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Clock Tower in the City Hall Plaza
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Troubleshooting and Frequently Asked Questions
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- Question:
- How long will the service run? Is
it really Free?
- Answer:
- This wireless Internet service is free of charge and relatively unrestricted.
Anyone who wants to use it may, as long as they have purchased the appropriate
wireless hardware and read our acceptable use
policy.
Internet services, network hardware, technical support and design support for
the project has been donated free of charge by the Community
Partners for the project. The
service is completely free, other than the cost of your own
equipment, and there is no pay service offered during the project.
- Question:
- Do you have a mail server that we
can use to send outgoing email on the Digital Downtown wireless network?
- Answer:
- Unfortunately no. That would open the network to SPAM distribution.
If your e-mail provider has a web interface (allows you to check and
send e-mail through a web browser) than this service will work.
Trouble Connecting:
- Question:
- I can't seem to connect; it is my
first time connecting (or my connection worked before and suddenly
stopped).
- Answer:
- There are three common causes of this
problem.
- You have cookies turned off or cookie privacy set too high.
(See Cookies)
- You have a proxy server identified in your web browser, such
as Internet Explorer. (See Proxy Servers)
- If you can SEE the connection screen, but not get it
to work (clicking on "Connect" never completes the
operation) you may need to delete your Temporary Internet
Files. (See Deleting Temporary Internet Files)
- Question:
- Do I have to have Cookies enabled
to connect?
- Answer:
- YES. The Digital Downtown
server uses, in part, Cookies to first establish your connection.
If you have Cookies turned off, you may not be able to connect. In
Internet Explorer, you can set your Cookies by going
to Tools from the main menu bar, Internet
Options, and click the Privacy tab at the
top of the new window. Cookies should be set to Medium Privacy.
- Question:
- Does the Digital Downtown use /
work with a Proxy Server?
- Answer:
- NO. If you have a
proxy server set, you will not be able to connect through the Digital
Downtown. In Internet Explorer, click on Tools
from the main menu bar, Internet Options, and click
the Connection tab at the top of the new window to
find where your proxy server information is kept. Refer to your web
browser's help section on how to set (or remove) proxy server configurations.
- Question:
- I can't seem to connect, but have
connected before.
- Answer:
- You may need to reconnect if you have trouble loading a page, or
have trouble accessing the Internet after you have restarted your
PC or PDA, left it for an extended period, or have been roaming (see
Roaming). To do so, delete your Temporary Internet
Files and Cookies to allow the Digital Downtown servers to reset your
connection. Then try loading the page again. For help on
how to do this, refer to the Help section of your web browser, as
each one is different.
- Question:
- How can I roam without being disconnected?
- Answer:
- You MUST set up your SSID (Service
Set Identifier) to "digital downtown"
(lowercase, without quotes) which will make sure your device only accepts
signals from Digital Downtown Access Points (APs).
This will prevent you from accidentally accepting a different wireless
signal and losing your connection.
Instructions on how to configure your SSID vary depending on your device; refer
to your wireless card documentation for specific instructions.
If you do not set your SSID you may be disconnected when another wireless signal
interferes with the Digital Downtown signal, and your wireless network card
attempts to connect to it (thereby dropping the Digital Downtown connection);
this can happen even when you are sitting still. With your SSID set, your card
will always listen only to the Digital Downtown signal and not be interrupted
by other signals.
- Question:
- How fast is your connection?
- Answer:
- The Digital Downtown has a full T1 supplied by the University of Florida.
Each connection is throttled to 512 kilobytes per second.
- Question:
- Is the Digital Downtown a secure connection?
- Answer:
- No it is not.
All data is unencrypted. Please be aware of this when sending sensative
information over the network. Anyone can walk into our coverage
area and use our service; this is to provide a free service to any
person at any time.
If you need to transmit data securely, you need to set up a Virtual
Private Network (VPN).
- Question:
- Can I use my Virtual Private Network
(VPN) connection
with the Digital Downtown service?
- Answer:
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN)
will work through the Digital Downtown. You must first connect to
the Digital Downtown service, and then connect your VPN server using
your VPN client software.
- Question:
- 802.11b or 802.11g... is the latter
compatible?
- Answer:
- Yes, 802.11g wireless networking cards are supposed
to be backwards compatible with the 802.11b model antennas and equipment.
However, this is not always
the case; save any receipts to such cards if you buy them.
- Question:
- Does this service work on Macintosh
computers?
- Answer:
- Yes, Digital Downtown will work with a Macintosh running OS 9.2 to
OSX and using a Wi-Fi (802.11b) compliant wireless networking card.
It may also work on older versions of the Macintosh Operating System,
but we do not have any test platforms to ensure this.
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