OIT > Network Services > Modems > 1998 Modem Status and Request

UCI Modem Pool Status and Request for Input
March 1998

Executive Summary

Currently, UCI's Office of Information Technology (OIT) operates a low-end modem service accessible by all members of the campus community. The modem service allows 300 simultaneous 14.4kbaud connections; it has not been upgraded significantly since 1995 when OIT announced plans to freeze the modem service at this speed and level. UCI faculty, staff and students have been encouraged to use commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs -- dial-up network access providers) for higher quality access.

This document has the following goals:

1. Informing the campus that the current UCI "free modem pool" will most likely need to be removed from service by June 30, 1999, with the possibility that subsets of the pool will need to be removed from service earlier than that.
2. Summarizing the current situation with ISPs and seeking campus input concerning broadening their use.
3. Sharing options for replacing the free modem pool and seeking input on those options. Options include ceasing on-campus modem service in favor of ISPs, seeking funding for a full-service UCI modem pool, initiating a user-fee based UCI service, and doing modest upgrades on the existing pool to sustain a minimal on-campus service.

The cost of creating, maintaining and supporting an on-campus modem service of reasonable quality and capacity is estimated to be in the vicinity of $500,000 per year. Currently, OIT spends about $150,000 annually on modem service, and would require additional funding to support a higher quality service.

Background

UCI modem access became a severe problem during the 1994/1995 fiscal year. In previous years, OIT had increased the size of the free modem pool from 40 to 220, but it had not been enough to handle the rapid increase in demand. People dialing up received frequent busy signals, making access unpredictable and frustrating.

In May 1995, OIT announced it would expand the modem pool to 300 14.4kbaud modems and then freeze modem service at that level and speed. OIT installed the new modems during the summer of 1995, and also took several other steps: modem access was restricted to campus-users only, an express modem pool with a 20 minute limit was created, and a fee-based service for departments requiring enhanced service was initiated.

These steps significantly improved modem access for the 1995/1996 school year, but access once again became a severe problem in 1996/1997. In March, 1997, OIT implemented 2 hour time-outs on the modem pool, which limited any single modem session to no more than 2 hours in length. The time-outs were successful and made it much easier for campus users to gain modem access.

Current UCI Modem Pool Status

The same 1995 modem pool remains in service today, with only the minor modifications to operating parameters (described above) having been made over the years to deal with modem congestion. Current problems with the modem pool include:

1. Busy signals may not be as common as they once were, but they are still frequent during peek usage periods.
2. The modems are too slow for today's network applications. UCI modems are 14.4kbaud whereas current technology allows 33.3kbaud and 56kbaud speeds over standard phone lines.
3. The combination of 2 hour limits and slow modems make it impossible to download large data sets or software packages.
4. The modems are difficult to support - the current service is implemented using discrete modems, phone lines, racks, and terminal servers, without any software management tools. The age of the modems is such that failures are becoming more frequent. The modems and user software kits are not able to be configured in the most ideal way for ease of use.
5. The difficulty of support means that modem users are more likely to encounter problems when they attempt to dial-up. "Bad modems" can create dial-up problems for 100's of users until they are manually detected and corrected.

In October of 1998, the modem pool will reach an important milestone when the vendor of the modem pool "terminal servers" (Cisco systems) will no longer support those devices. Although the equipment could continue to function for a period of time, OIT will find it difficult to maintain the current service in a predictable manner after October of this year.

Internet Service Providers

The Internet Service Provider market-place has been very active during the last 5 years. UCI has gained experience working with Dial-up ISPs such as Pacific Bell Internet, Sprint, America OnLine, and Netcom. Cox Cable has also implemented their cable-based "COX@Home" Internet service in parts of the county, including University Hills.

Due to competition and other factors, many ISPs have been forced to change their business plans, and some have gone out of business. Netcom, who once offered UCI a less-expensive unlimited access service, discontinued that service for new users in 1997. OIT has spent a good deal of time working with Pacific Bell Internet, who still offers campus users an unlimited access service for $14.95 monthly. Pacific Bell has informed us that this cost will increase in February of 1999; they and other providers have discovered that unlimited service is more costly to provide than they had expected. Costs for ISP service may continue to climb and will definitely be more than $20/month for unlimited access. In the future, ISPs will more frequently offer limited access services (a certain amount of hours of access each month for a flat fee, additional hours at greater cost).

Current issues with ISPs as a remote access option for UCI include:

1. Cost: Many at UCI (especially students) find $15-$25 per month a large amount to pay for a service that has been provided without fee in the past.
2. Performance: Although ISPs provide fast modems (33kbaud and higher), performance between them and UCI is often a problem as traffic must traverse congested parts of the Internet. Pacific Bell recently moved to a new backbone provider and now offers much improved performance to UCI. Sprint, who provides Internet access to the UC system overall, also provides better dial-up performance to UCI than other ISPs.
3. Access Restrictions: Some UCI network resources are restricted for use by members of the UCI community only. This restriction has often been implemented by use of the network address ("IP number") of the accessing computer. This technique does not work with ISPs, who have different network addresses than UCI's.
4. OIT has implemented two improvements in this situation: a) UCI newsgroups may now be accessed using UCInetIDs from any network provider and b) the Web Proxy Gateway allows access to restricted Web services. The proxy gateway will not work in all cases. This situation will require continued attention by OIT and other technical staff to build on UCInetIDs for a completely functioning authentication and authorization system. It will also require current technologies to stabilize, and UCI-wide and other coordination.
5. Quality of Support: Most ISPs offer 24 hour customer telephone support, which is an improvement over the 8-5 support offered for UCI's modems. People have reported a wide variety of experience with ISP support, some good, and some bad. Some support numbers are toll calls from Orange County, and there is often a period of time one has to wait on hold before getting help.
6. Reliability: While almost all ISPs provide modem service with infrequent or no busy signals, users have experienced a variety of other problems (servers going down, very poor performance at times, etc.).

OIT has had conversations with many ISPs about pricing and the quality of their offerings. ISPs are generally unwilling to enter into special arrangements at this point in time, due to past experiences.

OIT is improving its ability to support users who are accessing UCInet from ISPs. Documentation about ISP options, connecting to UCI resources via ISPs, and user experiences with ISPs is being written and collected. OIT' help desk is gaining experience using ISPs to better equip them to answer user questions.

Options for Replacing the Free Modem Pool

It is clear that UCI's current free-modem service must be replaced, as it is too slow and will be increasingly difficult to support. There are several options for replacing this service, each of which has its own costs, advantages, and disadvantages.

1. Use ISPs: As described above, commercial Internet Service Providers represent one option for modem service. UCI would discontinue its free service and expect students, faculty and staff to purchase their own ISP service. Faculty and staff doing UCI business remotely might turn to their departments to cover this cost.
2. "Free" Full-service modem pool: It is estimated that it would require approximately 1,000 modems to provide a reasonable amount of access to a majority of the UCI community. Usage patterns might require additional or fewer modems. 1,000 modems would cost about $500,000 annually to maintain and support ($175,000 for incoming phone lines alone). Such a service would require significant additional funding if current OIT services are to be maintained.
3. Full-service modem pool with user fees: UCI could create a full-service modem pool and charge users for it. Costs to users would likely be in the range of $5 to $15 per month. Unlimited access could not be included at this cost.
4. Minimal "free" modem service: For a significantly smaller amount of money than a full-service modem pool would cost, the existing modem pool could be modestly upgraded to provide minimal access for UCI faculty, staff and students. It may be difficult to avoid increased busy signals if the service is upgraded to a reasonable speed, as modem usage will increase.
5. Existing OIT Dedicated Modem Service: OIT has offered a service of "private modem pools" since 1995. At a cost of $45 per month per modem, a bank of modems can be set aside for restricted use by a department, or group of people.

Various combinations of these options are themselves options as well. For example, one scenario would be to provide a very basic modem service with a small amount of access for each person at UCI. People that needed higher levels of access would turn to ISPs. Departments could provide faculty and staff reasonable quality access by utilizing OIT' dedicated modem service.

Your Input

We would like your input. OIT is in the process of discussing issues and options with school administrators, faculty, and computing support staff. Questions we are asking include:

1. Given the difficulty the campus would have in finding $500,000 per year to operate an improved modem service, are people interested in OIT providing a modem service and charging users? It would be a serious undertaking to develop fee collection mechanisms, in addition to the modem pool itself.
2. What are people's experiences with ISPs? Are they a viable alternative to UCI's own modem pool? What are the unresolved issues with ISP usage?
3. Do people see advantages in maintaining a low-quality/limited-access modem service on-campus? Is this helpful for people with less access needs and/or limited budgets?

If you have input, please send e-mail to the OIT@UCI.EDU address, or contact Dana Roode, Associate Director, at DRoode@UCI.EDU or 824-5173.

Dana Roode, DRoode@UCI.EDU, March 23, 1998