Fp Postbase Instruction Manual

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The PostBase Connectivity Wizard

The PostBase Connectivity Wizard allows you to easily set up your postage meter to suit your

organization’s arrangements. This document will guide you through the steps of the wizard.

Depending on the network onfiguration in your organization, this may be very straightforward.

However, in some ases, you may need to get information from your network administrator - where

ne essary this is indi ated in the steps below.

The Conne tivity Wizard runs automati ally the first time you turn on your PostBase meter. However

you an hange any settings at any time later from the main menu (under ‘Manage Conne tion’).

Se tion 10 summarizes the information a network administrator may need about the meter; it also

in ludes a table where you an re ord the settings you have used.

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Contents

1 Introdu tion ..................................................................................................................................... 3

2 Preparation ...................................................................................................................................... 3

3 First Steps: Type of onne tion, Ethernet or modem? ................................................................... 4

4 Setting up Ethernet Conne tions .................................................................................................... 4

5 Entering Proxy Server Settings ........................................................................................................ 6

6 Manual Configuration of an Ethernet Conne tion .......................................................................... 8

7 Gathering information about your network ................................................................................. 10

8 Setting up Modem Conne tions .................................................................................................... 15

9 Referen ed Terms and FAQ ........................................................................................................... 17

10 Referen e Information for Network Administrators ................................................................. 18

Copy

ght

2012

Fran otyp

Postalia

GmbH

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1Introduction

The PostBase meter needs a onne tion to the Fran otyp-Postalia Infrastru ture in order that it an

download funds and data. It is re ommended that an Ethernet (LAN) onne tion is used for this. This

is the type usually used to onne t omputers to the Internet, both at work and in the home (e.g.

using DSL).

If ne essary the meter an also use a modem onne tion - that is the older, slower method over the

telephone. Modem onne tions are, however, only intended for those users annot use an Ethernet

onne tion sin e they are mu h slower and offer a more restri ted servi e.

This do ument gives you details on setting the meter up to use these ommuni ation methods.

2Preparation

Before you get your meter you an ensure that you will have the orre t onne tion arrangements in

pla e. This will ensure that the meter an be fully operational from its first day.

For an Ethernet onne tion, the meter needs:

•An Ethernet onne tion (minimum 10MBit/se ) in the vi inity of where the meter will be

operated. The meter itself omes with a 3 meter (9.8 foot) able. The meter and the in luded

able use an RJ45 type of onne tor. If you use a different able, then we re ommend it is of

type CAT5E.

•If you work in a medium or larger organization, then the meter will probably have to be

onne ted to an internal network, whi h will in lude a proxy server. If so, we re ommend

you he k with your network administrator, whether “DHCP” is supported and, if not, then

you will need an “IP-Address”. The last page of this do ument in ludes te hni al details for

your network administrator. It in ludes a list of all information you will require.

If you do not have an Ethernet onne tion available, then you will need to use a telephone/modem

onne tion. In this ase you should make sure you have ordered the PostBase USB modem adapter,

and should have a suitable telephone so ket within 3 meters of your meter.

We strongly recommend using your PostBase meter with an Ethernet connection.

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What’s

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

(DHCP) allows the automatic allocation of

an ‘IP address’ for the device within your

network by your router or network server

Using DHCP makes the configuration

process much

simpler

3First Steps: Type of connection, thernet or modem?

In the wizard you will first be asked whether you want to use an Ethernet or Modem based

onne tion.

Sele t the type of onne tion in the first s reen of the

wizard.

The set up for Ethernet onne tions is des ribed in the

next se tion.

For modem onne tions see se tion 8.

4Setting up thernet Connections

4.1 DHCP: Is the IP Address assigned automatically?

For an Ethernet onne tion, you will next be asked

whether ‘DHCP’ onne tions an be used in your network

or not. Using DHCP simplifies the onfiguration and so

we re ommend this if possible.

If you are not sure whether DHCP is supported, we

suggest you simply try making a onne tion with DHCP. If

it isn’t supported, then you will get an error later and will simply have to run through the wizard

again.

Simply tou h your hosen option and then ‘C

ONTINUE

’.

For another way of finding out whether D CP is

supported, see section 7. Otherwise, if you have a

system administrator, ask them.

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4.2 pecifying a proxy server

Next, you will be asked about a ‘Proxy Server’. If your

organization uses one, you will have to enter its details

so that the meter an get a ess to the Internet.

If you are in a small offi e, it may be that you have a

dire t onne tion to the Internet through your router.

In this ase you should answer ‘

DISABLED

’ here.

Otherwise, answer ‘

ENABLED

’.

4.3 Final steps

Finally you will be shown a onfirmation of all the

entries you have made.

Che k you have entered the details orre tly.

Graphi s missing

After you tou h ‘C

ONTINUE

’ the meter will test the

onne tion.

If it can’t connect, the wizard will return to its starting

point. In this case, you should first check the

connections, then the settings you have entered. You

can also look at the guide in section 7, or check the

settings with your system administrator.

If all goes well, PostBase will now continue with the remainder of its configuration…

IP-Einstellungen werden automatisch bezogen.

Dieser Vorgang kann einige Minuten dauern.

What’s a

Proxy erver

Proxy servers are used in most larger

organizations as a bridge between their

internal networks and the Internet It can

protect the computers in the internal

network against attack from the wider

Internet

Verbindungseinstellungen

Verbindungsart Ethernet

DHCP aktiviert

DNS-Server Automatisch

Proxy deaktiviert

ZurückSpeichern

MAC-Adresse 00-90-4B-12-93-CE

If you have entered ‘

ENABLED

’, then next f

ollow the instru tions in se tion

“Entering Proxy Server Settings”.

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5ntering Proxy Server Settings

If your network uses a proxy server, you will need to

enter its details into the wizard. Before you an do

this, you will need to obtain the needed information.

You will need the following:

•The IP address of the proxy server and the port

number to use

•Whether authenti ation is to be used, and if

so,

the orresponding user name and password.

Either onta t your network administrator, or follow the instru tions in se tion 7.

1) Enter the IP address of the proxy server

A keyboard will appear on the display in whi h you an

enter the IP address.

Each of the 4 sets of numbers must be in the range 0 to

255 and they must be separated by full stops (bottom

left key).

You an use the CE (bottom right key) to su essively

orre t the last entries.

2) Enter the Port Number

The ‘port number’ must be entered next. This will

normally have the value “8080”.

Occasionally another value might be needed, for

example “80”.

See se tion 7 to onfirm the value for your network, or

onta t you network administrator.

What’s an

IP address

Every computer or device that communicates

over the Internet must have an IP (Internet

Protocol) address This also applies to most of

today’s large networks within companies

Common IP addresses are written as 4 groups

of 3 digits, separated by full stops e g

123 987 567 543

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3) Spe ify whether your proxy requires Authentication

If your proxy server needs authenti ation, then you

must set P

ROXY

-A

UTH

NABLED

here and enter the

details on the next wizard pages.

Looks awful. Use Off/On instead of enabled/disabled!

If in doubt, contact your network administrator. If the

proxy needs authentication they may need to give you

a special user name and password for the device.

3a) Enter the User Name

An alpha-numeri keyboard will appear on the display

in whi h you an enter the user name. This keyboard

fun tions in a omparable way to similar keyboards on

mobile phones - tou hing the button a number of

times rapidly will y le through the possible values.

Tou hing another button, or waiting for a se ond or

so, will ause the sele ted value to be entered.

3b) Enter the Password

You an enter the password in a similar way. It

operates slightly differently in that, on e the hara ter

has been sele ted, it is then displayed only as “*”.

This ompletes the entry of the proxy server details - tou hing ‘C

ONTINUE

’ will take you to the next

part of the wizard.

What’s

Proxy Authentication

Often a proxy server needs to know who is

talking to it - to confirm that it is a known

user of the organization’s network who is

authorized to have access to the Internet Any

device will then have to log-on to the proxy

server with its own user name and password

This process is called ‘authentication’

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FAQs: … What’s

meant by

ubnet Mask

DN server

Default

Gateway

A network infrastructure in any

organization will usually be split

up into ‘subnets’ that connect

associated groups of users In this

case the full IP address can be

seen as having two parts - a prefix

that identifies the subnet and the

remainder that identifies a device

in the subnet The subnet mask

shows how much of the IP address

is formed by the prefix and how

much by the rest A typical subnet

mask might look like

‘255 255 127 000’

e usually refer to websites by

their web-address or ‘URL’, for

example www francotyp com In

fact though these are just labels

and actually computers just use IP

addresses The Domain Name

System refers to a special type of

computer server that translates

web addresses into IP addresses

Hence a DNS server would return

80 67 28 145 when asked for the

address of www francotyp com

Where

an organization’s network

is split into a number of subnets,

then the ‘gateway’ is the device

that allows the traffic to flow out

of the subnet and into the

organization’s wider network

infrastructure - including other

subnets and to the Internet (in this

case, often through a proxy

server) This default gateway will

also have

an IP address

6Manual Configuration of an thernet Connection

Larger organizations may want to have expli it ontrol over the IP addresses of the devi es

onne ted to their networks. Here, IP addresses will be individually allo ated to ea h devi e by the

network administrator and must remain fixed. In this ase you will have to enter the allo ated IP

address manually into your PostBase meter.

Firstly you will have to onta t your network administrators to ask them for an IP address. The

information they may need is summarized in se tion 10 - there is also a table to re ord the details.

1) Enter the meter’s IP Address

Use the numeri keypad to enter the number, as four

groups of up to 3 digits. Don’t forget the separating

points!

2) Enter the meter’s Subnet Mask

Similarly to the IP address, enter the subnet mask. You

an get this from your network administrator, or

follow the instru tions given in se tion 7.

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3) Enter the Default Gateway address

Enter this in the same way as the IP address in step

(1).

4) Enter the DNS server address

Again, use the same method as in step (1).

Finally, before saving the information, a summary will

be shown of all the entries, in luding the manual IP

address and the proxy server.

Che k these through before tou hing on ‘S

AVE

’.

In the ase of manual onfiguration, the PostBase

meter must restart before the settings will be ome

a tive. This happens automati ally.

On rebooting the onfigured onne tion will be

tested. If there is a problem, the wizard will return.

If all goes well, PostBase will now continue with the remainder of its configuration…

The next pages of the wizard let you

set up details of your organization’s

proxy server. This is des ribed in se tion 5.

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7Gathering information about your network

You may be able to get the some of the network information you need from an existing omputer

atta hed to your network (using a physi al, Ethernet onne tion). The instru tions in the following

se tions show how to get this information from a omputer running Mi rosoft Windows XP, Vista or

Windows7.

There are two parts to this:

•Finding the basic network settings, in luding whether DHCP is enabled, and the Subnet

Mask, Standard Gateway, and DNS Server details.

•Finding the pro y server settings (IP address and port).

7.1 Windows Vista, Windows7

In Windows7 or Windows Vista, follow the steps below.

7.1.1 Basic Network Settings

1. From the task bar, open the Control Panel

2. In the Control Panel, li k on “View network status and tasks” link (lo ated below the

“Network and Internet” heading).

3. This opens the “Network and sharing enter” dialog. Here, li k on “Lo al Area Conne tion”,

whi h will open the “Lo al Area Conne tion status” dialog

4. In the “Lo al Area Conne tion status” dialog, li k on “Details…”

5. The “Network Conne tion Details” dialog box will be displayed. This gives the information

you need, as des ribed below.

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In the Network Conne tion Details dialog, the following information is available.

1. If DCHP Enabled is shown as “Yes”, then the network supports DHCP, and the automati

pro edure for allo ating an IP address in se tion 4.1 an be used.

2. Here, the Subnet mask is shown. This is needed when you are onfiguring the IP address

manually in se tion 6 - it must be entered during step (2) “Enter the meter’s Subnet Mask”.

3. Here, the Default Gateway is shown. This is needed when you are onfiguring the IP address

manually in se tion 6. It must be entered during step (3) “Enter the Default Gateway

address”. Note: Make sure you note the “IPv4 Default Gateway”.

4. Here, the DNS Server is shown. This is needed when you are onfiguring the IP address

manually in se tion 6. It is the value that must be entered during step (4) “Enter the DNS

server address”. Note: Make sure you note the “IPv4 DNS Server”.

7.1.2 Proxy Server Settings

1. From the task bar, open the Control Panel

2. In the Control Panel, li k on “Network and Internet” link.

3. Then li k on the “Internet Options” link to open the pop-up dialog “Internet Options”.

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4. Cli k on the “Conne tions” tab, and then on the button “LAN settings” in this tab.

5. This will open up the dialog box “Lo al Area Network Settings”. Here the lower se tion alled

“Proxy Server” ontains the IP Address and Port Number for the proxy server, as shown in

the diagram.

In the example, the proxy server has an IP Address of ‘192.168.2.2’ and a Port Number of

‘8080’.

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7.2 Windows XP

7.2.1 Basic Network Settings

1. From the “Start” button, hoose the “Run…” option.

2. The Run dialog box will open. Here, type “ md”, whi h will open a ommand line window in

whi h you an type ommands.

3. Type the following ommand after the prompt:

ipconfig /all

4. The output if the program will be shown in the ommand line window. This gives the

information you need, as des ribed below.

The following information is an be determined from the program output.