The Vicomsoft Internet Gateway (formely known as VICOM Internet Gateway) software is a simple and cost-effective way for all users on your networks to access the Internet simultaneously using one Internet dial-up account and one IP address assigned by your ISP (statically or dynamically).The Vicomsoft Internet Gateway software solves the problem with MacOS TCP/IP software that supports only one type of TCP/IP link. With Gateway installed, users can establish TCP/IP connections to the CommuniGate Server via the local network, so they can use POP or IMAP-based mailer applications, while the CommuniGate Server employs a dial-up connection to the Internet.
Finally, the Vicomsoft Internet Gateway software can act as a dial-up PPP server, allowing your users to connect to the CommuniGate Server via regular modem lines using any PPP dialing software. When users call in and establish TCP/IP connections, they can process their CommuniGate Server mailboxes remotely using any POP or IMAP-based mailer application. Besides, they get access to all other TCP/IP services on your network.
For any TCP/IP application to run on the same machine as the Vicomsoft Internet Gateway, Open Transport TCP/IP or MacTCP control panels should be configured to use the Gateway as the TCP Link.To provide TCP/IP services to the applications running on the same computer, the Gateway creates a function called the Mirror Port which will show up in the main Gateway status window. Please refer to the Vicomsoft Internet Gateway User Manual for details of how to configure MacTCP or Open Transport to be able to create a Mirror Port.
Note: When server applications as the CommuniGate Server are used, the Open Transport TCP/IP control panel must have the Load Only when Needed option selected . To select this option, open the TCP/IP control panel and switch the User Mode to Advanced, then click the Option button.
By default the Vicomsoft Internet Gateway mirrors the Internet Proxy port (the port actually connected to the Internet), so the CommuniGate Server and all other applications on the Gateway computer have the same IP address as the the Internet Proxy Port. While this setting works fine for client applications running on the Gateway computer, it can create a problem for server applications. If a dial-up connection employs a dynamically assigned IP address, every time a connection is established, all server applications are assigned a different IP address. If your users want to use TCP/IP applications to access the servers on the Gateway computer, that computer must have a permanent, static IP address.
If the ISP system assigns IP address to your dial-up link dynamically, you should configure the Vicomsoft Internet Gateway to assign a static virtual IP address to all the applications running on the Gateway computer. Then that virtual address should be used to configure all applications on the client computers.To assign a static virtual address to the Gateway computer while employing a dynamically assigned dial-up IP address:
Now the client applications can connect to the servers running on the Gateway computer using the IP address of the mirrored Ethernet port.
- Open the Gateway main status window.
- Select the Ethernet port in the Gateway main status window.
- Choose Mirror This Port from the Gateway menu.
- Open the Gateway Preferences, and open the Mac TCP panel.
- Make sure the MultiHoming option is NOT selected.
With this configuration, a computer on the Internet can only connect to the CommuniGate Server computer if it knows the dynamically assigned dial-up IP address of the Gateway computer. This makes mail receiving over SMTP impossible, and the POP protocol should be used to receive incoming mail. See the Dial-up Systems and E-mail document for the details.
To learn how to configure mail client application to use the IP address of your CommuniGate Server, please read the Serving POP and IMAP Clients document.
If the ISP system assigns a static IP address to your dial-up link (i.e. your system always get the same IP address), you may wish to mirror the Internet Proxy port instead of an Ethernet port, so all applications on the Gateway computer will get the same statically assigned IP address.If your CommuniGate Server receives mail via the SMTP module, you must mirror the Internet Proxy port.
Mirroring the Internet Proxy Port allows remote users to use the same IP address as local clients to connect to the server when it is connected to the Internet. More, since that static address can be included into the Domain Name System tables, your clients can use the domain name of your server, instead of its IP address.
Note: If the clients on the local network use the server domain name (not the server IP address) and the Domain Name Server runs on your ISP host, the Gateway is forced to connect to the Internet for each local client mail action. Read the Serving POP and IMAP Clients document to learn how to avoid this problem.