Remote Access to NUSNET-II and InternetRemote Access to NUSNET-II and Internet
Access to NUSNET-II and Internet can be made remote at homes or in offices
via analog telephone lines. A Hayes compatible modem is required with the
necessary remote access software. The modem speed supported ranges from
1,200 bps to 28.8 kbps. It is recommended to use a high-speed modem of at
least 14.4 kbps for a reasonable performance in accessing Web and NUSNET-II
with Windows interface because of the high volume of graphics involved.
Dialup Protocols - PPP, SLIP or Character-based Telnet ?
PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) is an industry standard protocol for accessing computer resources from remote via analog telephone line or ISDN digital circuit. It has many advantages over SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) and Character-based Telnet as it supports:
Depending on the particular dialup software used, PPP may be able to
assign your computer an IP address, domain name server and the gateway
address without any manual configuration. Also, you may not need to
bring up a terminal window for manual login in some cases. SLIP serves
more or less the same functions as PPP but without the enhancements
stated above. Computer Centre encourages usage of PPP as it is more
secure and of better performance. Existing SLIP users should try to
re-configure their dialup software to use PPP. Character-based Telnet
provides only limited functions such as Telnet. It has severe
limitations in accessing Web or other GUI-based Internet applications.
Thus, current users on character-based Telnet (eg. Kermit, Telix, etc)
are encouraged to migrate to use PPP.
The remote access client software is critical to compatibility with a wide range of protocols and equipment. Commonly known ones include Netscape Personal Edition, Internet Explorer 2.1, Dial-up-Networking in Windows 95 (DUN), Chameleon, TCPMAN, Kermit and Telix etc. While some of them may support PPP, SLIP or character-based Telnet, it is recommended to use PPP for the reasons stated in the previous section.
Using PPP or SLIP protocols will enable the remote workstation to function as an Internet or Intranet node. Once the session is established, accessing host via Telnet, reading Internet mail and Netnews, surfing the Web and downloading software via anonymous FTP is as easy as in the campus.
Netscape Personal Edition and Internet Explorer are two remote access client software that can be downloaded in the Web. Once the PPP session is established, all access programs for Internet and Intranet services will be launched from the remote workstation.
Kermit and Telix are character-based Telnet software. It enables you to dialup to a remote access server and from there, an interface menu is provided for you to telnet to certain pre-defined hosts. It does not support PPP or SLIP, thus causing difficulties in accessing most of the GUI-based Internet services.
Remote control software enables you to access a full suit of NUSNET-II services. It is important to note the difference between client software for remote access and remote control. Remote access client software, though enables you to access Internet based services like Telnet, Email, Web, Netnews and FTP, it does not support normal NUSNET-II services such as MS mail, application software, INtv and CDROM databases, etc.
As the name implies, remote control is to control a PC locally at Computer Centre using your PC remotely. It is in general more efficient than Remote Node as explained in the next section because only the screen images, keystrokes and mouse clicks are transmitted over the phone line between your PC at home and the Host PC in Computer Centre. Specific software must be obtained from Computer Centre for this particular mode of dialup access.
Remote control client enables access to application software such as
Microsoft Word without downloading the huge program files over the slow
phone to your PC at home. The specific software "pcANYWHERE for Windows"
can be requested via the University's home page under Major Resources to
Computer Centre. All the previously issued software by Computer Centre
such as pcANYWHERE for DOS will obsolete. You should remove it from
your local hard disk and no other remote control software will be
supported. The software provided by Computer Centre will be able to
support DOS, Windows and Windows 95 remote dialup but it has no support
for Macintosh.
Remote node is different from remote control as the remote PC will function
as a network node attached to the campus-wide network via a phone line.
This will permit users to access all NUSNET-II and Internet services which
is similar to Remote Control. However, the full suite of applications will
have to be downloaded over the slow phone line to your PC at home before it
can be run and thus, most of the time, it is not of much use in the context
of NUSNET-II and Internet.
Telephone Numbers, Line Configurations and Charges
Below is the current dialup line configurations:
| Group | Facility | Telephone No. | # Lines | Remarks |
| A | Remote Access | 7748856 | 146 | PPP, SLIP, character-based Telnet. |
| B | Remote Control | 7747336 | 16 | pcANYWHERE for Windows, Windows 95 |
| C | Remote Access for Staff | 7740934 | 48 | PPP, SLIP, character-based Telnet. |
Further enhancements will begin in 4th quarter of 1996 which will include support of digital ISDN and depending on the technology advancement, support of V.34bis (33.6 kbps) dialup. There will be a further increase of dial-up sessions to a total of 304 or about 45% more than the number of lines currently available.
All the lines are non-toll-free lines and the normal telecom charges will apply.
How to Configure My Existing PPP Dialup Software ?
If you are using existing dialer/PPP software from any ISP, it is best to keep using the SAME software. You need to change the followings either manually or through a script file:
Tel No: 7748856 (all users)
Tel No: 7740934 (staff users)
Domain: nus.sg
Primary DNS: 137.132.5.2
Proxy: proxy.nus.sg
Port for proxy: 8080
Which Dialup Software and How to
Obtain it ?
There are simply too many dialup software in the market that Computer Centre is able to support. Some require proper commercial licenses and some are in the shareware or freeware business. Computer Centre has make available two most commonly used Web browsers, namely Netscape and Internet Explorer, to be downloaded in this Web page. The two browsers are of specific versions which include a PPP dialer, TCP/IP stack and of course, the Web browser itself.
PPP is always our recommendation for Internet and Intranet accesses. However, the commercial software pcANYWHERE for Windows is provided to access specific NUSNET-II services such as MS Mail, CDROM or INtv etc. remotely. In general, you DO NOT need pcANYWHERE for Windows unless you have the special requirements.
Windows 3.x Users
If you are a Windows 3.x user and are keen to explore the dialup arena,
Please click Download and Configure Netscape Personal Edition 2.02 if this is
your preference or else click
Download
and Configure Internet Explorer 2.1
Windows 95 Users
NUS Trumpet Users
NUS Trumpet license agreement and downloading instruction
pcANYWHERE Users
Please read the license agreement carefully. Every user is entitled to
install only ONE copy of it at any point in time irregardless of the
number of PCs you have and the number of times that you have downloaded
the software. Please make sure that you activate the link from a
Windows based Web browser using a standard NUSNET-II PC. A standard
NUSNET-II PC refers to a PC that you use to logon normally to NUSNET-II,
start Windows and launch the Web browser from the network file server.
You may want to download telnet or ftp application that are not
distributed by the PPP dialing software. You can download the software
from TUCOWS.
If you have any queries pertaining to the information provided in this
Web page or have encountered problems in using the dialup system, you
can seek help by:
Computer Centre tries to ensure accuracy for the information provided
but cannot guarantee that the documentation will work with every dial-up
modem and personal computer. Users are encouraged to submit what-ever
problems they may have on the dial-up to the newsgroup 'nus.support.dial-up'.
The Computer Centre will do its utmost to resolve your problems posted on
this newsgroup.
No specific software is provided for Windows 95 users. It is our
recommendation to use Dial-up Networking that comes by default with the
Windows 95 system. Windows 95 has built in Telnet and FTP support
though these two utilities are quite primitive but it will save you some
efforts of looking for other freeware in the Internet. Instructions are
provided in this Web page in case you have difficulty in configuring
Dial-Up Networking to use PPP.
Computer Centre has been distributing CCSLIP in the past two years for
Windows 3.x dialup users. CCSLIP is no more supported and you should
switch to NUS Trumpet. This version has PAP authentication which will
help you to login more easily. Note that this is only a dialer with
TCP/IP stack. You have to get the winsock applications
and WWW browser yourself.
If you are a Windows 3.x or Windows 95 user and you are sure that you
need pcANYWHERE, please activate the link below to obtain a copy of it.
(Note that you need a high speed modem of at least 28.8 kbps.
If not the downloading of graphics screen through telephone wire will be
VERY slow...)
pcANYWHERE license agreement and downloading instruction
Where To Download Winsock Applications (eg. Telnet, FTP etc) ?
It will save you a few correspondence exchange if you could provide
the following information:
Updated 12 Nov 1996
