The information on this informal page should not be relied upon.
Introduction
This page is intended for people connected to the Open University network, ie it will probably be of interest to you if your IP address in the following brackets (18.117.165.66) starts with either 137.108. or 194. 66 but see note 1.
Do not set any proxy for FTP - even if it works it will be slower
Use proxy for HTTPS (secure - tunnel - port 80) - see test 4
Web proxy settings
My 'unofficial' advice for computers used on the OU network is to set the web proxy details for each application to:
Manual
Old address 194.66.147.11 (until 27 April 2005 - details)
New address 194.66.146.22 (from 26 April 2005 - details)
Port 80
No proxy/directly connected:
Internet Explorer *.open.ac.uk 137.108.*.*
Netscape open.ac.uk
I think NS needs specific IP numbers (ie 137.108.xxx.yyy) but don't use them for NS unless you understand them.
Mac users can also put these details into their Internet Control Panel. You may prefer to consult the 'official' advice. Please be aware that my settings, which I think give faster access to the web, are discouraged by some because, in theory, the proxy server could move to an alternative IP address in the future necessitating an update of the above settings. If this ever happens the new IP address can be found with the DNS Manager.
Testing
To test the new settings on your computer connected to the OU network you should ensure that you can access the following with various applications/browsers:
I downloaded the latest free RealPlayer and followed the formal OU advice which works well for some sites. If necessary use the scroll arrow to find the proxy settings. I used the numeric IP address as above. The settings can be tested on Elycia's Real Audio but RealPlayer will still not work with the Parliament Webcast unless you also select 'View/Preferences/Transport/Use specific UDP ports' and enter 4100
