ARCHIVED: At IUB or IUPUI, in Mac OS X, how do I connect to the modem pool?

This content has been archived, and is no longer maintained by Indiana University. Information here may no longer be accurate, and links may no longer be available or reliable.

Important: On August 15, 2014, the IU Bloomington and IUPUI modem pools were retired. If you are affected by this retirement, you can find a new Internet service provider by searching online or in the yellow pages.

Note: Since Apple no longer includes internal modems in its computers, you'll need to obtain an external USB modem to use dial-up on a recently produced computer. Also, Apple's own USB modem is not compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 and higher.

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Mac OS X has built-in support for connecting to the Internet using your computer's modem. To connect to the Indiana University Bloomington or IUPUI modem pool using PPP:

Mac OS X 10.5 and later

  1. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences....
  2. In System Preferences, from the View menu, select Network.
  3. In the left column of the network preferences pane, click the listing for your model (e.g., External Modem, Internal Modem).
  4. In the "Telephone Number:" field, enter one of the following:
    • IUB: 856-5200
    • IUPUI: 278-5620

  5. In the "Account Name:" field, enter your Network ID username.
  6. In the "Password:" field, enter your Network ID passphrase.
  7. Click Advanced.... From this sheet, you can make additional configuration changes, although the defaults should work with the modem pools. You may want to select Connect automatically when needed under the PPP tab, and your specific model under Modem. Click OK when you have finished configuring these settings.
  8. Check Show modem status in menu bar to create an icon on the menu bar you can use to make a modem connection. The icon will look like a telephone handset.
  9. Click Apply.

Unless your system is configured to establish a connection when Internet applications launch, click Connect in the Network system preference or from the menu bar modem status icon.

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Mac OS X 10.4 and earlier

  1. From the Apple menu, select System Preferences....
  2. In System Preferences, from the View menu, select Network.
  3. From the "Show:" list, select your modem (e.g., Internal Modem).
  4. Click the PPP tab:
    1. In the "Service Provider:" field, at IUB, enter IU Modem Pools. At IUPUI, enter IUPUI Modem Pools.
    2. In the "Account Name:" field, enter your Network ID username.
    3. In the "Password:" field, enter your Network ID passphrase.
    4. If you don't want to type your passphrase each time you make a connection, check Save Password.
    5. In the "Telephone Number:" field, enter one of the following:
      • IUB: 856-5200
      • IUPUI: 278-5620

    6. Click PPP Options... to bring up a list of options. The defaults should work with the modem pools, but you may change them if you wish. If you have trouble accessing the network with applications running from the Classic environment, uncheck Use TCP Header Compression. Click OK when you have finished configuring these settings.

  5. Click the Modem tab:
    1. From the "Modem:" list, select your modem type. Typically, Mac OS X will have already selected the best option.
    2. To hear the modem dialing and establishing the connection, next to the "Sound:" option, select On. Otherwise, select Off.
    3. Most telephone lines use touchtone dialing, but if your telephone uses pulse or rotary dialing, in the "Dialing:" options, select Pulse.
    4. If your telephone line uses tone dialing, select Wait for dial tone before dialing.

  6. Click Apply Now.

If you did not choose to have Internet applications establish a connection when launched, use the Internet Connect utility to dial the IU system. This application is located on your hard drive in the Applications folder.

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This is document ajmw in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 12:55:48.