This information is for Macintosh users who have Macintosh Operating System version 8.0 through 9.2.2. Mac users with earlier versions of the operating system can use FreePPP or MacSLIP to connect to the Internet via the UNET modem pools. For Macintosh OS X, please see the OS X instructions. Contact UNET User Support at 561-3587 (an Orono number) for help.
To determine which version of the Mac OS your Mac has installed, go to the Apple Menu and select the top item "About this Macintosh" or "About this Computer." The resulting "about" window will tell you which OS version you are running.
To use the UNET modem pools you will need a UNET account. If you don't have an account or are not sure what the password is, contact your Campus or Center computing support personnel, or call UNET User Services at 561-3587 (an Orono number).
Each UNET account can use the modems for 50 hours of dialup time per month without a charge. If you need more than 50 hours, you can pay for additional time at the rate of 30 cents per hour.
To use a modem with your Mac and UNET, you need to configure three control panels. You can open these control panels by going to your Apple Menu and selecting "Control Panels." You will see a long menu listing all your control panels. The three you are looking for are "Modem," "TCP/IP" and "Remote Access" (in early versions of Mac OS 8, the Remote Access control panel is called "PPP"). We will look at each of these below.
If you have a Macintosh with a built-in modem supplied by Apple, your Modem control panel should already be correctly configured and you can skip to the section on the TCP/IP control panel below. Otherwise, open the Modem control panel. You will see:
There is a pull-down menu at the top which lets you select which port the modem is using (modem port, printer port, PCI slot, etc.). Make sure the correct port is selected. For example, if you have an external modem plugged into a connector at the back of your Mac and the icon for that connector is a telephone, then you are using the modem port.
The "tone" and "sound" buttons should be set as shown, unless you don't have touch tone service (but everyone in Maine should now have touch tone).
Pull down the menu labeled "Modem" and select a modem brand from the list. If your modem model is not listed, then use the first modem on the list (3Com Analog 14.4K) because that choice is pretty standard. Note: if you have an internal modem supplied by Apple, the correct modem should already be selected in this list.
Close the Modem control panel, saving your settings.
Open the TCP/IP control panel. You will see:
Centered at the top are two pull-down menus labeled "Connect" and "Configure." These should read "PPP" and "PPP Server" as shown in the image above. If not, pull them down and select the PPP choice for each.
If PPP is selected in the two menus at the top, the rest of the TCP/IP window should look like the image except that there may be nothing written in the "Name Server" and "Search Domain" rectangles. You can leave those rectangles blank, or fill them in as shown. If you leave them blank the information will be provided by the PPP server when you connect.
Close the TCP/IP control panel, saving your new settings.
This control panel is the one you use to make your modem dial, and when you are done using the Internet, you use it to "hang up the phone" connection. Since you will need to use it to work with your modem, you may want to create an alias for it on your desktop to make it easy to find. If you need help doing this, contact the user support people at UNET, 581-3524, support@maine.edu.
Here is what you see when you open Remote Access:
UNET Modem Pool Phone Numbers
| Augusta : | 621-3310 | Bangor : | 990-0737 | |
| Bethel : | 824-0443 | Castine : | 326-2505 | |
| Damariscotta : | 563-6490 | Dover-Foxcroft : | 564-6588 | |
| Farmington : | 778-8300 | Fort Kent : | 834-3689 | |
| Lewiston : | 783-3872 | Machias : | 255-3216 | |
| Portland : | 780-4539 | Presque Isle : Houlton: |
764-8116 521-0169 |
|
| Saco : | 283-1146 | Unity : | 948-5190 |
Once you have configured the Remote Access (and Modem and TCP/IP) control panel, you can try making the connection. In the Remote Access control panel's window, click the "Connect" button. You should hear your modem dialing, you should hear modem screech sounds, and some messages about starting PPP, etc. Once the connection to the Internet is successful, you can run any Internet program such as Netscape, Internet Explorer, e-mail programs, First Class, etc. To disconnect (hang up the phone), open the Remote Access control panel and click the "Disconnect" button.