FAQ's
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Connections
Email Additional
questions
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Connections
What are common
Dial-up
Networking error codes and troubleshooting tips?
What
causes Frequently
Dropped
Connections?
What are RAIN's local
and
national
access phone numbers?
What are common Dial-up
Networking error codes and troubleshooting tips?
602 - The port is already open.
Restart your computer.
629 - The port was disconnected by the remote machine.
(Incorrect
username/password/phone number or simultaneous connections)
(Other programs
such as Internet Explorer or Outlook Express may have incorrect or
corrupted username
or password)
Delete and re-enter your
username
and password, then restart your computer.
630 - The port was disconnected due to hardware failure.
A restart of your computer may
solve this problem.
Otherwise
this most likely is a modem problem.
645 - Internal authentication error.
"Require Encrypted Password"
should
be unchecked.
650 - The Remote Access server is not responding.
You may need to delete and
reinstall your Dial-up Connection
software.
Use the Help menu system on your
computer for assistance.
(Dial-up
connection software issue)
678 - There is no answer.
Verify your computer is dialing
the correct phone number. If you are not sure what phone number
your computer is
dialing, delete the number that is shown and re-enter the correct phone
number, then restart
your
computer.
680 - There is no dial tone.
Turn off computer, check the phone
line between the wall jack and the computer, and restart the
computer.
691 - Access denied because username and/or password is invalid on the
domain.
Delete and re-enter your username
and password, then restart your computer.
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to Connections
What causes Frequently Dropped
Connections?
Frequently dropped connections may be caused by one of the following
occurrences:
Idle time-outs
If no information is being sent or received, RAIN will drop the
connection after about 20 minutes.
Your Web browser, email program, dial-up connection software
and modem may have similar idle time-outs.
Call Waiting
If you have Call Waiting activated and someone calls you while you
are line, you may lose your Internet connection.
Disable Call Waiting while you are online.
Currently logged in
You are only allowed 1 login per username at a time. If you are
already logged in, any additional attempts to login using the
same username will be immediately dropped.
Noisy phone line
If there is static on your phone line, the modem will drop the
connection speed until it finds the best speed it can maintain.
This process will sometimes drop the connection. Also check the
phone cord between your computer and the wall jack. Other devices
such as other phones, answering machines and fax machines, may cause
phone line interference.
Current modem software
Make sure you have the most current version of the software for your
modem installed on your computer. Identify the brand of modem and
go to their website to determine the most current version of the
software.
The website listed below provides more detailed explanations of these
errors and possible resolves.
http://www.modemsite.com/56k/dunserror.asp
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to Connections
What are RAIN's local and national
access phone numbers?
RAIN's
local phone numbers for Dial-up
Access
Santa Barbara, Goleta, Carpinteria, Montecito, Gaviota:
690-7246
Ventura, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Pt. Mugu:
804-7246
Solvang, Santa Ynez:
694-7246
Lompoc:
875-7246
Santa Maria, Guadalupe, Los Alamos, Nipomo:
361-7246
Cambria:
935-7246
San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Cayucos, Los
Osos, Grover Beach, Shell Beach,
Oceano:
597-7246
Atascadero, Templeton , Paso Robles, Creston:
591-7246
Camarillo. Moorpark, Simi Valley, Newbury Park, Santa Paula, West Lake
Village, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills,
Canoga Park, Fillmore, Piru:
876-7246
New Cuyama:
420-0155
**(MegaPop only number)
*Note: Please check your local
telephone book to confirm this number is
local, or call your operator for confirmation.
If
it is not local, please call RAIN and we will check for an alternative
dial-up number. These phone numbers
are
based on phone company information and may change.
RAIN is not responsible for
your telephone company charges.
MegaPop National Access phone
numbers for dial-up access
If you know the
phone number from which you will be connecting, you may
use the CallFinder lookup
located at this web page:
http://www.rain.org/CALL-FINDER-SOFTWARE-MEGAPOP/callfinder-rain.html
The listing by State is located at this web page:
http://www.megapop.net/locations_by_state.php
DISCLAIMER: The numbers
returned are the local calling numbers
according the latest information that we have available. They are not
guaranteed to be a flat-rate local call. That determination can only be
made by your local telephone provider. All information returned here
should be verified with that provider before it is used.
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Return
to the Dial-up Connection
page
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Email:
Common email
questions.
Why
should I do
Email Inbox
Maintenance?
How do I
use RAIN's
Web-based e-mail
access?
How do I control and report Spam?
Common
email questions
Where is my email stored?
If you use a POP account with an email client program, such as Outlook
Express, your mail is stored on the RAIN mail server, until you
download it. Every time you use your email client program it
will either automatically download all of your new messages since your
last use of the program, or you will need to request it to get your new
mail. You may set-up your email program to leave a copy of each
message on the server. This is helpful if you plan on accessing
your mail from more than one computer, such as work and home. If
you choose this option, be sure you are deleting your mail left on the
RAIN server in a timely fashion, so as to not exceed your mail
quota. Once your email quota, currently 20MB, is exceeded for a
period of 7 days, your incoming mail will be bounced back to the sender.
If you use the IMAP protocol your mail is stored on the RAIN mail
server.
Be sure to maintain your mail account, so that it does not exceed our
quota, currently 20MB.
Please read about
Email Inbox
Management
for additional information.
How do I access my email from
computers other than my own?
You may use RAIN’s web-based email program. Please read
How do I use RAIN's
web-based email?
Do I need to be online to
read or write my email?
No. Email programs allow you to “work off-line”. You only
need to be online to send or receive email.
I am having a problem sending
email.
When using a program such as Outlook Express to send and receive your
mail,
and you are also using
one of RAIN’s national access phone
numbers to
connect to the Internet, the following applies. You are assigned
an IP address that's outside of RAIN's network even though you are
still authenticated against our servers. Because your IP address
is foreign, we do not allow it to send email until it checks your
Inbox. This is a "check before send" verification since sending
email has no passwords built into its basic functionality. There
is a slight delay of about 5-10 seconds after you check your Inbox
before a 10 minute window is opened up to allow your IP address to send
through the RAIN servers.
This will also apply when an email account you create in your
email program is set to receive mail from one provider and set to send
mail through RAIN. Some Cal-Poly accounts are setup this way.
I am having a problem
receiving email.
If someone has sent you email, that you did not receive, it is usually
because the Internet Service Provider they are using is currently on a
spam list. When the email “bounces back” to them, it will
indicate this in the full header information. They will need to
contact their provider and then their provider must request they be
taken off the spam list. This is the common process for
preventing incoming spam. If they need help in viewing the "full
header" information, send them this link:
http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/19.html
If only some of your mail downloads to your computer while you are
receiving new messages, it is usually because the next message in line
is either corrupted or is large (multiple MB’s). The best way to
solve this is to go to www.rain.org and click on the email
link at the top of the page. Login with your RAIN username and
RAIN password. You are then able to then view the message that is
blocking your email download process. If it is not a large email,
it may be that this email is corrupted, and needs to be deleted.
Once the message is
deleted, you should log out of this web-based email program, and
reconnect using your regular email program. You should now be
able to receive the rest of your mail. If it appears to be a
large message, you can either wait for it to download, request the
sender resend it in smaller pieces, copy and paste it to your computer,
or just delete it so that your mail is able to download.
Return to Email
Why should I do
Email
Inbox Maintenance?
Frequent
inbox maintenance helps with server performance and speeds up accessing
your
inbox.
Follow
the steps below to keep your inbox under your quota.
Delete
unneeded mail regularly.
The best way to do this is to keep up with
inbox cleaning on a regular basis, daily if possible. That way the job
of
deleting doesn't pile up and become a huge chore.
File
important messages in folders. This not only helps with
keeping your inbox to a manageable size but also makes it easier for
you to
keep them organized and find something later.
Keep spam
out of your inbox. While RAIN does spam blocking and
filtering, additional spam software installed on your computer will
allow you
to further control the amount of spam that shows up in your inbox.
Download
e-mail attachments to your local computer and delete them from
e-mail.
E-mail attachments tend to take up a great deal of space, much more
than a
regular e-mail, so the best way to manage them is to save the
attachment and
delete the e-mail. If you need to keep the e-mail as well as the
attachment,
the next best solution is to save the entire e-mail to your computer
and delete
it from the server.
If you use
POP, be sure to set your e-mail client to delete messages
from server. Otherwise,
you may have a huge inbox of messages that you deleted or
filed on your local computer long ago, and you didn't even know they
were still
out there filling up your inbox on the server.
Go to this website to tell if you have the option to "Leave a copy
of Messages on the server"
activated.
http://www1.umn.edu/adcs/help/pop.html
Check
the amount of mail in your account, currently on RAIN’s server, by
going to www.rain.org and logging
into our web-based
email program by clicking on the Email link located in the upper right
hand
corner of the screen
Return
to Email
How do I use RAIN's web-based email access?
(How to use the Endymion MailMan
program)
You
may access your RAIN e-mail account from any Internet
connection by opening a Web Browser, Internet Explorer or Netscape
Navigator
for example, and entering the website address listed here:
http://pueblo.rain.org
Login by entering your
RAIN username, then your
RAIN
password and then
rain.org for the server name.
If you are not able to login, you may need to
change the
screen view to either
single pane interface, or
text
interface on the login page.
You also may be entering the wrong username
or password.
MailMan Standard edition information and screen shots
MailMan login
http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/walkthrough/login.htm
Message
list http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/walkthrough/messagelist.htm
Message
http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/walkthrough/message.htm
Message
composition http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/walkthrough/compose.htm
Return
to Email
How do I
control and report Spam?
Spam is defined as any unsolicited mail that shows up in
your inbox. While RAIN blocks known spam computers, as well
as using a filtering program to identify what is likely to be spam,
these measures alone will not block all the unwanted mail
that may be received. Each individual should configure their own
computer, based on their own preferences, using the
filtering options built into the email programs they are using.
It is recommended that you also install an anti-spam program
on your computer for further protection.
If you wish to report the spam to a central source who will act on
your behalf to help eliminate spammers, you may go to
spamcop.net located at:
http://www.spamcop.net/anonsignup.shtml
This website explains the process for collecting the
needed information for reporting spam.
Additional information may be found on the
World
Wide Web information page.
Return
to Email
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Additional
questions
Which Web Browser am I
using?
Which
Operating System am I using?
What is Telnet and how do I use
it?
What is
FTP and how do I
use it?
What is a RAIN virtually
hosted
website?
Where do I learn more
about using Search engines?
Which Web Browser am I
using?
When
you open your Browser program it may show the version
number as it opens. If not, check below for other ways to determine
the Browser
and version that is installed on your computer.
Common Browser programs are:
Internet Explorer
Netscape
Mozilla
Firefox
Safari
Opera
Windows computers.
Open your Browser
program,
click on the
Help menu and
choose
About.
The
window that opens will list
the version of the Browser program that you have just
opened. There may be more
than
one Browser program already installed
on your computer, and you may install additional Browser programs,
if you wish. It is recommended that you do have at least 2
different Browser programs installed on your computer, in case one
becomes corrupted. This way, you will have access to websites, in
case you need to download a new copy of your corrupted Browser.
Macintosh
computers.
Open
the Browser program and click
on the Apple menu,
then
choose About.
The window that opens will
list the version of the Browser program that you have
just opened.
Which Operating System am I using?
Before creating your new RAIN account it helps to
know which operating
system your computer is using.
Windows computers
When you turn on your computer, as Windows is loading, you will see a
screen showing which version of Windows your computer is running.
If your computer is already running, look for an icon named My Computer
on your Desktop screen.
(Your desktop screen, is the first screen you will see, once your
computer has stopped loading).
Place the mouse pointer over this icon and press the right mouse
button. From the pop-up menu that appears choose Properties, by
pressing the left mouse button.
A System Control Panel will open. Click on the tab named
General. This will display the version of Windows running
on your
computer.
Macintosh computers
When you turn on your computer, as it is loading you will see a screen
showing which version of of the Macintosh operating system your
computer is running.
If your computer is already running, look for the Program menu located
on the menu bar and choose Finder.
Click on the Apple menu (an icon of an
apple located in the upper left corner of the menu bar) and choose
About this computer.
A window will open showing the version of the Macintosh operating
system, you computer is running.
What is Telnet
and how do I use it?
Telnet is an Internet protocol for connecting to a remote computer,
such as RAIN’s email server.
You may use Telnet to connect to the RAIN computer and:
1) Check your email, without having to download it to your computer.
2) Change your RAIN password.
To Telnet to RAIN you can open a Browser program, such as Internet
Explorer or Netscape Navigator and enter
telnet://rain.org in the Address field.
Most versions of Windows and the current version of Macintosh should
support Telnet. On older computers you may have to add a
Telnet program to your computer.
On the login screen enter
your RAIN username. Press
the
Enter key and then enter your RAIN password. Press the enter key
again and you will be at the RAIN CENTRAL MENU screen. Choose
Electronic Mail to
access your email. Choose
Utilities and
then Change Your Password,
to change your RAIN password. You will then need to enter the new
password the next time you attempt to connect to the Internet
using your RAIN Dial-up Connection.
What is FTP and how do I use it?
An FTP, or File Transfer Program, is used to move
content from your
computer to your website.
A popular FTP program is WS_FTP.
You will find more information about this program at : http://www.ipswitch.com/products/ws_ftp/home/index.html
RAIN offers 5MB's of personal web space with every RAIN account.
Your personal website will be located at: www.rain.org/~username
(Where username is your RAIN
username).
You may also register a specific domain name of your own choosing, and
have RAIN host your website.
There is an additional charge for this service through companies other
than RAIN, and RAIN only offers
basic support for FTPing.
Anonymous FTP
ftp://ftp.rain.org/
If you log anonymously to our server (default for most browsers) you
will only gain access to a specially assigned area of the disk for
Anonymous uploads/downloads.
Personal website access by FTP
To access your home directory directly, you will
need to use the following URL in your browser:
ftp://yourusername:<
yourpassword>@rain.org/
(Do not enter the < > characters).
(yourpassword will be your
actual RAIN password)
Logging in this way will automatically make the FTP root your home
directory.
Or you can use a traditional FTP client.
Our FTP server puts you into your home directory by default no matter
what client.
The ftp client will need the following information: Your
username/password and the server name (coyote.rain.org)
Uploading to your website
Hosted site upload path
/home/www/yourhostedwebsitename/htdocs
Personal website site upload path:
/home/u2/users/yourusername/public_html
The server name is ftp.rain.org Also use this
for Host Name/Address in FTP client programs.
NOTE: Filenames are case sensitive.
What is a RAIN virtually hosted website?
RAIN will provide about 30MB's of storage space on its
computers to “virtually host” your website.
Once you have registered your domain name, such as
www.mywebsitename.com
contact RAIN to create space for your website.
There is an
additional fee for
hosting.
You will need to use an FTP program to move your website
content from your computer to RAIN’s.
While RAIN does provide basic FTP support, we do not provide
support for specific FTP programs.
See the What is FTP and how do I use
it? for additional information.
Where do I learn more about using Search
engines?
Visit these websites for information on the numerous search engines,
their features and statistics.
http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/
http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/ToolsTables.html
Links
to other websites are intended for informational use only.
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Last updated 3/18/05