In the last two issues of the I.T. Times, we outlined current connectivity options from on and off campus and presented preliminary computer classroom and modem usage trends . To this day, the pool of 465 modems is available at no extra charge and at a maximum speed of 14.4K bps. The program will evaluate the cost, effectiveness and benefits of the service to determine if it should be offered for a fee to UC Davis students, faculty and staff. Like most UC Davis affiliates, I live off campus and often get busy signals when I dial in to UCDNet. If you normally pay a toll or long-distance charge for dialing into the campus network, be sure to select an ISP with local access numbers in your calling area.
Negotiations are underway with local company owners about installing similar connections elsewhere.
Some people seem to stay logged in for hours, often tying up the lines for non-legitimate purposes. Currently, users get disconnected after 15 minutes of idle time or 3 hours after logging in. I.T. is considering ways in which the current modem pool can be maximized further, which may include setting aside a bank of modems with lower time limits. I just subscribed to an Internet Service Provider. However, now I can't access my professors' Web pages and some UCD-based specialized databases when I use this service.