The Computing Center is in the process of installing and testing a
premium remote data access service to provide students, faculty and
staff with increased availability and performance when compared with
existing dial-up services at UNT.
The new service will be sold on a subscription basis and will
provide PPP support for graphical Internet applications. In the
future, we plan to offer IPX services so subscribers may access Novell networks on the UNT campus.
The initial
service, which should become available during the Fall 1995 semester,
will be compatible with 28.8 Kbps V.34 analog modems. Slower V.32
(14.4Kbps) modems should work fine as well. Subscribers using 2400
baud modems should be able to connect, but will find graphical
applications too demanding for the available bandwidth (i.e. too slow
for most users!).
The premium system is being engineered to allow subscribers
purchasing ISDN service, from their telecommunications provider, to
connect with our campus system at much higher data rates than those
presently available to analog modem users. ISDN service is not
currently available to Denton residents but may be available on the UNT
campus before the end of 1995 and available to many portions of the
city by mid 1996. ISDN access is available in parts of the Dallas and
Fort Worth calling areas, but we are not planning to offer it until we
have had an opportunity to test it. We are currently researching the
plausibility of communications between student, faculty and staff homes
and our campus networks at speeds up to 512Kbps using ISDN service and
the appropriate interface equipment at the subscribers home.
The completed system will provide robust data
communications at an affordable price. We expect to be able to deliver
the service for $10.00 per month in the Denton area and $15.00 per
month to subscribers in the DFW metroplex. The fees will be payable by
semester. The two summer terms will be considered one semester of 3
months. Each long term will be considered 4.5 months. The number of
subscriptions will be limited to approximately 7 per installed
connection (phone line). This will help reduce the number of users
competing for connectivity well below that of our current free system.
The money from subscriber fees will be used to cover operating
expenses, system administration and technical/user support. Capital
equipment purchases to support the premium service will be funded with
HEAF funds, not subscription fees.
The current system of
almost 100 phone lines will continue to be available and supported by
our technical staff with only a few minor upgrades scheduled. The
upgrades to the free system will include the availability of PPP
service and may include replacement of some 14.4 Kbps modems with 28.8
Kbps units. The free system will continue to be available to all
students, faculty and staff.
Subscriptions to the premium service will be sold through the UNT
Bookstore to UNT Student, faculty and staff members. UNT will not be
providing Internet service to the general public. A UNT department or
college may purchase accounts by IDO to the Computing Center. Each
account sold by IDO will require a written statement that the account
is for purposes that benefit UNT. This declaration will be made
available to Internal Audit.
The critical equipment for this new service has been installed and
is under evaluation. The required GTE services are in place and we are
proceeding as quickly as possible to deliver a finished product in the
near future. If the testing goes well and we can get the equipment in
a timely fashion, we are looking at an early October implementation.
Chris Strauss, the Computing
Center's Support Services Coordinator, is maintaining a World Wide Web
page with a URL of:
http://www-lan.unt.edu/cc1/helpdesk/www/faq/prdialin.htm
(what
a mouthful!), which you can follow to know our current status. I will
also be posting information on our progress to the unt.networking list
on USENET News.
If you have problems or questions about this server, please contact us as soon as possible. You can send mail to the following address: www@unt.edu