The campus will end its dial-up modem Internet service on Jan. 1. The dial-up access has been free to faculty, staff and students since 1997, and demand has dwindled the last three years as people switched to commercial Internet service providers that offer much faster connections.

The shutdown is part of Information and Educational Technology's $1.46 million in budget cuts for 2008-09.

The service consists of three dial-up modem pools, one each for students, staff and faculty; it provides off-campus access to the Internet and to the UC Davis computing network.

IET-Communications Resources studied recent demand for the dial-up modems, and then reduced modem capacity on July 7. The remaining capacity will satisfy the demand expected for the rest of 2008, although users might get a busy signal if they dial in during a period of high use.

Alternatives to the dial-up service include DSL, cable modem or another dial-up link, from commercial ISPs. Also, various cellular phone companies offer a wireless alternative in mobile data cards.

Read more about the end of the modem services. Direct questions to IT Express, the campus computing help desk, at (530) 754-HELP (4357).

Secure Socket Layer

Starting this fall, IET-Communications Resources will offer a new service, Secure Socket Layer Virtual Private Network, or SSL VPN, to campus departments and organizations. People with UC Davis computing accounts can use the service to connect to the campus network, allowing them access to restricted computing resources. The UC Davis Library already uses the service. (Read more about SSL VPN.)