Campus will end dial-up Internet access service Jan. 1

The campus is ending its dial-up modem service on Jan. 1, 2009. Dial-up access has been free to faculty, staff and students since 1997, and demand has dwindled the last three years as former users switched to commercial Internet service providers that offer much faster connections.

The shutdown of the service by the Communication Resources Department of Information and Educational Technology is part of IET's $1.46 million in budget cuts for 2008-09.

The service consists of three dial-up modem pools, one each for students, staff and faculty; it provides off-campus access to the Internet and the UC Davis computing network. IET-Communications Resources studied recent demand for the dial-up modems, and then reduced modem capacity on July 7. The remaining capacity will satisfy the demand expected for the rest of 2008, although users might get a busy signal if they dial in during a period of high use.

Alternatives to the dial-up service include DSL, cable modem, or another dial-up link, available from commercial Internet service providers. Cellular mobile data cards, a wireless alternative, are also offered by various cell-phone carriers.

Starting this fall, IET-Communications Resources will offer a new service, Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Network or SSL VPN, to campus departments and organizations. People who hold UC Davis computing accounts can use the service to connect to the campus network, allowing them access to restricted computing resources. The UC Davis Library already uses the service.

Direct questions to IT Express, the campus computing help desk, at (530) 754-HELP (4357).