Charley Kline
Dial-on-demand will operate transparently. The idea is to occupy telephone system and CCSO network resources when you are actually making use of your network connection, and to free them up when you are not. Because ISDN call setup takes only about a second, you'll notice only a short pause in your network connection if your call had been torn down by the router in the middle of your session.
In general, you should try to avoid leaving applications running on your home machine which generate continuous network traffic and thus force the ISDN call to be "nailed-up" or active 24 hours per day. Because call setup takes so little time and there is no contention for resources, there is absolutely no reason to force the call to stay up. If you notice the router's bri light is remaining on, indicating an active call, even when you are not using UIUCnet, you should investigate what application is running on your systems that could be causing continuous network traffic.
Allowing dial-on-demand to work as it was designed will allow much more efficient use of central resources, and may result in a reduction in monthly service charges if usage is reasonable enough to allow CCSO to overbook central resources while still guaranteeing no busy signals.
In order to install your ISDN line, Ameritech installers will need access to your residence. You'll be informed of your due date; you can also expect a call from Ameritech to inform you when they have scheduled the installation. You'll need to be home for the installer.
You will also be charged a monthly rate which recovers the Ameritech line charges and equipment rental from CCSO. This monthly rate will vary depending on whether Ameritech needs to install repeater equipment in your line (necessary if you are located beyond a certain distance from the telephone switching station), and again on the speed of connection you desire.
Below is a summary of the costs involved. All charges will be issued by CCSO; you will not pay anything directly to Ameritech.
| Type of Service | Installation | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 64kb/s | $150.00 | $100.00 |
| 128kb/s | $200.00 | $118.00 |
| 64kb/s, repeater req'd | $150.00 | $122.50 |
| 128kb/s, repeater req'd | $200.00 | $140.50 |
The demarcation line for this service is the Ethernet connector on the CCSO-supplied router. This means the customer must supply, operate, and maintain everything on their side of the Ethernet connection point. This may include transceivers, hubs, cabling, terminators, taps, Ethernet cards, and host software. CCSO will supply, operate, and maintain everything on its side of the Ethernet connection point, including the router in your house.
Network services provided will include a small IP subnet with space for five (thirteen if justified) hosts, and IP connectivity to the Internet. The routers will take care of establishing ISDN connectivity when traffic demands it, and tearing it down when the connection is idle.
If you will be charging service costs to a department instead of being billed yourself, you will need to have the order form signed by an designated person in your department to authorize CCSO to issue charges to the account number you supply.
One difference to be aware of with ISDN wiring is that ISDN is somewhat intolerant of branches and "dead ends" in the wiring. If you have "forks" in your in-house wiring (not typical of professional installations) or if you connect the ISDN router in the middle of your in-house wiring and allow the pair you use to continue on, you may find that your ISDN line will not work or works poorly.
You're free to have Ameritech do your inside wiring work for you when they install the ISDN network interface, but be aware you will be charged time and materials over and above the installation fee quoted above. Check in the front part of the telephone book for their rates.
The back of the router looks like this.
You'll have to connect one of the two Ethernet ports (the 10BaseT port or the 15-pin AUI port depending on how your in-home Ethernet is constructed) to your network. You cannot use both Ethernet ports at the same time; if a transceiver is plugged into the AUI port, the 10BaseT port will be disabled. The two ports are provided merely for convenience and flexibility in connecting to your home network.
You'll then have to connect the ISDN BRI port to the wall jack where your ISDN line terminates. Use a regular old modular telephone cable. The ISDN BRI connector is wider than a standard RJ-11 modular plug; don't worry about this. Just plug straight in until it clicks.
Be careful: The 10BaseT port and the ISDN BRI port are both identical jack styles (RJ-45). Be sure you're plugging into the right one.
Finally, plug the wall transformer into an outlet that is not switched (has power all the time), and then the power connector into the router. The router has no power switch and so will power on as soon as you plug it in.
The front of the router has several indicators on it:
After the con light goes out indicating a successful self-test, the bri light will continue to flash for up to fifteen seconds while the router establishes communication with Ameritech's phone switch. Then it should go out.
Normal behavior for the router when absolutely nothing else is going on will be the pwr light on, with all other lights off and the act light blinking every 30 seconds as a routing update gets transmitted to your Ethernet.
It's very important that your router be powered and connected to the ISDN line at all times. The router provides a signal (called U-loop sync) to the phone switch as a part of the ISDN line protocol. If this signal is absent for more than a day or so, the phone switch's diagnostic routines will assume something is wrong with your line, and will put it into maintenance mode so it can be looked at. Your connection will not work in this case, and it may take several days after you reconnect the router before the line comes back up.
First, make sure the router is healthy. The pwr light should be on, and the bri light should be off. If the bri light is flashing, it indicates that the router is unable to communicate with the telephone network. Call 244-1000 to report the problem and be prepared to provide the telephone numbers for your ISDN line (from your information sheet).
If the router appears okay, make sure your host network configuration is correct. Check the address, netmask, and default route against the paper you were given with your router. If they are correct, try to communicate with the router itself, by "pinging" the default router address. If it responds, your local network configuration is probably okay.
Next, verify that when you attempt to contact a remote machine, that the bri light on the router comes on and stays on. This means that the router is recognizing that you want to access the Internet and is establishing a call to CCSO. If the light comes on but goes out again after a second or two, this indicates either a software problem with your router or a problem with the central routing equipment on campus. If the bri light does not come on at all, it indicates some sort of routing problem on your local Ethernet whereby packets destined for the Internet are not being properly sent to your ISDN router.
You should call the CCSO NOC at 244-1000 if you suspect a problem with CCSO's equipment. The NOC can try some diagnosis procedures as well and will either refer you to the Resource Center for help with your local setup, or will refer your problem to either CCSO's networking staff or make an Ameritech service call. The NOC's hours are Monday through Friday, 6am to 10pm, Saturday and Sunday 6am to 6pm.
Typical home Ethernet networks will be one of two types. The first is 10Base2 ("thinwire") which makes use of 50 ohm coaxial cable connecting the stations together. The second is 10BaseT which makes use of twisted-pair telephone cable to connect pairs of stations together. Which type you choose will depend on the number of stations you wish to connect to your home Ethernet, what kind of cable you are willing to put up with, and what type of Ethernet connectors your computers have.
If your computers have thinwire Ethernet cards, it probably makes the most sense to design a thinwire network. You will need to buy one thinwire transceiver to convert the 15-pin AUI connector on the CCSO-supplied router to thinwire. To the BNC connector on that transceiver, you will need to connect a "T" connector, and from the ends of the "T" you will need to run 50 ohm coaxial cable to another "T" connected to your computer's BNC Ethernet connector. Be sure the coaxial cable you use is of very high quality. The cheaper kind you can buy from Radio Shack doesn't conform to the Ethernet specification and could cause you problems.
After all stations including the ISDN router have been fitted with "T" connectors and cable run between them, you must put 50 ohm terminators on the empty sides of the "T"s on the ends of the run. The final result will look something like the following figure.
If you have only one device with a 10BaseT card then you need only obtain a "crossover cable". The cable that came with your card will not work. CCSO's router and your card were both designed to connect to an Ethernet repeater (hub), not to each other, which is why the special cable is required. This would look something like this.
The crossover cable trick is an inexpensive way to connect one device to your router, but will not work if you have more than one 10BaseT device. In this case you will have to purchase a small Ethernet hub. You can get a fairly high-quality 8-port hub for anywhere from $110 to $250 through any of the mail-order computer supply stores. For a given number of ports, the more expensive brands are typically better quality; you get what you pay for. With a hub, you do not use a crossover cable but instead use ordinary ("straight-through") 10BaseT cables such as the one that came with your Ethernet cards. You use a straight-through cable to connect all your computers to the hub, and another to connect the ISDN router to the hub. This configuration looks something like the following diagram.
It is possible, through more complicated network topologies, to design "hybrid" networks which are a combination of 10BaseT and 10Base2, or which make use of the 15-pin AUI connectors directly, but such types of LANs are beyond the scope of this document.
ECE Stores, in the basement of Everitt Lab sells thinwire coax, "T" connectors, 50 ohm terminators, and thinwire and 10BaseT transceivers, and straight-through 10BaseT cables, but not crossover cables or 10BaseT hubs. Students may charge purchases on their ID; faculty and staff must charge their department via a Stores Voucher. All the required cabling and hookup hardware discussed above, including 10BaseT minihubs and crossover cables, is also available from several mail-order network supply houses.
Keep the router in a relatively quiet place in your home, free from potential spills and dirt. Do not allow direct sunlight to fall on it. Do not keep it in a non-air-conditioned room.
You will be required to sign a document acknowledging your financial responsibilities in the event the router is damaged through negligence or not returned.
If you accept and use the UIUCnet@home service, you will be charged the Ameritech installation fee and will be charged the monthly rate for your type of service at the beginning of each service month.
At no time will UIUCnet@home service be allowed to continue after a customer moves without proof that the new resident has the proper University affiliation.