Operating System Software for ISDN

In addition to getting your ISDN service and hardware, you will also need the appropriate software so your communications programs will work with your ISDN line.

Your operating system needs to support ISDN hardware. This support provides the "plumbing" to let applications talk to the ISDN adapter and integrate the ISDN adapter with other parts of the operating system. ISDN adapters will then provide a device driver to integrate with the operating system.

The most common way to connect two computers over ISDN is through the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). This is the protocol typically used to access the Internet. Note: your Internet Service Provider or your remote LAN access server will need to support PPP as well. If your Internet account is a "SLIP" account, you will need to have it changed to PPP.

Windows 95 Users

The ISDN Accelerator Pack for Windows 95 provides PPP support that works over ISDN. After you install the ISDN Accelerator Pack, you can use the standard Windows 95 Dial-up Networking feature to access other computers over an ISDN line. The ISDN Accelerator Pack also provides support for Plug and Play ISDN adapters.

Download the ISDN Accelerator Pack for Windows 95

Windows NT Users

Windows NT versions 3.5 or later have built-in support for ISDN and PPP. Use the Remote Access Service in Windows NT to connect over ISDN.

Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1 or Windows® for Workgroups Users

If you really want to take advantage of ISDN, upgrading to Windows 95 or Windows NT is recommended. These operating systems offer native ISDN support that is well integrated with the networking and communications subsystems. The result is high performance and excellent interoperability with a broad range of ISDN equipment. However, there are a variety of ISDN solutions from other vendors for older versions of Windows. Note: these solutions are not supported by Microsoft.

Internet Software for ISDN

With Windows 95 and the ISDN Accelerator Pack, you have all the "plumbing" needed to access the Internet using ISDN. Windows NT also includes all the necessary "plumbing".

You may also need a World Wide Web browser to take advantage of your ISDN Internet connection. Microsoft Internet Explorer has been extensively tested for use with ISDN on Windows 95.

Download Microsoft Internet Explorer

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