FAQs - Dial-up - Elimination of Local Service

What happened to local dial-up service?

Since 1988, CMU has supported a dial-up service that has allowed faculty, staff, and students to access CMU systems and the internet over their local phone lines. Since then, this service has been a vital component of CMU’s networking technology. In November 2000 (when the system reached peak usage) 360,000 dialup sessions with 159,000 hours of usage were logged. Over the past 9 years, the number of people using this service has dropped dramatically as newer, faster technologies such as cable modems and DSL have become more readily available and more and more student apartment facilities have installed their own networking. Currently, OIT supports only about 200 dialup sessions per month with only about 100 hours of usage.

As the service has reduced in size, broken equipment and components have been re-used when possible to keep the remaining equipment operating. At this point, however, the little equipment OIT has left is no longer supported and is not compatible with the equipment now available - in effect, the service is on life-support. To replace the equipment would require substantial investment - far out of proportion to the small number of students, faculty, and staff who continue to use the service.

So, due to the economic pressures of maintaining the aging dial-up infrastructure, used only by a small percentage of the academic community, it has been decided to eliminate this service. As of 5:00pm on Thursday, May 14, 2009, OIT has disconnected the last of the old equipment and officially retired the remains of its local dial-up services.

How is my email affected?

The elimination of local dial-up access does not affect the university's email systems. Students, faculty, and staff will retain access to their web-based email accounts anywhere they have access to the Internet. Small changes to email client configurations will be necessary if using an ISP other than CMU. The outgoing SMTP server will need to be configured to route outgoing mail through your ISP.

What other services are affected?

No other services are affected by the elimination of dial-up access.

What are my off-campus options?

Both dial-up and broadband options are available in the local area (See the list of Local Internet Service Providers).

For other areas, check the Yellow Pages under Internet Service Provider. Several nationwide Internet Service Providers are available in almost all areas.

How much do ISP services cost?

Costs vary by ISP, type of connectivity, and location. For more detailed pricing information, contact the ISPs local to your specific region.

Who do you recommend I use as my ISP?

CMU has not formally adopted any recommendations on specific Internet Service Providers. The choice should reflect your individual service requirements.