InternetRex FAQ 20-Dec-2000 Charles Cruden http://plaza.v-wave.com/InternetRex/ 1. Is Internet Rex Y2K compliant? 2. Do I need to get a separate email account for Internet Rex? 3. Wow, the setup program looks kinda complicated. Do I really need to configure all this stuff? 4. All the docs seem to deal with Rex working over a dialup connection. Can I use Rex with my LAN/cable modem? 5. Can I use Internet Rex to give my users email? 6. Do the people I send stuff to have to be using Internet Rex as well? 7. My ISP has a proxy/firewall which all my traffic has to go through. Will Internet Rex still work? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.Is Internet Rex Y2K compliant? Internet Rex is fully Y2K compliant. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.Do I need to get a separate email account for Internet Rex? Internet Rex will work fine off your current email account. It selects messages to download by following a set of matching rules you give it. These rules help identify which messages Rex should consider to be its and which should be left in the mailbox. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.Wow, the setup program looks kinda complicated. Do I really need to configure all this stuff? The number of options in Rex can be a bit overwhelming at first, but that's because it's a very poweful program. When just starting off, most people won't need to look at most of the options: General Information, Files Paths and Programs and the Node Manager are about all that's required to begin with. As you get more comfortable with Rex and what it can do you can start examining more of the things Rex can do for you. If you're just starting off, the user manual (userman.pdf) contains a quick guide to setting Rex up with most system configurations. It should help you get started quickly. When in doubt, you can also refer to Rex's online help by pressing F1 in the configuration program at any time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.All the docs seem to deal with Rex working over a dialup connection. Can I use Rex with my LAN/cable modem? Certainly! The Connecting to the Net section of Rex's setup program is geared towards dialup connections because those tend to be more common and more complicated to setup. LAN connections are pretty much already configured: all you need to do is make sure you've told Rex not to use dialup networking in the Connecting to the Net screen. Rex will then use whatever connection you have established to fetch and send your files. DOS users will still have to find a packet driver for their network card and configure some parts of the Connecting to the Net screen. Packet drivers for most network cards can be found at Crynwr Software's website (http://www.crynwr.com/). The user manual or the online help will tell you what parts of the menu need to be setup for Rex to work properly. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.Can I use Internet Rex to give my users email? Yes, you can! Internet Rex includes a full Internet/BBS email gateway. There is a section of the user manual which covers setting up gateways, and examples for lots of different types of gates, including an email gate for BBS users. Note that before you can give your users email addresses, you must have control of an internet domain. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6.Do the people I send stuff to have to be using Internet Rex as well? Nope. Internet Rex will exchange files with pretty much every available BBS/Internet transport program available, including (but not limited to) TransX, Allfix, Fidonet2Internet mailer, WaterGate, Voyager, GIGO and more. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.My ISP has a proxy/firewall which all my traffic has to go through. Will Internet Rex still work? For the most part, yes. All of Rex's standard features (sending/fetching mail) will work fine through a proxy. Outbound FTP connections may require you to use passive mode FTP connections. (See the FTP setup menu.) Generally though, Rex's servers will not work behind a proxy or firewall unless the administrator specifically allows inbound connctions to be served. Many ISPs block incoming connections on known ports specifically to avoid having their customers run their own servers, but often servers can be allowed if the administrators know of them and know they won't be causing too much net traffic. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------