What is Telnet?

Telnet is a protocol that allows you to connect to remote computers over a network, for example, the Internet. Software known as a Telnet client is used to make a connection to the remote host.

Once your Telnet client establishes a connection to the remote host, your client becomes a virtual terminal, allowing you to communicate with the remote host from your computer. Telnet clients are available for all major operating systems. Command-line Telnet clients are built into most versions of Windows, UNIX, and Linux.