The University's dial-up service will be discontinued at the end of 2008. Notice of this has been sent to all active dial-up users on a number of occasions during the year.
At midnight on the night of 31 December 2008/1 January 2009, the dial-up service will automatically stop authenticating users. All current dial-up user accounts will expire, and the authenticators will shut down. Anyone who tries to connect after midnight will find that their username and password is refused. Anyone who is dialed-up at midnight will remain connected until either they hang up the phone line or we physically disconnect the equipment on 5 January 2009.
This service is not being replaced, and no alternative is available from the University. Dial-up users who wish to retain access to the Internet and/or e-mail from home should consider the services of one of the commercial Internet service providers. There are a number of different options for Internet access in Grahamstown, ranging from dial-up to ADSL to wireless. There are also a number of national and local Internet service providers with offices in town. We'd suggest that you chat to one of the these ISPs if you need help deciding which is the right option for you. (Look in the Yellow Pages or the local media.)
Those dial-up users who are entitled to a Rhodes e-mail address next year will still be able to access it after the dial-up service is discontinued. They will simply need to configure their e-mail client correctly. See help.ru.ac.za for more details. Note that we cannot offer support for this, however.