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This is a draft. It has been one for years. But since miracles do happen, why not re-visit this page occasionally! If you find anything that is wrong or could be expressed better, please don't hesitate to let me know.
If you need help with getting the Ethernet drivers installed on your Newton, for example because you do not have the serial adapter that goes into the Newton's interconnect port, please click here for info about the NewtonTalk card lending service (in preparation).

Well, connecting an Apple Newton MessagePad or eMate to the Ethernet is not exactly self-explanatory. For some models it is not possible at all. If, a long time ago, I hadn't come across the Ethernet section of Victor Rehorst's excellent Newton Resources website (which unfortunately is no longer available), I would probably still be trying to figure out how to connect my Newton 2100 to my Macintosh at home and my printers at work.
It might save you some time if I convey the bad news right at the beginning. If you are looking for a way to get Ethernet connectivity for your Original MessagePad (OMP), MessagePad 100, MessagePad 110, MessagePad 120 or MessagePad 130, you are out of luck. Ethernet connectivity requires version 2.0 of the Newton Internet Enabler which, unfortunately, is only available for Newton OS 2.1. Which, even more unfortunately, will only run on the Newton MessagePad 2000, the Newton MessagePad 2100 and the eMate.

Just for the record: Whenever I mention "Newton" on this page from now on, it means "Newton 2000, Newton 2100 or eMate".

1: Installing mandatory drivers

Configure the Newton so that the packages are not installed on a card, but on the internal store. Some of the packages that you are going to install are copy protected, hence the Newton will refuse to install them on a card.
For the same reason you will not be able to beam them from another Newton or file them on a card once you have installed them on the internal store.
You can download all packages mentioned on this page either seperately or all of them at once (PC zip format 360 kB, Mac sit format ?? kB).
Although it is not absolutely necessary, I consider it a good idea to create a new folder, name it "Ethernet" and file all packages in it.

 Install the Newton Internet Enabler Ethernet Module (Enetsup.pkg, 74 kB). It will appear as "NIE Ethernet Module" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

 Install the Newton Internet Enabler (Inetenbl.pkg, 311 kB). It will appear as "Newton Internet" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

 If you want to use a card from the Proxim RangeLAN2 series of wireless network cards, install the patched version of the Newton Devices package
(NewtDevProxim.pkg, 86 kB). For all other cards install the original package (Newtdev.pkg, 85 kB). Both will appear as "Newton Devices" in the Newton's Extensions folder. They are mutually exclusive, you can't install both on the same Newton.

 Install the Internet Setup (Inetstup.pkg, 188 kB). It will appear as "Internet Setup" in the Newton's Setup folder.
2: Installing optional drivers

The four packages mentioned above are required no matter what type of Ethernet card you plan to use.
Depending on your type of card you also need one or more drivers. In my experience it doesn't hurt to install all drivers mentioned here, but of course you will only need those for your particular card. If you encounter any problems caused by incompatibilities between these drivers, please let me know.

 Farallon PN895 driver (FarallonEthernet.pkg, 8 kB). This driver is required for all supported 3Com cards. It will appear as "Farallon Enet" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

 Patch to support the 3Com 3c589, 3c589B, 3c589C and 3c589D cards (3comaddon.pkg, 4 kB). It will appear as "z3ComDrv:cli" in the Newton's Extensions folder. Yes, really. I'd have chosen a different name, too...

Patch to support the newer 3Com cards 3CXE589DT, 3CXE589ET and 3CXE589EC (3c589.pkg, 3 kB). It will appear as "3C589" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

TDKEthernet.pkg, 10 kB. Driver for TDK (LAK - CD021 / CD021AX / CD021BX), RATOC (REX-R280) and Fujitsu (FMV-J182, FMV-J182A) cards. This driver and the following one are mutually exclusive, you can't install both on the same Newton. It will appear as "TDKEthernet" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

tdk0821.pkg, 10 kB. Driver for the TDK combo card models DFL5610, DFL3410, DFL3200 and DFL9610. This driver and the previous one are mutually exclusive, you can't install both on the same Newton. It will appear as "TDKEthernet" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

ATLANv8.pkg, 11 kB. ATLAN driver for MELCO (LPC-T, LPC2-T), Longshine (LCS-8534TB), D-Link (DE-650, DE-660, DE-660+) and Correga (EtherII PCC-T) cards. This driver also supports the IBM credit card adapter Ethernet II. It will appear as "ATLAN" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

Amb8010.pkg, 11 kB. Driver for the AmbiCom 8010 card. It will appear as "AMB8010" in the Newton's Extensions folder.

proxim.pkg, 80 kB. Driver for the Proxim RangeLAN2 series of wireless network cards. As mentioned above, you need a patched version of the Newton Devices package for this driver. It will appear as "Proxim" in the Newton's Extensions folder.
For this driver you should also install ProximExtras.pkg (1 kB). This will allow you to set more network options. This package will automatically remove itself after installation. Don't worry about that, it will have done its job by then.

The one and only WLAN driver (NewtonWaveLAN_source.zip, 78kB). This used to be USD10.00 shareware, but in 2007 the developer Hirochi Noguchi kindly released both the driver and the source code as freeware.
After unzipping the file, you'll find the driver "LucentWaveLAN.pkg" in the subfolder "WaveLAN_DDK".

If you know of any other drivers that make Ethernet cards usable with the Newton, please let me know.

Next we will set up your Newton in a way that will enable it to use all the cool new software you just installed...

Open Internet Setup. Create a new setup based on "Generic Setup".
What are SecurID and UNIX for?

Tap on the "Connect Using" picker. Choose Ethernet.
Tap "Continue".

Set the name of your setup. Tap on the "Configuration" picker. Choose "DHCP Server" for automatic or "Manual" for manual configuration. I have never had problems with automatic configuration, so you might want to choose "DHCP Server" for now.
Tap "Continue".

Tap on the "Card" picker. Your Ethernet card need not be physically present yet, the choices offered here depend on the installed drivers. Depending on how many and which drivers you have just installed, the offered choices might be different on your Newton.
Choose your card model. Tap "Continue".

Don't change anything on the next page.
Tap "Done".
What is the domain name setting for?

The Newton will display a summary of your new Ethernet setup. Accept it by tapping the close box in the bottom right-hand corner.

Now is a good time to let your Newton know which protocol you want it to use for your new Ethernet connection. So far I have only been able to connect through AppleTalk. I'm currently trying to figure out how to connect via TCP/IP to Macs and PCs. This is supposed to be possible with Thomas Tempelmann's DIL Tester, but I haven't had any success with this package so far. If you can shed some light on how to do this, please drop me a line.
To connect through AppleTalk, open the Preferences. You will find a new "AppleTalk" setting. Tap on it.

Tap on the "Connect using" picker. Select EtherTalk.

A new picker will appear that allows you to select your card. Tap it and select your particular card model. Depending on how many and which drivers you just installed, the offered choices might be different on your Newton.