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News Authentication: Information and Setup

What is news authentication?

News authentication allows Prairienet members who are using ISPs other than UIUC or Prairienet to use Windows or Mac newsreaders to read the 30,000+ newsgroups on Prairienet's news server, including Champaign-Urbana newsgroups (cmi.*). Authentication requires a valid Prairienet login and password. A Limited Membership ($35/year) provides the necessary access.

Who needs news authentication?

Members who use Prairienet's PPP dialup or are on the UIUC network or dialup can access news.prairienet.org without any additional setup. If you have broadband and/or use a national ISP like Earthlink, AOL, etc., you will need to use authentication.

Why is my old setup not working anymore for authentication?

news.prairienet.org moved to a new server June 3, 2004. In keeping with across the board security upgrades to all Prairienet systems, authentication now requires a secure connection (SSL) as well. This means that your login and password information are being transmitted in encrypted form, safe from interception and misuse.

General Notes on Setup

We provide instructions for Outlook Express below. If you are using another Windows or Mac newsreader, please refer to your program's documentation. In general, setup for a secure connection (SSL) may NOT be an option during setup of a news account. You may need to check the general account settings or properties and find where your program lets you enable a secure connection (SSL) and possibly force authentication.

Setup Instructions for Outlook Express 6.0

These instructions cover setting up a new news account. If you already have an account set up, please doublecheck all your settings to make sure they match the ones entered below.
  1. Open Outlook Express
  2. On the opening page under Newsgroups, click on: Set up a Newsgroup account
  3. Select "Create a new Internet news account", click Next.
  4. Enter name, click Next.
  5. Enter email address
  6. For News (NNTP) server, enter: news.prairienet.org
  7. Check 'My news server requires me to log on'. Click Next.
  8. Enter account name and password (your Prairienet login and password). Click Next.
  9. Click Finish.
  10. You'll be prompted "Would you like to download newsgroups from account you added?"
  11. Answer No since there is additional setup required.
  12. On the top menu bar, select Tools, Accounts
  13. Select the News tab and highlight news.prairienet.org
  14. Click on Properties
  15. Select the Advanced tab
  16. Check "This server requires a secure connection (SSL)." Click Ok.
  17. Click Close to close the Internet Account window.
  18. You will be returned to the opening Outlook Express window. Click on the Read News link.
  19. You'll be asked: "You are not subscribed Would you like to view a list of available newsgroups now?" Click on Yes.
  20. You will see: "Downloading a list of newsgroups available on the server." This may take a few minutes. The Prairienet news server offers over 30,000 newsgroups.
  21. You can now search for and subscribe to newsgroups of interest. Please refer to the Help for Outlook Express for further information on how to use the newsreader.

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Prairienet Community Network
is part of the Community Informatics Initiative
at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
http://www.prairienet.org/
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Last modified January 6, 2005 by prairienet.support@gmail.com.