So now you're configured and ready for action. But wait, you're still not actually connected to GnutellaNet. Connecting to the network is easy, provided you've got one essential piece of information: the IP and port of another machine currently connected to the collective. Unless you've got a group of friends on the network who are happily ready to provide you with their IPs, you're going to need to find a host on your own. Luckily, the folks who have rallied around Gnutella have a pretty comprehensive site, featuring the latest Gnutella news and information about the software, as well as all the Gnutella clones currently in development, and, oh yes, those essential digits. So head over to http://gnutella.wego.com/ and grab a host from its page, paste it into the text box to the right of the add button, and click the add button.
At that point, provided the host you've entered is currently connected to the network, the GnutellaNet screen should spring to life. The host catcher will provide you with a list of IPs currently running Gnutella. The large connection box will tell you how many other computers you're connected to, as well as some stats about how many messages are coming through each connection. Once you've gotten this large list of hosts, you'll probably never have to manually enter a host again, unless through some freak accident every single host in your host catcher isn't hooked up to the network.
