Education

PenTeleData and Manheim
Central School District

When Manheim Central School District began outgrowing its existing Internet and networking solutions, they began looking for higher performance options while upgrading their existing network infrastructure. They needed high-speed Wide Area Network connectivity and flexible bandwidth. Eventually, they came to PenTeleData-who offered them a complete package that could meet their needs affordably.

Manheim Central School District is located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Their mission statement, "Empowering individuals through development of academic and social skills to become responsible citizens in a changing world," is even more achievable with the assistance of technology in the classroom. In fact, with the help of PenTeleData, Manheim Central now has high-speed Internet access in every classroom. But, how did they reach this point in technological advancement?

Manheim Central chose PenTeleData for its strong customer service attitude and full range of product and service offerings as well as PenTeleData's willingness to meet or exceed any needs that its customers may have.

The district now has fiber connections between the schools as well as Burstable Internet service. These services are primarily used to interconnect the schools in the district to a central location and to provide access to the Internet. The fiber connections between the schools essentially create a large network for over 3,000 students and faculty which allows for centralized access to technology resources including fileservers, e-mail, and Internet access.

"Each and every classroom now has high-speed access to the Internet, and the capabilities that come with that quality of service," explains Christopher Gantz, Director of Technology for Manheim Central. In particular, they appreciate the flexibility provided by PenTeleData's pay-as-you-go Burstable Internet service.

"We are tickled with the Burstable Internet Service that we recently purchased. Burstable Internet service gives us a 10 megabit-per-second (Mbps) pipe at our disposal when we need the bandwidth, while allowing us to pay for only the bandwidth that we actually use. This drastically increases our abilities to leverage high-bandwidth application throughout the district, without the extreme costs for dedicated high-bandwidth links. In essence, it's bandwidth on a budget."

Manheim Central finds the service to be very reliable-particularly now that they have their own internal network well-established and in order. Mr. Gantz adds that they are pleased with the level of support and communications received from PenTeleData's Network Control Center (NCC). "The online ticket status information is very valuable, as is our ability to monitor our actual bandwidth utilization via the graphs provided via a webpage." He also adds that receiving status information on network maintenance that could affect the district's service is excellent.

Manheim Central says they could not have the quality of technology infrastructure today without the services provided by PenTeleData. The district is now only beginning to take full advantage of the benefits this technology has to offer. As they progress, their main focus will be on utilization of technology in the classrooms, with an emphasis on using the Internet for research, communications, and videoconferencing among other potential applications.

Some of the district's technology goals for the future include deeper integration of technology into the classrooms, adding wireless connectivity throughout the district, distance-learning, streaming audio and video to the classrooms, as well as implementing Voice over IP (VoIP) services throughout the district. VoIP would allow for telephone services to be integrated with data and Internet services-eliminating or reducing the need for standard telephone service.

What do they envision for the school district in the next ten years? "The sky's the limit. Bandwidth needs will only increase over time. Higher speed links will be required for WAN connections, VoIP will be the norm, and videoconferences will be standard communication techniques using your phone."

Dear valued customers,

It's springtime again, and we all know what that means-warmer temperatures, longer days and more time to get out and about. Speaking of getting out and about, if you haven't heard, PenTeleData is 'Unleashing' the Internet with a Wi-Fi hotspot service called ProLog Unleashed, so no matter where you go in our service area, there is always somewhere to sit down and surf the Internet.

Before you get to your spring cleaning, take a moment and look over this quarter's newsletter-we have some exciting new products and services to tell you about! Not only is wireless Internet access taking off with ProLog Unleashed, but be sure to check out the article about our new Wireless Home Networking product offered by PenTeleData's cable company partners-it means freedom from Internet-related wires in your own home.

Aside from our new and exciting new products and services, our feature story this second quarter of 2005 is the Manheim Central School District-one of our valued commercial customers and our partner in education. Learn how Manheim Central uses technology to take education to a higher standard.

Finally, if you have problems with pop-ups, spyware and adware on your computer, don't miss this month's article about spyware. Learn how spyware makes its way onto your computer, what programs to use for removal and some tips on preventing those pesky spyware infections from ever getting started.

So please, take a moment to enjoy the newsletter, and we'll chat again in the summer!

Sincerely,
John H. Williams
PenTeleData - General Manager

Wireless Home Networking (continued...)

PenTeleData Technical Support will cover such issues as setup of the equipment using either ethernet or USB, configuration of the wireless networking software, and troubleshooting the cable modem itself. Ambit technical support will handle troubleshooting and installation issues with the wireless network cards and issues with controllable router functions as well as connectivity issues within the wireless network.

Wireless Home Networking products will be available for purchase and installation through our cable company partners. The cable company will install the equipment just as they currently do for regular cable modem installations.

With Wireless Home Networking, you can now have multiple devices or computers connected to the Internet via your ProLog Express cable modem with full support from PenTeleData and Ambit, so go ahead-take full advantage of your ProLog Express broadband Internet service with Wireless Home Networking from your local PenTeleData cable partner.

Questions:

It's happened to nearly everyone at some point-you're just surfing the Internet when your computer suddenly starts acting crazy-pop-up windows fly open and cover your desktop, new toolbars appear in Internet Explorer-it's like your computer suddenly has a mind of its own! Well, thankfully, it really doesn't. Your computer probably just has a nasty spyware infection.

Spyware does exactly what you think it does just by looking at the name-it sneaks onto your computer and spies on what you do. It is also the source of many of those annoying pop-ups we all hate so much. Some pieces of spyware are more conspicuous than others, but they all cause the same kinds of problems. Spyware will also report the information it gathers to its creator. So, how does it creep onto your computer in the first place?

To answer that question, ask yourself a few more questions: Have you ever downloaded and installed free software? If you have, did you ever read the part of the installation process that asks you to agree to something? That something is called the End User License Agreement. With some free software, part of that agreement is the installation of spyware or adware. These programs often masquerade as legitimate advertising software, but some are more intrusive than others and will frequently report personal information found on the "infected" computer along with the information they are meant to collect such as Internet surfing habits.

Some spyware doesn't always rear its ugly head the moment it's installed. Consequently, you may not see the effects of spyware until you do something to trigger it. So, keep in mind that the website you are on when you first notice the spyware may not be the one that actually installed it. In many cases, it is difficult to trace the exact source of the spyware, and ultimately, the best course of action is to remove it and move on.

You may have also heard another term often used along with spyware, and that's adware. What's adware? Adware is basically spyware that was made to deliver pop-up advertisements based upon your web surfing habits. Adware is usually more benign than some kinds of spyware which can record and steal such information as usernames, passwords, and other information. Adware normally just tracks your web surfing habits and delivers what it thinks is appropriate advertising.

Back to your desktop that is covered in pop-up windows. You may notice that your computer is now running ridiculously slow. What do you do? First, you need an anti-spyware program-more than one is even better. There are two anti-spyware programs that together, can rid you of 99% of all spyware: Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy. Ad-Aware is available as a free download, but you'll get more features if you purchase it. Spybot Search & Destroy is a completely free program available for download. So, how do you go about taking back your computer?

Once you have both programs downloaded and installed, each should be updated and run-one at a time. Any spyware that is found should be removed, and make sure you follow any directions given by the program for removing particular pieces of spyware or adware. If you need to purchase Ad-Aware for the extra features it offers, you can purchase it directly from PenTeleData's professional Integration Services department. To learn more click here or call PenTeleData at 800.804.5783.

As with viruses, preventative maintenance is always the best practice-you should update and run your anti-spyware software once a week, or more frequently if you find that you have a lot of spyware each time. Also, keep your web browser and other system software up-to-date with the latest patches. It's harder for spyware to install itself without your knowledge if your system is fully patched.

There isn't a whole lot more you need to know in order to effectively fight spyware. Good preventative maintenance combined with knowing how to deal with a more serious incident will keep your computer free of most spyware.