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[old34]

This one's for those who use Mac OSX (iMac, Macbook, Macbook Pro) only. Windows and Linux users please stay out.

The FAO at the university I will be teaching at in the fall sent a very nice 30+ page "Guide for Foreign Experts Teaching at XYZ University" a couple of weeks ago. I read it at the time he sent it, but I was focused on other things like apartment photos and such. I gave it a read-through more thoroughly today and this one section jumped out at me.

According to the internet regulations of the university, an internet account needs to be created first to use the internet and 20 Yuan internet fee per month for unlimited access will be charged to the account. Please follow the instructions to create an account and get connected to the internet:
....
 Download and install the campus internet access software to your computer (Click these words 客户端下载 on the screen that always pops up whenever you try to open a website.)
6. With the software installed, a new logo will appear on your screen. Double click it and log in with your internet account and the pin number (the same as account number), and then you will be connected

Now, I could ask him about this, but I know he is on vacation. (FAOs don't like to be bothered with trivial stuff like this whilst on vacation. Plus, it makes you look like a High Maintenance FT, an impression I don't want to give.)

So, here's the question...I've heard tell of these Internet Access softwares for uni systems, but have never had them on the systems at the unit I've worked at. But TBC (This Being China) and Chinese unit being rather luddite in their IT structure, I'm wondering if this "software download" to access the system is, like most Chinese banks' software to access their system, Windows/IE centric. I.e. an exe file.

I don't want to have to open a Parallels session on my Macs simply to login to the university system.

I don't know the system they're using (and if I asked the FAO he would probably have no idea WHAT I was asking) but I'm hoping that one or more of youse Mac users work at a uni that has such a system and can report favorably that such a system can handle a Mac login from Mac OSX.

Yes, I realize that this whole situation may/will muck with my Very Passable Nicety, but one step at a time.

[Stil]

I don't know if it's the same thing, but my school had an application I had to use that would then connect me to the internet and it was Windows only. It was Windows XP only until earlier this year. After a year, I just bought my own internet access not just because of this but also because their internet sucked and would be basically unusable at peak hours. There was also a set number of IP addresses available that you had to rotate through. You might log on and have a conflict because someone stole the IP address you were using before. Very Passable Nicety didn't work.

[old34]

I don't know if it's the same thing, but my school had an application I had to use that would then connect me to the internet and it was Windows only. It was Windows XP only until earlier this year. After a year, I just bought my own internet access not just because of this but also because their internet sucked and would be basically unusable at peak hours. There was also a set number of IP addresses available that you had to rotate through. You might log on and have a conflict because someone stole the IP address you were using before. Very Passable Nicety didn't work.

This is kind of what I was expecting but hoping NOT to hear. That they're still running XP systems in 2012.

[teacheraus]

I am on a university network connecting with what sounds like a similar thing to what you are describing. I have friends who are connecting using macs as well as people like me who are using windows computers... so it was possible to connect using the mac... You may or may not have problems with your nicety using the uni network. ( I have used mine successfully for more than 2 years now on the uni network.. but it took me a year to find one that would work on the uni network... The others automatically cut the connection when i tried to use them. But a 7 day trial on the one I use now proved that it worked.. and I have loved it ever since. It is definitely more problematic on the uni network.

[old34]

I'm not so worried about the Very Passable Nicety right now  as I said. I just want to be able to connect to the system from a Mac. My excellent Very Passable Nicety will be able to figure out the configuration from there. Stil's post scares me; your's gives me hope on the connecting to the backbone issue.

[old34]

And could we please get rid of this "Very Passable Nicety"  transformation. It's like the "Google to Giggle" transformation. Annoying and unnecessary.

[Nolefan]

re Mac OS, it's tough to answer without knowing what the university is using. There are way too many different types of software used to regulate access to the interwebs in China. That said, owning a mac might be a great way to get out of using a crippled internet connection and getting your own ADSL where uni staff doesn't spy on your digital whereabouts or dictate what you can access. Use it to your advantage and pay an extra 100 rmb/month for your own ADSL access. it's worth it.

re Very Passable niceties... at this point in time, it's still a necesary evil. It might be annoying but it has kept us under the radar for years and we mean for it to remain that way. Call it extreme paranoia if you will but it's business reality for me. feel free to PM if you have further questions about this

 

[Borkya]

There might be one way to get around the problem. Use wifi?

When I first came to my school I did have to download something onto my PC (but I'm not sure what it was exactly, or if they had pc and mac versions--I only had a pc at the time) and I only used the internet with the cord plugged in. By the time I got my mac, I had wifi installed and I have never plugged the internet directly into my mac and I've never had a problem.

Though, when the wifi was setup I was still using my PC so they installed it using my PC. Not sure if you would have a problem with the install on a mac.

[old34]

Thanks for all the replies. I do need to know more about the specific set-up I realize.

I've already thought about the ADSL route, but this school seems to keep a pretty tight grip on their apartments. For example, in the CONTRACT, it says no gas cooking is allowed and you can't bring in your own gas canisters. (Maybe they've had problems with explosions or suicides before ) If it's available, I'd still probably get it over the school system if only for the speed. But the way the whole Internet system is set up there, I think it highly unlikely.

Again, I need more information. The FAO is taking a day off from his vacation this week to pick up my FEC at the local FEB so I'm sure he'll call me that day. I'll be sure to ask him about the Internet issues then.

[old34]

Here's the reply I got from the FAO today:

Thanks for your question. This software is a windows program, but I think it can also be used in a Mac system as I have had teachers who successfully connected to the internet from their Mac.

Not much to go on so I guess I'll see what happens when I get there in August.