Yes, you must have a TCP/IP stack running and connected before you can do any network communications.
Personally I find MiamiDX the best, but good luck trying to buy keyfiles these days.
AmiTCP+Genesis comes with OS3.9 and is a good alternative. The Genesis front end makes AmiTCP much easier to install and set up.
And don't reinstall OS 3.1, there's no need to. Just find the problem! It's not windows you know :-P
As for the mountlist error, look in DEVS:DOSdrivers and there's probably something new like PIPE: been added during the AmiTCP install. Disable it for now by removing it from DOSdrivers. Or use a text editor to edit the moutfile and correct it.
Failing that look in S:User-Startup for anything new that AmiTCP has added (should be at the bottom).
