Telnet, in simple terms, is a terminal program that allows you to work on a machine other than your own. If you use Windows, you might consider it similar to opening a DOS prompt on our machine, albeit using the Unix operating system once you get here.

SSH is a different protocol that works much the same way as Telnet, but it utilizes encryption to ensure that your password and all data sent and received during your session are kept safe. Both SSH 1 and 2 are supported.

Please note that if you have our FTP Account, you may access the server only through FTP. Telnet and SSH will not work for your account.

We strongly suggest using SSH rather than Telnet to ensure that your password and data are secure. There are plenty of good SSH clients out there, some of them free.

For Windows we recommend:

PuTTY (Free)
SecureCRT
F-Secure SSH

For Mac we recommend:

Mac OS X Terminal (Free with Mac OS X operating system)
F-Secure SSH

Still looking? Try this page:

http://www.employees.org/~satch/ssh/faq/ssh-faq-2.html#ss2.2

Please note that if you have our FTP or Basic Studio Account, you may access the server only through FTP. Telnet and SSH will not work for your account.

If you are using a Windows or Mac telnet, you should find a menu option like "Connect", "Open Connection," or something similar. Select that and type in your server name. (In the screen shot below, calma.pair.com is just an example.) If it wants a terminal type, use "VT100". After this, you'll be prompted for the name and password, once you've given those correctly, you'll be logged into the system. Below is a pre-connection screenshot from the default Windows telnet client:

The default port for telnet is 23, if your client requires it. Your SSH client will require additional configuration -- the following settings should be used:

Port: 22
Cipher: 3DES
Authentication: Password

Here is an example configuration with SecureCRT's connection dialog box:

If you are using a command-line style operating system like Unix, or if you're using the Mac OS X Terminal, you would type:

telnet servername.pair.com

or...

ssh servername.pair.com

Replace "servername" with the name of the server your account is on.

What commands can I use?

Now that you are logged on, you can use any of the UNIX commands to do what you need to. (Please keep in mind that FTP level accounts do not come with telnet access; if you have an FTP account and you connect, after changing the password you will be disconnected.) If you are unfamiliar with UNIX try visiting the UNIX Reference Desk.