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SFA Home / Information Technology Services / Services / Students / The T.S.C.

If you are using an ISP other than SFA

If you are using someone other than SFA as your Internet Service Provider, check to see if they are using any type of internet "boosting" or "acceleration". These are usually file caching programs (at the ISP) that temporarily store downloaded files on the ISP's local server. If another User (of the ISP) logs into mySFA, the ISP server sends locally-stored files to that User's browser, instead of letting the browser get the files directly from the mySFA server. You'll get an old copy of the file from the ISP server instead of a current version from the mySFA server. This causes a "session timeout" problem on your browser. The two computers (the one you are sitting at and the mySFA server) are expecting to talk directly to one another, but the ISP computer system is sending its copy of older files to your browser.

Normally, the caching software works just fine. But, with secure servers, such as mySFA, your bank, your credit card company, etc, the files have to be sent directly between your computer and the secure server. The caching service interrupts the "conversation" and causes problems. There is no harm intended, it's just that there are problems with the services.

It's like having a telephone operator relay a conversation between two people, but the operator is "putting in" what they think your "meant".

To solve this, temporarily turn off the ISP's service. Different ISPs have different methods, but these are a few we've found...

NetZero (HiSpeed)	http://www.netzero.net/support/faq/ta05-disable.asp
AOL	They have several flavors of internet speedup. Please call/email Tech Support for your product.
Juno (SpeedBand)	To disable: http://www.juno.com/support/faq/ta05-disable-a.asp To uninstall: http://www.juno.com/support/info/uninstall-accel.asp
Netscape	866-541-8233
Earthlink (Accelerator)	Windows: to disable: http://www.earthlink.net/elink/issue52/tech_archive.asp (bottom of the page) to uninstall: http://support.earthlink.net/mu/1/psc/img/walkthroughs/other/Earthlink_Accelerator/8098.psc.asp mac: to disable: http://support.earthlink.net/mu/1/psc/img/walkthroughs/macintosh/os_x/ta2k4/9412.psc.asp
PeoplePC online accelerated	A small white PeoplePC icon appears in the Windows area near the clock at the bottom of the screen (also known as the system tray) when PeoplePC Accelerated is running. To disable: click Start, Programs, PeoplePC Accelerated, Stop PeoplePC Accelerated http://home.peoplepc.com/helpinfo/accelerator/UsingAccelerator/default.asp

If your ISP is not listed and you find out how to temporarily disable the acceleration, please email us at T.S.C.@sfasu.edu

This is a problem that happens occasionally while checking email within mySFA. The problem usually resolves itself if the User logs out of mySFA for about half an hour. If you try this and still have a problem, please go to https://apache.sfasu.edu/cpsupport/cpreport.asp and fill out a mySFA Help Request. Or call the T.S.C. at 936.468.4357, between 10:00 am and 1:00 am, Monday through Friday.

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