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| Vol. 17, No. 18 | Feb. 5, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 18 | Feb. 5, 1998 |
If you "dial-in" to the campus network using a modem and telephone line to connect, a new service providing a more efficient way of browsing the web, transferring files and using other Internet applications is now available.
On Jan. 26, Information Technologies (IT) staff changed the configuration of the communication servers that handle your telephone calls to the campus network. The main reason for the change was to provide faster and more reliable connection service to those who use PPP-Point to Point Protocol.
Calls to the network are distributed, with the new service, over many communication servers, instead of being forced through a single PPP server.
"The demand for Internet access by our off-campus users had outgrown the capacity of the old PPP server," Dan Grim, IT/network and systems services, said. "Users of the new service report seeing faster file transfers and more reliable connections."
IT plans to discontinue the "old" PPP server-known as "via"-at the end of May. All PPP users will have to migrate to the new service by that time.
"We're asking PPP users to make the change to the new service voluntarily-for now," Grim said. "However, the sooner people make the change, the better."
If you use PPP service, consult the IT Help Center's web site (http://www.udel.edu/help) for instructions. Follow the link labeled "Changes to PPP."
PPP stands for Point to Point Protocol. It's a way of connecting to the campus network and the Internet using a computer, a modem and a phone line.
When you dial in and make a PPP connection, you do not log in to Copland, Strauss or any other computer.
Instead, you connect with a PPP server that initiates a connection to the network.
"You then open any of the same desktop clients you'd use from a direct network connection on campus," Carol Anderer, IT/User Services, said. "Dialing in with PPP is analogous to plugging your system's ethernet cable into the wall in your on-campus residence, office or classroom," she said.
If you use Kermit, HyperTerminal, MacKermit, ZTerm, or another piece of "text-based" terminal emulation software to connect to computers on the campus network, there is one small change you will need to make in your login procedure.
After your modem indicates that you are connected to the campus network, you will need to press the ENTER key in order to see the UDelNet> prompt.
"Because our terminal servers now assume you are making a PPP connection, you'll need to press the ENTER key one time to get the UDelNet> prompt," Grim said.
