support 13. Consultancy and Programming Services 14. Modems, Serial Chips and Serial Boards 15. Books 16. Demon Internet v. The Rest 1. Internet Connections ======================= Demon Internet are the UK pioneers in low cost direct Internet connectivity having started our service in June 1992 and maintained the same powerful service and low price since. We are the largest provider of dial up Internet access in Europe. All our connection schemes provide a true direct connection to the Internet, multiple mailboxes and Usenet news. Your computer will need to run PPP or SLIP software (and a TCP/IP stack) - there is software available for most machines on our ftp server, downloadable through our guest download account or on floppy disk for a nominal fee and we can offer plenty of advice. The minimum subscription period is just one month apart from the Mail Forwarding option which is an annual (some options are annual) contract. All payments are due in advance of using any service. We have leased lines to the States (1.55Mb and a permanent backup of 256K), to our Points of Presence (PoPs), and to other Internet providers in this country (via the LINX - London Internet Neutral eXchange) including the JANET/JIPS Academic network. We also sell leased line connections to customers. We have a PoP in Central London to provide cheaper leased lines to the 0171 dialling code community. Most of our dial up modems are V.32bis 14,400bps and V.32terbo 19,200 (21,600 if using a US Robotics V.32terbo modem) and we drive them at 38,400 baud. They are currently being upgraded to V.34 28,800 as rack mounted versions are made available to us. Completion of this upgrade is expected in the summer. The minimum speed at which you may connect is 2,400. 2. Points of Presence (PoPs) ============================ We have the following PoPs: London, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Saffron Walden, Reading, Yorkshire: (Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford) and the Isle of Wight (local call from Southampton and Portsmouth). MAJOR EXPANSION: Available now - 600 more lines spread around the Country across many more PoPs using fibre optic cable as part of a 10Mb switched 'backbone' to the Finchley office. New PoPs include Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Coventry, Gloucester, Leicester, Liverpool, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Preston, Wolverhampton (Glasgow in Summer 1995). Watch the demon.announce newsgroup for details or get ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/Press.txt for more details and details of other expansion. 3. Standard Dialup Account ========================== Put your computer on the Internet with your own unique Internet address. Use all of the standard Internet Protocols such as file transfer (ftp) directly to and from your computer. Run advanced searching and retrieval Clients such as gopher or World Wide Web (WWW, sometimes known as Web, or even Mosaic). Multiple sessions - download/upload mail and news, telnet and ftp etc. all at the same time. Full read/write Usenet news feed - the world-wide conferencing system with over 13,000 newsgroups. Multiple mail addresses. Examples: tony@yourmc.demon.co.uk cliff@yourmc.demon.co.uk postmaster@yourmc.demon.co.uk You choose the yourmc part (4 - 8 characters) when you join and you set up the users on your software. There is no need to tell us the usernames. This is possible as we use the Internet standard or SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for transferring mail. We also have a different service (see POP3 in the Other Demon Internet Services section in this document) which may interest you. Mail must only be processed on the computer connected to us and not passed on to other computers for composing or reading. Primarily this means that if you have a network of computers and you are putting mail in mailboxes on workstations on the network, then we would require you to take our Mail Forwarding account. We have a Batch FTP service so that if you are doing an ftp from a remote site, you can speed the eventual transfer of the information to you. You ask our server to get the file for you and it does so and puts it in a directory for you and then mails you. You can then download it using ftp in the normal way, the advantage being that you will be able to retrieve it using the full capabilities of your modem's speed. Setup fee GBP12.50. Fixed price of GBP120 per annum or GBP10 per month (see below). No on-line charges or usage/volume charges for mail etc. You have to pay your existing telephone service provider (e.g. BT, Mercury, Energis etc.) their normal charges. However, once you have connected to your nearest Point of Presence (PoP) you pay no extra - even if you connect to international sites. As a concession, payment for home users can be made monthly in advance by Access or Visa credit cards. No VAT invoices or receipts for monthly payments are issued for this type of account. You may pay for an annual account by cash, cheque or credit card and will receive a VAT invoice for this. Companies are requested to pay annually in advance and will receive a formal VAT invoice. Should you cancel your Annual standard dial-up subscription, any whole months outstanding will be refunded. This is calculated from the date of receipt by us of a request in writing and is valid only during the trading life of Demon Internet Ltd.. This does not apply to any other services. All notification of cancellation of accounts must be sent to us in writing or emailed to us from your own Demon Internet account. In the latter case you can assume we have actioned your request only on receipt of a reply. 4. Mail Forwarding Extension ============================ Standard Dial-up users have full e-mail services; but corporate or business users may be interested in our Mail Forwarding Extension. All Demon Internet accounts are able to send and receive mail. However you may wish to use your own domain (e.g. yourco.com or yourco.co.uk) and/or allow mail to be forwarded around an internal network. We can take the delegation of an existing mail domain over from another provider or set up a fresh one for you. This means that if you already have a mail domain in use elsewhere then you can transfer that to be used with a Demon Internet account. Typical domain names end in .co.uk or.com but other domains such as .org, .org.uk, sch.uk, and .gov.uk can be arranged. There is no actual limit on the length of the name appearing before the .co.uk i.e. averylongname.co.uk is valid. Once delegated you can even have subdomains e.g. if you got acme.co.uk you can have ftp.acme.co.uk etc.. Registration of .co.uk domain names require the name to unambiguously reflect the name of your company. Note that you will still retain your standard demon.co.uk mail address in addition to your own mail domain if taking this option. Mail Forwarding only affects mail and doesn't affect routeing of TCP/IP packets in any way. You do not have to have a network in order to take advantage of our Mail Forwarding service. Using your own domain on business cards and letterheads can provide a more professional image. Some, however, like having demon in their mail address which just goes to show that there is no accounting for taste. :-) The Mail Forwarding service carries a supplementary annual charge to the Standard Dialup Service only and costs GBP200 per annum. All networked services include include Domain Registration and services in their prices. If your intention is to access the Internet from more than one machine please read Section 5: Network Connections, below. 5. Network Connections ====================== Place your whole network on the Internet via dial up reserved line or 64K leased line. Higher bandwidth lines are available on request; please telephone 0181 371-1250 and ask to speak to the network sales department for more details. All network connections include use of your own domain name and thus are not subject to the Mail Forwarding charge. If you already have your own Class C Internet address we can route to that or we will register one on your behalf. You may connect to any of our Network Operation Centres (NOCs) We can recommend and supply suitable routers and advise on software. We will arrange the installation of leased lines on your behalf. 6. Network Dial-up Reserved Line ================================ A reserved V.32bis/V42bis modem and telephone line to the London Point of Presence (PoP). At no extra cost you can take the bi-directional option so that we can dial your modem when there is incoming mail and/or ftp and telnet sessions - any BT rental and line charges will be invoiced on. Setup GBP750. Monthly charge GBP100. 7. 64K Leased Line ================== A 64K leased line for fast throughput. Setup GBP1,000. Monthly charge GBP500 if in London 0171 area or GBP600 elsewhere. This includes all BT installation and rental costs. Please ask for our comprehensive leased line information pack to be sent to you. A text version is also available from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/Llinfo.txt which we can also mail you - alternatively, call our Networks Department who will be glad to answer any queries you have, or if you would like to visit our offices to discuss your requirements in more detail, can arrange a meeting for you. You will find more detailed information regarding our Leased Line services and higher bandwidth lines within this document. *** Leased Line services carry a 24 hour support contract *** 8. Other Demon Internet Services ================================ POP3 - Post Office Protocol. Handy for the World traveller who needs to receive his mail whereever they can get internet access. More details are available from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/POP3.txt. GBP25 start up fee and GBP180 per annum. Mail Rewriting - mail that comes to one account can be sent to another mail account. This could be any mail address. Useful for companies with multiple accounts wanting to have only one domain and also for those people who want their mail temporarily redirected. GBP50 per annum per Demon account. Unlimited number of mail rewrites allowed but on average only one change to the details per month allowed. World Wide Web - rent space on our server from GBP25 per 5mb per month. Discounts for large space. Design and conversion services also available as well as use of your own domain such as http://yourco.co.uk/yourco/. More details are available from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/WWW.txt. 9. Software for your computer ============================== Demon Internet is an Internet Service Provider (ISP). We supply a connection service to the Internet. We do not supply Internet software as part of this service. However we have a very good archive of Internet software and can give advice on such for a variety of computers. IBMPC/MSDOS - We have a set of public domain and shareware software which has been and is actively developed. It consists of a communications interface (GBP10 shareware), an offline news reader, an offline mail reader/writer, a front end to glue it all together and documentation. You may download this from our guest automatic download account when you join - see below. You need a hard disk machine with about 3Mb of disk space and about 530K of conventional DOS RAM free. IBMPC/MICROSOFT WINDOWS - Internet shareware for Windows available in the public domain is still not really suitable for the first time user in regard to mail and news purposes although all other aspects are very well covered. Our best recommendation for first time users wishing to access the Internet via Windows is to Log on using our MSDOS software first and use it to join the newsgroup demon.ip.support.winsock and try out the WINSOCK software. The Winsock software is not difficult to setup and applications such as Mosaic just sit on top of it. Full instructions for doing this are available from our archives. We have a complete Windows kit. It brings all of the public domain WINSOCK software together into one package which makes installing and configuring easier. You may download it from: ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/ibmpc/DIS/beta/diswin.exe. This is about 5Mb and is not available on disk from us yet. Alternatively buy a commercial package such as NetManage Internet Chameleon which is GBP195 and is a true Windows DLL application. Other applications such as Mosaic can be downloaded and simply sit "on top" of Windows software and run. Some books such as The Internet Starter Kit for Windows have a disk containing a Chameleon Sampler. This is easy to set up and provides more than sufficient utiliity. We don't sell such a book at the moment. For details on how to set up public domain/shareware windows software get ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/os/win*.txt. APPLE MACINTOSH - You need MacTCP and various utilities. MacTCP is a commercial product costing about US$60. One way is to buy Adam Engst's The Internet Starter Kit for the Macintosh from us. This excellent book comes with a disk containing MacTCP as well as other utilities. With it, we supply a disk containing documentation and extra utilities at no extra charge. The book costs GBP27.98 and we ask GBP4 towards postage. You need System 7 and 4Mb of RAM. If you already have the book or MacTCP 2.0.2 or later we can supply our installer disk - we charge GBP7.50 + vat for copying and sending out a disk. Alternatively you can buy commercial products such as the VersaTerm range which provide a very neat environment. Version 7.5 of the Macintosh System already comes with MacTCP thus obtaining our installer disk alone should suffice. Another way is to buy Sue Schofield's The UK Internet Book (which we DON'T sell). It has a trial offer of a connection to us and we can also send you a disk containing MacTCP and some other utilities and an installer. You have to return the voucher from the book to us for this. AMIGA - We have comms, mail, news software and some documentation supplied with an installer script (AMIGANOS). Not as highly tuned as our PC offering but still very powerful. A hard disk is virtually essential. Alternatively you can get a complete AmiTCP installer from our server which installs AmiTCP, mail, news etc. And you can run Mosaic on top of it. AmiTCP is not available for download from our guest download account. ATARI and ARCHIMEDES - There are ports of the PC KA9Q software available from our server as well as mail and news along with active support news groups. A lot of our Archimedes users frequent the Arcade BBS and are always willing to answer questions. Arcade is on 0181- 654 2212. We have a dedicated user who can provide specific support for Atari computers. SUN - There is some Public Domain software for Sun O/S 4.1 Patch Level 6 on our FTP server which provides adequate connectivity. Commercial packages include MorningStar PPP which we use and sell and Sun's own PPP which we don't. OTHERS - if it runs TCP/IP SLIP or PPP over a dial up line it can be used with our service. In particular most UNIX operating systems and LINUX will have TCP/IP included in their operating system. Please ask for advice for your particular setup if not mentioned above. 10. Downloading software ======================== When you join, you may download software using our "guest" automatic download account with a standard communications package. You may use X, Y or Z modem or kermit. If you would like us to send you the software we will do so but make a small copying charge of GBP7.50 + vat for this service. 11. Joining Info ================ Please complete the following and email it to sales@demon.net. Companies wishing to send us a purchase order should use the address and/or fax details at the top of this document. Your Name: (Full name please) Company Name: (if applicable) Address: Credit Card No & Expiry Date if paying by Access or Visa (Sorry, we cannot accept Amex): Credit Card address (if different): Monthly or Annual account: Evening Telephone No.: Daytime Telephone No.: Please enter 3 choices of nodenames to speed the processing of your application. Machine name 1st choice .demon.co.uk (4 to 8 characters) Machine name 2nd choice .demon.co.uk (4 to 8 characters) Machine name 3nd choice .demon.co.uk (4 to 8 characters) If you have opted for Mail Forwarding (GBP200 per annum) then please specify a Domain name. Domain name _________________ for Mail forwarding/networks (any length, don't forget to specify .co.uk or .com etc.) Please complete this and mail it to sales@demon.net. Standard dial-up accounts are usually processed within 24 hours. The Mail Forwarding section of your account usually takes longer. You may contact hostmaster@demon.net to find out the current waiting time for registrations of domain names. Please note that we are not responsible for what users at any of our customers' hosts say or do. No service or part service may be sold or passed on, including within your own organisation, without the written consent of Demon Internet Ltd. All payments are due in advance of using any service. 12. Support =========== Support for Internet customers is available as follows: * email: internet@demon.net * Newsgroups: demon.ip.support.* * Telephone 0181-371 1010 * Monday - Thursday 9:00 to 21:00 * Friday 9:00 to 18:30 * Saturday 10:00 to 17:00 Emergencies only at all other times - this gets put through to an answering machine with details of our pager service. Please note that we cannot accept support queries by other methods (fax, posted mail etc.). Note that our networks are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week and there are always at least two network engineers on standby. 13. Consultancy and Programming Services ======================================== We have considerable experience in communications as well as producing high quality custom software, written in C, for a wide range of applications. We can perform Internet installations, configuration and training. Please contact us to see if we can help. Charges: From GBP500 per day or from GBP70 per hour including travelling. 14. Modems, Serial Chips and Serial Boards ========================================== We are dealers for the US Robotics/Miracom range of modems. Please mail orders@demon.net for details or use anonymous ftp from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/modems/modem.prices.txt 15. Books ========= We keep a number of Internet and Computing books in stock. Please email orders@demon.net for a list or use anonymous ftp from ftp.demon.co.uk:/pub/doc/books/... These include the O'Reilly range and Ed Krol's The Whole Internet. 16. Demon Internet v. The Rest ============================== Demon Internet are the leading provider of Direct IP connectivity in Europe for single host dial up services. We enjoy over 90% of the current user base in the UK. The reasons for this include: We started our service in June 1992 - years ahead of the competition; we offer a very low cost but very powerful service; we built our service largely on reputation and recommendation and, apart from doing the occasional computer show (which is expected of us), we avoid advertising. There is an increasing number of providers entering the market now. It would be impossible to compare our services precisely against each of these and indeed the details may get out of date too quickly. A summary of the important differences between us and the competition includes: Low cost A lot of our competitors are significantly more expensive. Flexible payment If you are a home user and have no need for a VAT invoice then you may pay monthly instead of annually. Fair deal No surcharge for using any of our Points of Presence and no on-line usage charges for international traffic etc.. SMTP mail Your own host and unique IP address allows maximum flexibility for the non- technical user to receive mail to multiple users e.g. by subscribing to a food mailing list as food@ all your mail is neatly sorted into the correct folder on receipt. Most other providers provide POP3 mailboxes reasoning that there is more software available for POP3 than SMTP - this is a rather short-sighted attitude based on their perhaps limited experience. All common platforms have SMTP mail clients available. The more technically advanced will appreciate the advantage of having your own IP address (as with Demon) as opposed to a dynamically allocated one (as with nearly all other UK providers) which changes every time you log on. Advantages of this include allowing people to ftp to you and instigate computer to computer chat sessions remotely. Local call access More local call access points then any other provider and more being added. More lines being added also. Full range Our range of services extend from Standard Dialup to Leased lines - most UK providers are not able to provide all these services. Our own connectivity Most other providers take a connection from another UK provider. One can build a powerful argument for and against this. Trying to be (a little bit) impartial the argument against this is that your costs and expansion are controlled by that third party leaving you with little flexibility in expanding your network. Your connectivity is only as good as that provider's. Indeed Demon Internet took service from such a provider when we started but found it impossibly restricting and expensive and so became independent and thus have our own lines to the Internet including two to the USA one of which is permanent. The argument for taking Internet connectivity from a third party UK company is that they can concentrate on the big bandwidth issues whilst the end user provider can concentrate on his service only. Software We offer a connection, not software. Having said that we have a very good collection of software for a lot of platforms and we do not restrict you to just the package (or computer) you start with. Indeed our servers and the Internet itself are bulging with the latest offerings and you can ask advice and discuss the merits of various packages with other users through our Usenet news groups. Please see the section earlier in this document `'Software for your computer'' for further details. ----------------------------- End of Document ----------------------------