FAQ

Q. GobalPOPs offers news service. How do I use this?
A. First, you must subscribe to our Outsourced News Service. This is done by paying for news server ports. The amount of simultaneous connections to our news server (news.1dial.com) is how much you are purchasing. You will have to set up your news client to authenticate with the same username/password used for the connection. Our news server will send an authentication request to the authoritative RADIUS server(s) of the realm used. This RADIUS request is an auth-only request. No accounting packets will follow. The authoritative RADIUS will need to be able to accept a request while that user is logged on.

VII. BILLING

Ad-Base Systems
Pay In Advance
Advanced Invoicing
Service Changes

VIII. BACK-OFFICE

What is it?
Master Realm Login
Extra Logins
Account Changes
Failed Logins
- A. Through the Back-Office you can:
  
  add new realms for authentication
  
  submit requests to remove authenticating realms
  
  create additional Back-Office logins
  
  remove additional Back-Office logins
  
  customize the view for additional logins
  
  add users --------------------------- (Hosted RADIUS only)
  
  edit users -------------------------- (Hosted RADIUS only)
  
  deactivate (delete) users ----------- (Hosted RADIUS only)
  
  reactivate users -------------------- (Hosted RADIUS only)
  
  add email access for users --------- (Hosted RADIUS only)
  
  remove email access from users ----- (Hosted RADIUS only)
  
  update contact information
  
  TO CREATE A NEW REALM TO AUTHENTICATE THROUGH YOUR ACCOUNT:
  Log in to the Back-Office as your using the MasterRealm username and password you received in your welcome email. On the left menu, click "Realm Functions", then click "Add a Realm" in the "Realm Functions" submenu. In the right frame, the "Add a Child Realm" page will appear. In the field for "Child Realm Name" enter the new realm you would like to register and click "Add Child Realm". You should see the top of the table now explains that the new realm has been added.
  
  *If the header of the table displays "ERROR: That Child Realm Name is Already In Use." then the realm already exists on an account. You must then go through the process of removing the realm from the account on which it currently resides and have it transferred to the account you choose. Please review the disconnect/transfer processes explained in the REALM section of this FAQ.*
  
  TO REMOVE A REALM FROM AUTHENTICATING THROUGH YOUR ACCOUNT:
  Log in to the Back-Office using the MasterRealm username and password you received in your Welcome to GlobalPOPs email. On the left menu, click "Realm Functions", then click "Remove a Realm" in the "Realm Functions" submenu. Now a new form has appeared in the frame on the right. Type the password used to log in the Back-Office as your MasterRealm in the "Master Realm Password" field. Next, select the realm you wish to have removed from the "Realm to Remove" drop-down list. Now, for the last field "Enter Your Email Address for a Removal Reply", type an email address to which we can send confirmation once the removal is complete. Finally click the "Submit Information" button below the table. Once the form posts, you should see the header of the table displays "Your e-mail has been successfully submitted. Your Realm is Being Reviewed for Disconnection." As explained in the REALMS section of this FAQ, we will then review the realm for billable usage and authorization of the removal. Once the realm clears this review (sometimes same day, but up to next billing cycle), we will remove the realm from authenticating through your account.
  
  *If the heading of the table displays "Master Realm Name and Password Did Not Match. You Cannot Remove a Subrealm Without Your Master Realm Name and Password.", please resubmit the form with the correct password. If you do not have this, you should contact your administrators first, then if necessary your sales representative.
  
  TO CREATE ADDITIONAL BACK-OFFICE LOGINS:
  You will be creating a new username and password with which you will be able to log into our Back-Office directly into a realm. This login will be used to bypass the MasterRealm login, therefore preventing your customers or employees from seeing some of the MasterRealm's information pertaining to billing and securities. To create this new login: Log in to the Back-Office using the MasterRealm username and password you received in your Welcome to GlobalPOPs email. On the left menu, click "Realm Functions", then click "Add Login for Realm" in the "Realm Functions" submenu. In this table you will start with the "Login" field; type the new username for access. In the "Child Realm" field, select from the drop-down list, the realm to which this new login will have direct access. The type a new password in both the "Password" and "Re-Type Password" fields. Finally click the "Add Child Realm Username/Password" button. You should see the top of the table now explains that the new login has been added.
  
  *If the header of the table displays "Username [new user name] has already been taken." then you must submit the form with a different username.*
  
  TO REMOVE ONE OF YOUR ADDITIONAL REALM LOGINS:
  Log in to the Back-Office using the MasterRealm username and password you received in your Welcome to GlobalPOPs email. On the left menu, click "Realm Functions", then click "Remove a Realm Login" in the "Realm Functions" submenu. You will see a table in the right frame displaying "Select a Login to Deactivate". By simply clicking on a username listed as a hyperlink, you will instantly remove the ability for that username and corresponding password to access our Back-Office.
  
  *If the right frame displays "No Child Realm Logins found for [your MasterRealm]" then you have no additional Back-Office logins created under your MasterRealm (See previous question for help adding logins).*
  
  TO CUSTOMIZE THE VIEW FOR YOUR ADDITIONAL REALM LOGINS:
  Log in to the Back-Office as your MasterRealm, then click "Realm Config" on the left menu. A submenu of "Realm Config" now appears. Click "Single Update" to change the settings of only one of your realms, or click "Batch Update" to change the settings of multiple realms.
  
  If you click "Single Update", you will see a list of current realms in your account in the right frame. Next click on the realm for which you would like to alter the settings. Now, review the settings which you can change and set all of the radio style buttons to "Yes" or "No" according to your preference. Finally, click the "Update Child Realm Configuration" button to complete the process.
  
  If you click "Batch Update", the frame on the right will have at the top "Check Each Child Realm to Configure". You can check all of the realms you would like to affect or check "Update All" to change all of your realms according to how you fill out the rest of the form. Now, review the settings which you can change and set all of the radio style buttons to "Yes" or "No" according to your preference. Finally, click the "Update Child Realm Configuration" button to complete the process.
  
  TO ADD USERS ON YOUR HOSTED RADIUS ACCOUNT:
  Log in to the Back-Office as the realm on which you would like to add a user. On the left-hand menu, click "Manage Customers". You will now see a submenu under "Manage Customers". Now click "Add User" from that submenu. The top of the table on the right-side frame now displays "You are choosing to Add a User". Now type the new username in the "Username" field. Next type the password for this new user in the "Password" and "Re-Type Password" fields. If you have Hosted Email services with GlobalPOPs you can choose to activate this new user's first email account by changing the "Email Active?" drop-down to "Yes". If you do not have Hosted Email with us, then you will not have the option of choosing "Yes" for this field. Finally click "Add User". Once this form submits you should see the successful addition results displayed.
  
  *If you receive an error that the username already exists, correct the chosen username and resubmit the form or use the search customer link (explained in following questions about editing user accounts) to see the customer already exists.*
  
  TO EDIT USERS ON YOUR HOSTED RADIUS ACCOUNT:
  Log in to the Back-Office as the realm on which the customer exists. Click "Manage Customers" from the left menu and you will extend submenu. Now, in the "Manage Customers" submenu, click "Search Customers". In the right-hand frame, type the beginning of or complete username of the account you need to alter. You can leave this field blank to find all customers. Click "Search" and you will receive a list of usernames matching your search criteria. Next click on the username of the account which you are going to change. You will now be viewing the "User Info" page. Under the "Customer Options" section, click the "edit" button. You will now see the "Edit Customer Information" table. Make any changes necessary to the username and/or password and click the "Update Customer Information" button. Once this form submits, you will see confirmation of your changes.
  
  TO DEACTIVATE (DELETE)* USERS FROM YOUR HOSTED RADIUS ACCOUNT:
  Log in to the Back-Office as the realm on which the customer exists. Click "Manage Customers" from the left menu and you will extend submenu. Now, in the "Manage Customers" submenu, click "Search Customers". In the right-hand frame, type the beginning of or complete username of the account you need to alter. You can leave this field blank to find all customers. Click "Search" and you will receive a list of usernames matching your search criteria. Next click on the username of the account which you are going to change. You will now be viewing the "User Info" page. Now click the "Deactivate" button. You will now see "You are choosing to Deactivate a User", to continue deactivating this user, click the "Deactivate User" button towards the bottom. You will then receive confirmation that the user has been deactivated.
  
  *This will not delete the customer from our database. We manually run deletions of the deactivated users after they remain deactivated past two billing cycles.*
  
  TO REACTIVATE USERS ON YOUR HOSTED RADIUS ACCOUNT:
  Log in to the Back-Office as the realm on which the customer exists and is deactivated*. Click "Manage Customers" from the left menu and you will extend submenu. Now, in the "Manage Customers" submenu, click "Search Customers". In the right-hand frame, type the beginning of or complete username of the account you need to reactivate. You can leave this field blank to find all customers. Click "Search" and you will receive a list of usernames matching your search criteria. Next click on the username of the account which you are going to reactivate. You will now be viewing the "User Info" page. Now click the "Reactivate" button. You will now see the "You are choosing to Re-Activate a User" screen. Click the "Re-Activate Customer" button. Once the form has submitted, you will see a confirmation page and the account will be active once again.
  
  *You can only reactivate customers that have an inactive status (displayed as DEACT|username). If the customer does not exist anymore, we have removed them from the system for a prolonged period of being inactive. In this case follow the instructions to create a new user.*
  
  TO ADD EMAIL ACCESS FOR A USER (HOSTED RADIUS ACCOUNT):
  
  .If the customer does not exist yet, follow the process of adding a new user making sure that you select "Yes" for the "Email Active?" field.
  
  .If the customer already exists, log in to the Back-Office as the realm under which the customer exists. Click "Manage Customers" from the left menu and you will have a submenu extend. Now, in that submenu, click "Search Customers". In the right-hand frame, type the beginning of or complete username of the account you need to alter. You can leave this field blank to find all customers. Click "Search" and you will receive a list of usernames matching your search criteria. Next click on the username of the account which you are going to change. You will now be viewing the "User Info" page. Under the "Email Information" section, click the "enable" button. At the end of the "Primary" row. This will add the email account to our mail server for you/your customer's use.
  
  TO REMOVE EMAIL ACCESS FROM A USER (HOSTED RADIUS ACCOUNT):
  Log in to the Back-Office as the realm on which the customer exists. Click "Manage Customers" from the left menu and you will extend a submenu. Now, in the "Manage Customers" submenu, click "Search Customers". In the right-hand frame, type the beginning of or complete username of the account you need to alter. You can leave this field blank to find all customers. Click "Search" and you will receive a list of usernames matching your search criteria. Next click on the username of the account which you are going to change. You will now be viewing the "User Info" page. Under the "Email Information" section, click the "disable" link at the end of the row of the email account you want to disable. This will disable and delete the email account listed.
  
  TO UPDATE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR YOUR ACCOUNT:
  Log in to the Back-Office as your MasterRealm. On the left menu, click "Contact Info". In the "Contact Info" submenu, click the "Update Contact Info" link. You will now see the "Update Contact Info" table on the right. The first section is for "Administrative Contact". Make any necessary changes to this part to confirm that the information is current and correct. Next is the "Technical Contact" section. Here, you can click the check box to set the "Technical Contact" the same as the "Administrative Contact"; otherwise, make any necessary changes to this part to confirm that the information is current and correct. Lastly is the "Billing Contact" section. Here you can check the first box to set the "Billing Contact" the same as the "Administrative Contact", check the second box to set the "Billing Contact" the same as the "Technical Contact", or make any necessary changes to this part to confirm that the information is current and correct. Finally click the "Submit Contact Information" button and once the form posts you will see confirmation of your changes.
- A. The failed logins report available in the back office, reports any connection attempt for which we returned a denial. On the menu in the Back-Office, once you click on failed logins you can choose to view the report for the current past hour, or for the current past 24 hours. Only the PROXIED error will pass to the authenticating RADIUS file for the realm. For all of the other errors documented, we automatically send a denial to the NAS without contacting the authing RADIUS. When you find the reason, click on it to view the definition of the blocking as explained below :
  
  PROXIED
  
  INACTIVE REALM
  
  REALM NOT ENHANCED
  
  MASTER REALM OUT OF PORTS
  
  DEACTIVATED NUMBER
  
  BLACKLISTED
  
  OVER LIMIT ON HOURS
  
  EXCEEDS USER SESSION LIMIT
  
  EMPTY PASSWORD
  
  SQL PROXY RADIUS FAILED
  
  PROXIED :
  Definition : The PROXIED error is generated by a denial being returned to us by the authenticating servers set for that specific realm. If you use our hosted RADIUS solution for the realm in question, the PROXIED error is the result of an improper username/password combination.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. We pass the request to the server(s) on file for that child realm. We received a denial from the server to which we just passed the request.
  
  Resolution : Check your error logs on the server for the realm of the failing user.
  
  INACTIVE REALM :
  Definition : The INACTIVE REALM error is generated when the realm of a username exists; however, is not active in our system. This is most likely caused by the MasterRealm being suspended; however, this may be set by choice of the MasterRealm to block these users.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. We see the realm is set as inactive due to choice or suspension. The end user will receive an authentication error and we will record the failed attempt.
  
  Resolution : Contact GlobalPOPs to reinstate your account or turn the inactive realm back to active.
  
  REALM NOT ENHANCED :
  Definition : The REALM NOT ENHANCED error is generated when a user not subscribe to our off-net numbers attempts connection to a number that is off-net.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. We see that the user dialed into the NAS using an off-net number; however, the user's realm does not subscribe to our off-net numbers. The end user will receive an authentication error and we will record the failed attempt.
  
  Resolution : Contact your ales rep to purchase services available to use off-net numbers; otherwise, search our locators for another number that is local for the user and on-net.
  
  MASTER REALM OUT OF PORTS :
  Definition : The MASTER REALM OUT OF PORTS error is generated when we receive a connection request for a realm; however, the total amount of concurrent connections for the MasterRealm matches or surpasses the purchased amount of ports.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. We see that the MasterRealm of the username's realm purchases a total of 80 ports. We then check and see that currently 80 or more users are connected for this MasterRealm. The end user will receive an authentication error and we will record the failed attempt.
  
  Resolution : Go to our Orders Page, log in as your MasterRealm if necessary. Go to, fill out, and submit the change port quantity order form.
  
  DEACTIVATED NUMBER :
  Definition : The DEACTIVATED error is generated when a user dials into a number that we have deactivated.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. The access number this user dialed to connect to the NAS is marked as deactivated in our database. The end user will receive an authentication error, and we will record the failed login attempt under DEACTIVATED NUMBER.
  
  Resolution : If we are not publishing the claimed deactivated number, find a new number and have your user attempt connection through the new number. If the number is published in our locator, start a trouble ticket on the non-working number.
  
  BLACKLISTED :
  Definition : The BLACKLISTED error is generated when a user attempts to connect and they are in our BLACKLIST.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. If we find the user including realm match or the callerid of the connection attempt in our blacklist the user will receive an authentication error and we will record the BLACKLIST error.
  
  Resolution : Check the complaint(s) sent to your trouble ticket contacts. Contact your end user and fix the issue that they are causing. If needed contact GlobalPOPs when removal from the blacklist is justified.
  
  OVER LIMIT ON HOURS :
  Definition : The OVER LIMIT ON HOURS error is generated when a user attempts to connect and is over their hourly limit. The hourly limit pertains to a rolling month ending now.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. We see that the user attempting connection has 250 hours accumulated in a 30 day period ending at the time of this connection attempt. If the realm is set to a number less than 250, the user will receive an authentication error and we will record the error in the Back-Office.
  
  Resolution : Contact your sales rep to purchased a service that will allow more/unlimited time to your users, create another account for the user, have the user wait to attempt connection until their total used time in the rolling month has dropped below their limit.
  
  EXCEEDS USER SESSION LIMIT :
  Definition : The EXCEEDS USER SESSION LIMIT error is generated when two requirements are met :
  
  The user has proven to be an "abuser" of our ghosting policy.
  
  The user is attempting to connect while we believe they may still be online.
  
  This is explained in more detail in our Ghosting Policy section of the FAQ. The users will receive an authentication error and we will record the failed attempt.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. We see that we have not yet received the stop packet from an earlier connection of the same user. We then see that the user is marked as an abuser because of five 20 minute simultaneous periods. The user will receive an authentication error and we will record the failed attempt.
  
  Resolution : Contact your customer and explain to them they have been connecting simultaneously, and until the time passes that they are no longer marked as an abuser (up to 30 days), they may have to wait until the 8 hours from the connection time before they can reconnect.
  
  EMPTY PASSWORD :
  Definition : The EMPTY PASSWORD error is generated when our RADIUS receives a blank value as the password in the request from the connecting NAS.
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. The user's dialer did not send a password to the NAS. We record the error and send the denial to the NAS. The dialing user then receives an authentication error.
  
  Resolution : Test the connection attempted by the end user that received the error making sure to clear out and re-type the password completely fresh in the dialer. If the connection attempt results in another empty password error, start a ticket at http://tickets.globalpops.com (the NAS may be causing the issue). If the connection is successful on this attempt, have your end user restart their machine, completely remove the password and re-type the password in their dialer. Sometimes WinXP shows the circles (wildcard character) in the password filed, but does not transmit anything. If this does not resolve the issue, have the end user find all pwl files and delete them, restart their machine, and again recreate the password in the dialer field. Sometimes Win98 corrupts the pwl (password list) files and causes the password to be no longer valid.
  
  SQL PROXY RADIUS FAILED :
  Definition : The SQL PROXY RADIUS FAILED error is generated when we deny a user due to unresponsiveness of the authing RADIUS server(s) for that realm. After unsuccessfully attempting contact with the authing RADIUS servers, we will also use a cached user/password list and the failure policy configured for the realm..
  
  Example : We receive a request for a specific user. We pass the request to the primary auth server on file for that child realm. If we do not receive a response within the time set for that realm, we will send the request to the secondary auth server on account for that realm. Again, if we do not receive a response within the time set for that realm, we move on. Next we compare the attempt with the CACHED USERS LIST. If we have never had the username entered into the list, we will (as final resort) check the FAILURE POLICY set on that realm. Each of these processes will only be useable if the NAS has allowed us enough time to get through each process. If the failure policy returns a denial or the NAS does not give us enough time to complete all of these procedures and we still have not received the proper answer for the request, we will mark the errored attempt as SQL PROXY RADIUS FAILED. Commonly the end user dialing would receive an unresponsive server error.
  
  Resolution : Determine if your servers are responding for any attempts from us. If it is, check to see what attributes are being sent and what is different about the users failing and the users that can connect. Most often this is caused by issues on the auth server(s) we have on file for the realm. If you can pinpoint the issue, start a ticket with the information you have assessed.