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SkyPoint Communications is a full service Internet Service Provider.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

    Exchanging Files Over The Internet

Q. How can I exchange files with someone else over the Internet?

A. You can do it in two different ways: by e-mail or by FTP.

Exchanging files via e-mail.

You can attach files to e-mail messages, but you should be aware of several potential problems. Some e-mail programs will not be able to detach the file when the recipient gets the e-mail. Fortunately, these are very old programs and are falling into disuse - all newer e-mail applications support this function. Also, if the file is longer than 1MB, some systems (notably AOL) will not accept the e-mail and will bounce it back to the sender.

Exchanging files via FTP.

If you are subscribed to our PersonalLink services, any other service that includes a PersonalLink account, or an FTP account, you have an FTP directory on SkyPoint's system.

To transfer your files to SkyPoint, you need to use an FTP client program. On MS-Windows, a popular one is called WS-FTP, and on Macintosh a common FTP application is called Fetch. Also, Web browsers like Netscape's Navigator and Internet Explorer have FTP capabilities.

The host name to connect to is ftp.skypoint.com. Use your login name (for example, if your email address is foo@skypoint.com, then your login name is foo) and your password; this password is the same password you use to login and also to get your e-mail. When you connect, you will be placed in your home directory.

In your home directory, you have a subdirectory called ftp. Select the directory and change into it; if you are using a graphical environment, such as MS-Windows or a Macintosh, you may be able to double-click on the directory name to change into that directory.

Note: It has been discovered with WS_Ftp (for MS-Windows), the ftp subdirectory does not show up in the directory listing. If this is the case for you, you can click on the ChgDir button, or another button that allows you to change the directory you are looking at, type in "ftp" (without the quotes) and click on the "Ok" button; you may need to append the ftp onto the existing directory listed - be sure to use the proper slash if necessary. This should put you in the ftp directory.

At this point, you should be able to upload your files for others to download.

Watch out for upper and lowercase differences in file names; on the SkyPoint computers, foo.html is not the same as FOO.HTML or Foo.Html or foo.HTML.

Select the file(s) you wish to transfer to SkyPoint and send them. With the WS_Ftp program, you have two arrows in the middle of the screen, one pointing to the left, one pointing to the right. Your local files are on the left side and SkyPoint is on the right. When transferring files from your computer to SkyPoint, highlight the files on the left side and press the arrow pointing to the right. On Fetch, click on the "Put File" button and a window with files on your personal system will appear, and you can select the files to send.

Caution: Text (ASCII) files are different from pictures, which are binary files. Transfer all text files as ASCII and all pictures as binary files! If transferring MS-Word, or other word processing files, be sure to use binary mode; this is unless you are absolutely sure that the file is a text file.

If you need to delete a file, many programs let you highlight the file and click a Delete button. On most Macintosh applications, you can drag the file icon directly into the garbage on your home machine.

When finished transferring files, click on the Close button to close the connection then exit the program.

 

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