By Christopher Tse
Peter Tattam's Trumpet Winsock is the current standard for TCP/IP management under the Microsoft Windows environment. Most of the Winsock.dll (Windows Socket Driver) Internet applications are developed and tested with this program. The current version of Trumpet Winsock 2.0 Release B is very stable and reliable. There was not any real competition for Trumpet Winsock until Microsoft unveiled the final release of Wolverine, a 32 bit TCP/IP stack for Windows for Workgroup (WFW) 3.11. The seamless integration between Wolverine and Windows quickly establishes a wide install base for the software giant's new entry to the Internet software market. As of press time, both Trumpet Winsock and Wolverine are free and available for download from almost every network-related FTP site. Trumpet Winsock has the advantage of being a "well- known" TCP manager. The configuration from Trumpet is highly automated. Most users have minimal trouble setting it up. When the program is first installed, Trumpet searches for essential information such as the domain name servers address, from which the computer resolve the addresses before any communication with external sites are established. Note: In the Columbia area, three known name servers are 128.59.40.142 (also the time server), 128.59.32.156, and 128.59.39.2.
Wolverine, in comparison, is less-user friendly to set up. First of all, it requires Windows for Workgroup 3.11, which means regular Windows 3.1 users have to upgrade before they can install this TCP stack. Secondly, you need to install the 32-bit extension to Windows (win32s.zip) before the installation can begin. To setup win32s.zip, download the file and unzip it in a directory. Proceed with installation by using the File-Run command in Program Manager and specify the location of the "setup.exe" for win32s.
Since Wolverine is developed as a protocol for the Microsoft Network, the installation has to be carried out in the Network Setup dialog box. (In case you cannot find the icon for Network Setup, and you have WFW, create one with the File-New command from Program Manager menu and then type in "C:\WINDOWS\WINSETUP /Z" in the command line field). Inside the Network Setup menu, you can install a default network using the IPX and the Netbios protocol. (You will eventually delete these two protocols since the Columbia ethernet network do not make use of them).
After successful installation of the default network protocols and your network card (refer to the menu of your network cards for questions concerning I/O addresses and IRQs), you can install the Wolverine package with the "add Protocol Command" from the setup button off the main Network Setup menu. Choose "Unlisted or Updated Driver" and the identify the directory of which the complete, unzipped Wolverine files are located. Proceed with the installation as directed. After all the files are copied and the icons created, you will need to "setup" the protocol, which means you have to manually input the addresses for the various servers require for TCP/IP application. Don't be tempted by the automatic configuration command available from the window. They do not always work properly. Our experience suggested that all field concerning the WINS servers should be left blank. There are three fields that MUST be completely filled out: 1) your computer IP number; 2) the DNS (domain name server) address as listed above; and 3) the default gateway (which is your IP address with the four set of number replaced by a "1"). The installation is tricky, yet with sustained effort, any experienced user can make Wolverine work. One of the great advantages of a properly installed Wolverine over Trumpet Winsock is that it is completely integrated into Windows, while Trumpet Winsock is just a program with a constantly minimized icon Microsoft TCP/IP stacks is also slightly faster than that Trumpet Winsock's due to its 32 bits construction.
However, one of the most compelling reasons to use Wolverine is the ability to make full use of Windows for Workgroup's capabilities, such as setting up a workgroup with between friends. With a proper configuration, users of the workgroup can share files and printers with each other as if they were their own. A users can defined his friend's hard drive as the "h" drive and then use that drive and all its subdirectory as he would with his own hard drive. The same goes for printers. Once a printer is configured as shared, anyone in the Workgroup can send their print job to that printer within a application or Print Manager. Besides files and printer sharing, local conferencing by means of "Chat" can also be carried out between members of the group. One user can "call up" any other and a cute animated ringing icon will appear the receiving computer. More mundane functions such as FTP and Telnet are also included as packaged software with Wolverine.
Although both Trumpet Winsock and WFW TCP/IP (Wolverine) functions very similarly, Wolverine has a slight advantage of being most efficient and versatile. However, the installation process is unnecessarily complex when compared to Trumpet Winsock Manager. I suggest a new comer to start with Trumpet Winsock Version 2.0 and then upgrade to Wolverine when he/she is ready to tackle the unintuiative installation process.