CST Accelerator FAQ

State of Oregon - Online Services

155 Cottage St NE Salem OR 97301

Phone: 503-378-2135 Fax: 503-378-5543

NOTE Please DO NOT contact US POPS about any problems or questions regarding the CST accelerator. While they are providing the accelerator service for us, they are not providing customer support. Online Services should be your first and only contact for CST related issues. Thank you for your cooperation.

NOTE If you have problems with your email after installing the CST accelerator, please click here.

NOTE If you are having problems logging into the CST service, please click here to verify that your login name is correct.

New CST Accelerator Service

We would like to introduce a new service to our customers - the CST Accelerator. It is a program that you download onto your computer which will allow you to surf the web at speeds up to 5X faster than your current browsing. We have been testing this program for a while and can tell you that the difference in speed is definitely noticeable.

The service will cost $25 per year in addition to your regular account fees. However, we are allowing all of our dial-up customers to try this service for free for the month of September 2005. You may install and begin using the CST service free of charge for Sep immediately.

Please read the short FAQ below, which will give you more information about the CST accelerator service and also instructions on how to install and use the CST service.

CST Accelerator FAQ

What is CST?

Compressed Session Transaction. This is the name of the protocol used to accelerate your Internet connection. CST accelerates your Internet access through proprietary text and image compression, content caching and other network optimizations. The CST accelerator provides unsurpassed web and email acceleration, with speed increases up to 5X faster than your current dial-up.

What types of content does the CST accelerator service speed up?

The CST service significantly speeds up web page access. To achieve this speed up, proprietary lossless compression is applied to text, html, xml, JavaScript and style sheets. Proprietary image compression is applied to gif images, jpeg images and Flash content. CST also accelerates email traffic (POP3 and SMTP) using lossless compression. CST does NOT speed up file downloads (over FTP or file sharing programs), streaming audio/video and HTTPS (secure web sites).

How much does the CST accelerator service cost?

For the month of September 2005, we are giving all of our dial-up customers free use of the CST service. Beginning Oct 2005, the price will be $25/year or $6.25/quarter (charge will be prorated to your current expiration date). The CST charge is in addition to your current dial-up account charges.

How do I order the CST service permanently (after the Sep trial period)?

Please send an email to Support or call us. We will not automatically start billing you for the CST service after Sep. If you would like to continue using the CST service beginning Oct 1, you must notify Support. If you don't notify us, the CST service will stop working for you on October 1 and you can continue to use your dial-up account as usual.

What operating systems can the CST service be installed on?

* Windows 95b w/ Winsock2
* Windows 98
* Windows 98SE
* Windows Millennium Edition (Windows ME)
* Windows NT 4.0
* Windows 2000
* Windows XP
* Mac OS X (older versions will not work)

Linux is not supported a this time. Note that the CST Email Acceleration component requires Windows 98 and above and the CST Pop-up Blocker component requires Internet Explorer 5.0 and above.

How do I install the CST accelerator?

Please see our CST Accelerator Set-Up Instructions.

How do I use the CST accelerator?

The CST service is launched automatically every time you start your computer. You do not have to launch it manually. For detailed information on using the CST features, please see our CST Accelerator Manual.

I can't check my mailbox or send email after installing the CST accelerator

In certain cases, some customers are having trouble checking their mail or sending email after installing the CST accelerator. If you experience problems with email, please do the following:

- go to the CST icon in the lower right-hand part of your screen
- right-click on the icon
- select the 'settings' option
- click on the 'features' tab
- uncheck the 'POP3' box
- press the 'ok' button to save your settings
- reboot your compter

This will disable the CST accelerator service for email but will not affect the service for web browsing. If this solution works for you, please send an email to Support and let us know which email program you use to check your mail and also if you use any virus protection (such as Norton).

Online Services is a division of the Technology Support Center - State of Oregon