Windows NT 3.51 RAS and AT&T Worldnet Service

The AT&T Worldnet Service software currently does not run on the Windows NT 3.51 Workstation software. The problem faced by the user is that the dialer provided by AT&T Worldnet Service does not work under NT 3.51. The RAS software can be configured to connect to the AT&T Worldnet Service using CHAP authentication, but the user needs to enter the password manually every time because NT RAS does not allow passwords to be stored in the PC.

Note: You will need to find your AT&T Worldnet Service account information.

Three options available to avoid having to type in the password manually:

User enters the password manually every time.
Use the NT command rasdial to login to the service. Some users have been able to use rasdial to connect to the service, but others have had no luck using it. This could be because of the password that I have been assigned (a lot of @/{[ characters). Here is how you can use rasdial.
1. First set up RAS as documented here. Add an entry in the phone book and call the entry WORLDNET. Make sure that for this entry in the security options, you have selected the Accept only encrypted authentication option.
2. Open a command prompt window: Launch the Program Manager icon and Choose Run from the File menu. Type cmd. In the window that comes up enter the following command:
  rasdial WORLDNET 12345678@worldnet.att.net 1234567890123456
  The first argument is the phone book entry name for the AT&T Worldnet Service. The second argument is your AT&T Worldnet Service login name and the third argument is the 16 character AT&T Worldnet Service password. Change the above argument values to match your login and password values.
3. When you run the above command, if you successfully connect to AT&T Worldnet Service, you are one of the lucky ones. You can put the above command in a script file or have an icon associated with it and when you run the script or click the icon, you will be connected the service. If this method does not work then the only other choice is option 3 below.
4. I have been informed that in a few cases, if you escape some of the characters in the password by using the characters % or ^, they were successful in logging into AT&T Worldnet Service.
This option uses software that will allow keystroke entries to be sent to a specific window. The software that I used to do this is called Take Command developed by JP Software. Here are the steps that you will need to follow to set this up.
1. Download the evaluation version of the shareware software take command and follow the steps in the software documentation to install the software onto your hard drive. This should be straight forward - all you need to do is copy all the files into a directory.
2. Create a file called ras.bat in any directory that is in your PATH variable (the NT software directory is a good place to put this in). In the ras.bat file copy in the following lines (Note: these lines are enhanced batch commands that will work only when run from within the take command software).
  @echo off
  start rasphone worldnet
  REM You might need to change the raise delay value depending on your PC speed
  delay 10
  REM Type in your password value in the first argument to the keystack command
  REM (keep the password within the double quotes). You must type in the word Enter below as is.
  keystack 1234567890123456 Enter
3. I have been informed that in a few cases, if you escape some of the characters in the password by using the characters % or ^, they were successful in logging into AT&T Worldnet Service.
4. Run the take command software by using the file manager (double-click the file tcmd32.exe). This will bring up the take command window.
5. Select Configure Tool Bar from the Options menu. Select the B1 line. Type in Worldnet in the Label field and C:\winnt35\ras.bat (or the actual path where you put the ras.bat file) in the Command field. You can select either of the Echo & Execute or the Execute w/o Echo buttons. Click the OK button.
6. In the take command window make sure that you have the Options->Show Tool Bar options checked. you should now see a button with the called Worldnet.
7. Make sure that the rasphone command is not being run on the PC.When you use this option, I have noticed that it is best if you DO NOT have the rasphone command running on the PC.
8. Click the Worldnet button. This should bring up the rasphone window. If the delay value of 10 is OK for your PC, the password will be pasted on password field and the PC will begin to dial to AT&T Worldnet Service for you. If the delay value is not sufficient on your PC, you will see part of the password pasted onto the take command window. If this is the case, your system is taking longer than 10 seconds to bring up the rasphone window, so you will need to increase the value to 15 and try again.
9. Once you have selected the correct value, all you will need to do is click the Worldnet button on the take command window and the PC will dial in to AT&T Worldnet Service for you without you having to remember or type the password. If you have a lot of processes running on your system, then the delay you have used may not be sufficient - just wait till the PC becomes free, close the rasphone program and click the Worldnet button again.
10. During all subsequent attempts to login to AT&T Worldnet Service, you need to bring up the take command (create an icon for this program) window and click the Worldnet button.

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