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IBM eNetwork Emulator Express is an IBM program product that optimizes the operation of Telnet 3270 and 5250 emulation over extremely low-bandwidth networks. These optimizations enable mobile workers using laptops, notebooks, or other mobile devices to access legacy host applications effectively over wide-area wireless networks as well as low-bandwidth wireline modem connections. How the Emulator Express system intercepts the data stream and optimizes it transparently to both the client emulator and the Telnet server is described. The optimizations include a new data stream caching technology, a new optimized protocol that reduces the number of Telnet negotiation flows, and traditional compression. The data stream caching technology is particularly significant because it may be applied to other distributed application domains. The results of several performance experiments are reported that illustrate the improvements in data transport volume and response time when using Emulator Express.