This page tries to assist with frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the Malawi SDNP Web Cache.

1. Don't Know how to set-up web access via cache
2. No Route To Host: (error)
3. I get the first page but following links gives  problems
4. Try Again Later
5. What the hell is a web cache
6. Confidentiallity: Is my access still confidential?
7. Software Home Page
8. Software FAQ Page

To set up the cache follow easy instruction available on the Web Cache Pages. If you are using Internet Explorer make sure you follow the correct path depending on whether you are running version 4 (IE4) or IE5. In IE5 if you use a dial-up connection, make sure that the settings are made on the dial-up section and not on the LAN section.
 

This error may arise if the SDNP international connection is down. This is rare but happens for short periods of time. If you experience this problem, please call SDNP using the contact information on the SDNP website to get the latest details on the international connection.

If you are at the end of a leased line, it is likely that your leased line to SDNP may be down. Please check with your LAN manager.
 

This problem is most often experienced by dial-up connections using Internet Explorer version 5 (IE5) when the cache settings are set on the LAN connection rather than on the dial-up connection. If your Internet Explorer has a Tools menu then you are using IE5. You should follow the directions for IE5. In particular when you get to Connection, make sure that your dial-up connection is highlighted and click on Settings in the dial-up section.

If you did proxy settings on the LAN section, make sure you reverse these before quiting.

Remember that IE requires that you restart Internet Explorer for any settings to take effect.

This error may arise if the SDNP international connection is down. This is rare but happens for short periods of time. If you experience this problem, please call SDNP using the contact information on the SDNP website to get the latest details on the international connection.

If you are at the end of a leased line, it is likely that your leased line to SDNP may be down. Please check with your LAN manager.
 

A web cache is a dyanamic temporary storage area for web pages. Once it is in place and fully populated, web pages requested by users and available in the cache can be served locally from the cache instead of being retrieved from far off places. With increased such local serving of web pages, the service becomes faster and more resources such as bandwidth are freed for other uses.
 

Malawi SDNP does not keep track of who requests what web pages. Your confidentiallity is therefore guranteed when you connect to Malawi SDNP.

Malawi SDNP does not keep a record of who is accessing what web pages. The only information kept involve the cached pages whose only reference is the address or URL and the log file which keeps track of activity on the cache. As pages are requested only the requesting IP number is recorded in the log file but SDNP does not keep an IP number to username match. The IP numbers are dynamically assigned when a user dials in. A user rarely gets the same IP number from one dial-in session to the next.
 

The Malawi SDNP web cache runs on Squid. The home page for Squid is http://squid.nlanr.net where you can find more detailed information on squid. There is also an extended FAQ on squid where you can find many answers to questions people ask about the web cache.

There is an extensive FAQ for squid available on the Squid FAQ site.