23 August 00 | New modems and a new dial-in access number mean faculty and staff trying to reach the campus's computer networks from home should have an easier go at it.

Lucent Technologies has donated 600 modems to the campus's free dial-in modem pool and provided a grant for a support person.

By giving the campus the free modems, Lucent can test a new modem server the company is developing for use by Internet service providers. Lucent will be monitoring problems associated with the modems and use the information to develop modems compatible with a wide variety of computers on the market.

If a user has consistent trouble, and it turns out that the user's modem is incompatible with the Lucent code due to a Lucent problem, then campus computing officials will be asked to contact the user and find out what kind of modem is used and possibly other details.

If users do not want to participate in this test, they should use the other dial-up numbers.

The number for the test modems is (510) 647-5117. There is a two-hour time limit, and only PPP connections are allowed. Telnet and rlogin are not supported.

For questions or problems with the modems, send e-mail to lucent@café.berkeley.edu. Users also may call 643-3989 or go to the Lucent support desk at Moffitt Microcomputing Facility.