Accessing the Internet

All staff and students must log on to the University of Canberra proxy server to access the Internet from any workstation on campus. Users are automatically prompted to enter their network usercode and password when they use a web Browser, such as Internet Explorer, to access Internet sites outside the University of Canberra.

Internet Credits

There is a new charging system in place for student use of the internet. Students are now allocated $10 per year which gives them 2 Gig of data. This is approx. 0.5 cents per megabyte as opposed to the old charge of 2.25 cents per Megabyte. Additional internet credit can be purchased from the University cashier located in Student Services. The miminum purchase is $10.00 for 2 Gigabytes of data traffic.

Internet allocation

The Internet is an expensive resource and free access for students is limited. The yearly free allocation has been set at a level that should more than cover the required use of the Internet for study purposes.

Students have a free yearly allocation of $10 for Internet traffic. The free allocation will be reset to $10 on the 1st of February each year for all current students.

What if I use the $10 free allocation?

If you exceed the yearly allocation, Internet access will be cut off within 20 minutes. To restore access and cover additional Internet traffic costs, you can deposit funds into your Internet account.

Adding Money to Internet and Printing Accounts

The Service Desk in building 10 no longer takes money over the counter for internet and printing accounts. 

• Printing: Money needs to be added to printing accounts via the Auto Loaders in the Computer Centre and the Library or via the cashier service in building 1.
• Network/Internet: Adding money to student internet accounts can only be done through the Cashier located at Student Services.

Deposits must be made in advance; if your account is in debt, you need to cover the debt first. The minimum deposit to an Internet account is $20. Payments can be made at the University Cashier in Building 1.

No refunds will be given unless there are user deposited funds in the account after a student graduates or otherwise terminates his/her association with the University. A refund request must be made within a year of the account being terminated.

How are the traffic costs calculated?

The UC charges are set to cover the cost that the University has to pay for Internet access and the user charge is adjusted when the charges to the University change. On average, the per volume prices have fallen during the last few years.

To put the traffic volumes and charges into familiar context, a standard floppy disk holds 1.44 Megabytes of data. This is about equivalent to a text based novel and downloading this amount will cost about three cents. Text based material does not usually involve large data transfers, while images and (in particular) video may be quite large depending on image resolution and compression factors.

Costs of incoming traffic are calculated and accumulated in an Internet account for each user. The Internet traffic costs are currently calculated as follows:

• Local Regional Network traffic (UC, ANU, ADFA) is not charged, i.e. access is free
• Traffic to all other sites is charged at 0.5 cents per Megabyte.

This equates to a charge of approx. $5 per Gigabyte of data. The UC charges are set to cover the cost that the University has to pay for Internet access and the user charge is adjusted when the charges to the University change. On average, the per volume prices have fallen during the last few years.

Text based material does not usually involve large data transfers, while images and (in particular) video may be quite large depending on image resolution and compression factors.

How can I check the status of my Internet account?

You can access your personal Internet account information under the MyAccess menu in MyUC. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you stream (listen) to a radio station on the computer this will exhaust your credits within a very short time frame. Streaming radio, downloading music and software are the most common reasons why Internet Credits are used up in a short period of time.