UCRA Technical Information

Dialup Networking Setup

Having established your UC Remote Access (UCRA) account you will need to set up the modem dialer on your computer. Your modem dialer will automatically perform dialing and sign on functions to the UCRA modem pool.

UCRA supports only Point-to Point-Protocol (PPP) connections, used by various Windows dialers, using Password Authentication Protocol (PAP). PAP authenticates PPP connections. PAP passes passwords and other useful information in clear text. PAP lets you store your username and password in the dialer's username and password boxes so you don't have to type them each time you log in.

Call the UCit Help Desk at 556-HELP for assistance setting up your modem dialer to access the UCRA modem pool.
 
Username

Your username, assigned when you sign up for UCRA service, is your unique ID. Commonly called the 6+2, a username is typically the first six characters of one's last name plus the first and middle initials. UCRA is case sensitive for both the username and password. You must enter your username in lowercase letters. The password is in the case you typed when signing up for an account.

Concurrency Checking

Users may not log onto multiple sessions with the same account at the same time. The system will block the second login.

Time Limits

UCRA is limited to four hours of wall clock time and a twenty  minute idle time-out.

56K

UCRA supports the X2 and v.90 56K protocols. X2 is the proprietary protocol of US Robotics. V.90 is the international protocol that replaced the X2 and 56K-Flex split market. The 56K-Flex protocol is not implemented and will not be implemented in the future. v. 92 is not supported, but may be in the future.

56K modems are designed to run 53K under ideal conditions; 48K-50K average download and 28800 - 31200 average upload. All high-speed modems automatically perform error correction and data compression. As a general rule, set your computer speed to four times the line speed. Modems can compress data up to a 4:1 ratio. Redundant text data compresses best; already compressed data files will not compress much by the modem. For most computers, set the port speed to the maximum rate. The UCRA employee and student modem pools have been upgraded with the compression feature. Selecting Enable Software Compression on Windows based dialers will enable the compression. The overflow modem pool ignores this option.

Users having problems may temporarily use 861-9504. It does not have the v.90 code. Many vendors have v.90 upgrades available. Be sure to upgrade and do not depend on the 861-9504 modem pool; it will be phased out in the future.