Since most of you use Windows, I suggest getting mIRC is the best choice, since this is the most popular IRC client program at the moment, and very easy to use. You can find it on the Official mIRC Homepage, maintained by Tjerk Vonck, located at http://www.mirc.co.uk. Check it out for information on the latest version, ftp sites, bugs, fixes, links to mIRC-related pages, and IRC in general.
Once you have installed the program, simply click on File, choose Setup, enter a screen name in the Nickname field (what you want to call yourself while on IRC) and another one in the Alternate field (in case your first screen name is already in use by someone else). Entering your Real Name and e-mail address is optional. You should also enable Identd, since almost all IRC networks request it. Enter your nickname as User ID, use UNIX as system and 113 as port.
When all that is done, choose an EFNet-server from the list and click on Connect. If that server won't let you in, simply choose another one until you succeed. Make sure to use EFNet servers only, or you might find the channel empty most of the time. If you live in Germany, by all means try to use an IRC server in America, since the German side of EFNet for some reason isn't connected to the American side anymore since at least two years.
The available Sonic channels at the moment are
/join #channelnamefor example
/join #sonicFor further information about mIRC and IRC in general, check out http://www.mirc.org/ or http://www.irchelp.org/irchelp/mirc/si.html.
irc.sega.com port 6667But don't tell SEGA about it. :)
If the IRC servers listed in the mIRC program won't work for you, here an additional list of servers that you could use:
irc.wu-wien.ac.at 137.208.3.30 Austria
yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au 130.194.9.1 Australia
speech.elec.uow.edu.au 130.130.88.116 Australia
poc.dfat.gov.au 152.91.70.43 Australia
irc.belnet.be 193.190.198.2 Belgium
irc.magic.mb.ca 204.112.14.17 Canada
irc.mcgill.ca 132.206.27.12 Canada
irc.cs.mun.ca 134.153.1.2 Canada
irc.vianet.on.ca 204.50.187.50 Canada
irc.polymtl.ca 132.207.4.8 Canada
irc.span.ch 194.51.197.1 Switzerland
irc.blackened.com 192.195.240.63 USA, Arizona, Tucson
irc.cris.com 199.3.12.20 USA, Michigan, Bay City
irc.neosoft.com 198.64.213.130 USA, Texas
irc.usa.pipeline.com 38.9.10.2 USA, NY, New York
irc.portal.com 156.151.1.101 USA, California
irc.voicenet.com 192.204.28.19 USA, PA, Ivyland
irc.winternet.com 198.174.169.50 USA, MN, Eden Prarie
irc.colorado.edu 128.138.129.31 USA, Colorado
irc.rutgers.edu 165.230.224.131 USA, New Jersey
irc.ais.net 199.0.154.13 USA, Illinois
irc.bridge.net 204.253.4.4 USA, Florida, Miami
irc.epix.net 199.224.64.19 USA, Pennsylvania
irc.gate.net 199.227.0.17 USA, Florida
irc.phoenix.net 207.43.3.5 USA, Texas, Houston
irc.stealth.net 206.26.140.20 USA, NY, New York
irc.felk.cvut.cz 192.108.160.15 Czech Republic
irc.cis.vutbr.cz 147.229.245.10 Czech Republic
sunsite.auc.dk 130.225.51.30 Denmark
irc.clinet.fi 194.100.0.7 Finland
irc.funet.fi 130.230.1.11 Finland
irc.freenet.hut.fi 130.233.208.41 Finland
irc.lpt.fi 193.166.64.3 Finland
irc.otol.fi 193.64.225.62 Finland
irc.oulu.fi 130.231.241.30 Finland
irc.pspt.fi 192.98.38.220 Finland
irc.eurecom.fr 193.55.112.8 France
irc.bme.hu 152.66.116.1 Hungary
irc.biu.ac.il 132.70.1.23 Israel
irc.tau.ac.il 132.66.16.5 Israel
irc.isnet.is 193.4.58.52 Iceland
irc.cselt.stet.it 163.162.4.38 Italy
irc.ccii.unipi.it 131.114.28.21 Italy
irc.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp 133.62.128.16 Japan
irc.kyoto.wide.ad.jp 133.4.8.5 Japan
irc.agh.edu.pl 149.156.96.12 Poland
irc.mimuw.edu.pl 148.81.12.44 Poland
irc.lublin.pl 193.59.55.167 Poland
irc.dd.chalmers.se 129.16.117.11 Sweden
irc.swipnet.se 193.12.122.33 Sweden
irc.fri.uni-lj.si 193.2.72.13 Slovenia
irc.uni-mb.si 164.8.65.104 Slovenia
irc.csie.nctu.edu.tw 140.113.17.161 Taiwan
irc.seed.net.tw 139.175.251.50 Taiwan
serv.eng.abdn.ac.uk 139.133.221.13 United Kingdom
stork.doc.ic.ac.uk 146.169.43.2 United Kingdom
serv.cs.man.ac.uk 130.88.229.190 United Kingdom
dismayl.demon.co.uk 158.152.1.76 United Kingdom