The PostBase Connectivity Wizard

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ThePostBaseConnectivityWizard

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

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

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

However,insomecases,youmayneedtogetinformationfromyournetworkadministrator‐where

necessarythisisindicatedinthestepsbelow.

TheConnectivityWizardrunsautomaticallythefirsttimeyouturnonyourPostBase

postagemachine.

Howeveryoucanchangeanysettingsatanytimelaterfromthemainmenu(under‘Manage

Connection’).

Section10summarizestheinformationanetworkadministratormayneedaboutthe

postage

machine

;italsoincludesatablewhereyoucanrecordthesettingsyouhaveused.

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Contents

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1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3

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2 Preparation………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3

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3 FirstSteps:TypeofConnection,EthernetorModem?........................................ 4

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4 SettingUpEthernetConne ction ……………………………………………………………………….. 4

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5 EnteringProxyServerSettings………………………………………………………………………….. 6

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6 ManualConfigurationsofanEthernetC o nnection …………………………………………… 8

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7 GatheringInformationabo utyourNetwork

…………………………………………………….. 10

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8 SettingupModemConnections……………………………………………………………………….. 15

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9 ReferenceTermsandFAQ………………………………………………………………………………… 17

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10 ReferenceInformationforNetworkAdministrators…………………………………………. 18

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1Introduction

ThePostBasepostagemachineneedsaconnectiontotheFPMailingSolutionInfrastructure(FPI)in

orderthatitcandownloadfundsanddata.ItisrecommendedthatanEthernet(LAN)connectionisused

forthis.ThisisthetypeusuallyusedtoconnectcomputerstotheInternet,bothatworkandinthe

home(e.g.

usingDSL).

Ifnecessarythe

PostBasepostagemachinecanalsouseamodemconnection‐thatistheolder,slower

methodoverthetelephone.Modemconnectionsare,however,onlyintendedforthoseuserscannot

useanEthernetconnectionsincetheyaremuchslowerandofferamorerestrictedservice.

Thisdocumentgivesyoudetailsonsettingthe

PostBaseuptousethesecommunicationmethods.

2Preparation

Beforeyougetyourpostagemachineyoumustensurethatyouwillhavethecorrectconnection

arrangementsinplace.Thiswillensurethatthepostagemachinecanbefullyoperationalfromitsfirst

day.

ForanEthernetconnection,the

PostBaseneeds:

• AnEthernetconnection(minimum10MBit/sec)inthevicinityofwherethe

postagemachine

willbeoperated.The

PostBaseitselfcomeswitha3meter(9.8foot)cable.ThePostBaseandthe

includedcableuseanRJ45typeofconnector.Ifyouuseadifferentcable,thenwerecommenditisof

typeCAT5E.

• Ifyouworkinamediumorlargerorganization,thenthe

PostBasewillprobablyhavetobe

connectedtoaninternalnetwork,whichwillincludeaproxyserver.Ifso,werecommendyoucheck

withyournetworkadministrator,whether“DHCP”issupportedand,ifnot,thenyouwillneedan“IP‐

Address”.Thelastpageofthisdocumentincludestechnicaldetailsfor

yournetworkadministrator.It

includesalistofallinformationyouwillrequire.

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

connection.InthiscaseyoushouldmakesureyouhaveorderedthePostBaseUSBmodemadapter,

andshouldhavea

suitabletelephonesocketwithin3metersofyourPostBase.

WestronglyrecommendusingyourPostBasepostagemachinewithanEthernetconnection.

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3.FirstSteps:Typeofconnection,Ethernetormodem?

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

Selectthetypeofconnectioninthefirstscreenofthe

wizard.

ThesetupforEthernetconnectionsisdescribedinthe

nextsection.

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Formodemconnectionsseesection8.

4.SettingupEthernetConnections

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4.1DHCP:IstheIPAddressassigned

automatically?

ForanEthernetconnection,youwillnextbeaskedwhether

‘DHCP’connectionscanbeusedinyournetworkornot.Using

DHCPsimplifiestheconfigurationandsowerecommendthis

ifpossible.

IfyouarenotsurewhetherDHCPissupported,wesuggestyousimplytrymakingaconnectionwith

DHCP.

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

again.

Simplytouchyourchosenoptionandthen‘C

ONTINUE’.

ForanotherwayoffindingoutwhetherDHCPis

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

systemadministrator,askthem.

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4.2Specifyingaproxyserver

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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cangetaccesstotheInternet.

Ifyouareinasmalloffice,itmaybethatyouhavea

directconnectiontotheInternet

throughyourrouter.In

thiscaseyoushouldanswer‘DISABLED’here.Otherwise,

answer‘ENABLED’.

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 Ifyouhaveentered‘ENABLED’,thennextfollowtheinstructionsin

section5,“EnterProxyServerSettings”.

4.3Finalsteps

Finally you will be shown a confirmation of all the entries you have made.

Checkyouhaveenteredthedetailscorrectly. 

Afteryoutouch‘C

ONTINUE’themeterwilltesttheconnection.

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.

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

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5EnteringProxyServerSettings

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

enteritsdetailsintothewizard.Beforeyoucan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

authenticationistobeused,andifso,thecorrespondingusernameandpassword.

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 Eithercontactyournetworkadministrator,orfollowtheinstructionsinsection7.

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1)EntertheIPaddressoftheproxyserver

Akeyboardwillappearonthedisplayinwhichyou

can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canusetheCE(bottomrightkey)to

successivelycorrect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 section 7 to confirm the value for

your

network,orcontactyounetworkadministrator.

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3)SpecifywhetheryourproxyrequiresAuthentication

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3a)EntertheUserName

Analpha‐numerickeyboardwillappearonthedisplayin

whichyoucanentertheusername.Thiskeyboard

functionsinacomparablewaytosimilarkeyboardson

mobilephones‐touchingthebuttonanumberoftimes

rapidlywillcyclethrough thepossiblev a lues.

Touching

anotherbutton,orwaitingforasecondorso,willcause

theselectedvaluetobeentered.

3b)EnterthePassword

You can enter the password in a similar wa y. It

operatesslightlydifferentlyinthat,oncethecharacterhas

Beenselected,itisthendisplayedas“*

“.



Thiscompletestheentryoftheproxyserverdetails‐touching‘C

ONTINUE’willtakeyoutothenextpartof

thewizard.

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6ManualConfigurationofanEthernetConnection



LargerorganizationsmaywanttohaveexplicitcontrolovertheIPaddressesofthedevicesconnectedto

theirnetworks.Here,IPaddresseswillbeindividuallyallocatedtoeachdevicebythenetwork

administratorandmustremainfixed.InthiscaseyouwillhavetoentertheallocatedIP address

manuallyinto

yourPostBase.

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

informationtheymayneedissummarizedinsection10‐thereisalsoatabletorecordthedetails.



1)Enterthemeter’sIPAddress

Usethenumeric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cangetthisfromyournetworkadministrator,or

followtheinstructionsgiveninsection7.



www.fp‐usa.com

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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).



 Thenextpagesofthewizardletyousetupdetailsofyourorganization’sproxyserver.

Thisisdescribedinsection5.

Finally,beforesavingtheinformation,asummarywillbe

shownofalltheentries,includingthemanualIPaddress

andtheproxyserver.

Checkthesethroughbeforetouchingon‘S

AVE’.

Inthecaseofmanualconfiguration,thePostBasemeter

mustrestartbeforethesettingswillbecomeactive.This

happensautomatically.

Onrebootingtheconfiguredconnection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…



10



7Gatheringinformationaboutyournetwork

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

attachedtoyournetwork(usingaphysical,Ethernetconnection).Theinstructionsinthefollowing

sectionsshowhowtogetthisinformationfromacomputerrunningMicrosoftWindowsXP,Vistaor

Windows7.

Therearetwopartstothis:

• Findingthebasicnetworksetting s,includingwhetherDHCPisenabled,andtheSubnetMask,

StandardGateway,andDNSServerdetails.

• Findingtheproxy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,clickon“Viewnetworkstatusandtasks”link(locatedbelowthe“Network

andInternet”heading).

3. Thisopensthe“Networkandsharingcenter”dialog.Here,clickon“LocalAreaConnection”,

whichwillopenthe“LocalAreaConnection

status”dialog

4. Inthe“LocalAreaConnectionstatus”dialog,clickon“Details…”

5. The“NetworkConnectionDetails”dialogboxwillbedisplayed.Thisgivestheinformationyou

need,asdescribedbelow.



11



IntheNetworkConnectionDetails,thefollowinginfo rmationis available.



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

procedureforallocatinganIPaddressinsection4.1canbeused.

2. Here,theSubnetmaskisshown.Thisis

neededwhenyouareconfiguringtheIPaddress

manuallyinsection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configuringtheIPaddress

manuallyinsection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configuringtheIPaddressmanually

insection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,clickon“NetworkandInternet”link.

3. Thenclickonthe“InternetOptions”linktoopenthepop‐updialog“InternetOptions”.



12



4. Clickonthe“Connections”tab,andthenonthebutton“LANsettings”inthistab.

5. Thiswillopenupthedialogbox“LocalAreaNetworkSettings”.Herethelowersectioncalled

“ProxyServer”contains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’.



13



7.2WindowsXP

7.2.1BasicNetworkSettings



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

2. TheRundialogboxwillopen.Here,type“cmd”,whichwillopenacommandlinewindowin

whichyoucantypecommands.

3. Typethefollowingcommandaftertheprompt:

ipconfig/all

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

informationyouneed,asdescribedbelow.

Thefollowinginformationiscanbedeterminedfromtheprogramoutput.



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

forallocatinganIPaddressinsection4.1canbeused.

2. Here,theSubnetmaskisshown.ThisisneededwhenyouareconfiguringtheIPaddressmanuallyin

section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configuringtheIPaddress

manuallyinsection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configuringtheIPaddressmanuallyin

section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”.



14



5. 7.2.1BasicNetworkSettings



1. Fromthetaskbar,opentheControlPanel

2. IntheControlPanel,clickon“NetworkandInternetConnections”link.

3. Thenclickonthe“InternetOptions”linktoopenthepop‐updialog“InternetOptions”.



4. Click

onthe“Connections”tab,andthenonthebutton“LANsettings…”inthistab.

5. Thiswillopenupthedialogbox“LocalAreaNetwork(LAN)Settings”.Herethelowersection

called“ProxyServer”contains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’.



15



8SettingupModemConnections

IfyoudonothaveaccesstoanEthernetconnection,thenPostBasecanbeconfiguredtouseamodem

connection.InthiscasethePostBaseUSBmodemmustbeused.ConnectthemodemtotheUSB

interfaceandtelephoneconnectionbeforeproceeding.Theninthefirststep(seesection3“First

Steps:

Typeofconnection,Ethernetormodem?”),selectmodem.



8.1DirectLine



Nextyouwillbeaskedtoconfirmthetypeoftelephoneline:DirectorExtension.



IfyouchoseDirectLine,thenthatisalltheinformationthatisneeded.Youwillbeshownthe

confirmationscreenandPostBasewillattempttomakeaconnection.



8.2Extensionlines:HookFlashorExchangeDigit



Ifyouhavechosenanextensionlineabove,thenyouwillnextneedtoconfigurethewayin

whichthemodemobtainsanoutsideline.Therearetwowaysthemodemusesanelectrical

signal(‘hookflash’)orwherethemodemdialsaspecialexchangedigit(e.g.a‘9’).



Ifthemethodishookflash,thenyouwillhaveenteredalltha

tisneededandwillbeshown

theconfirmationscreen.ThePostBasewillthenattempttomakeaconnection.



16



8.3ExtensionLines:Settingthedialedcode



Insystemswhereanexchangedigitisusedtogetanextensionline,thedialeddigit(s)mustbe

entered.Thismaybeasimpledigit,forexample,‘9’oramorecomplicatedcode.



Enterthecodeusingthenumerickeypad.Sometimestheremustapauseorwaitperiodafter

thecodehasbeenenteredtoallowthetelephonesystemtoreceivethedialingtonefromthe

outsideline.Youcanentersuchapauseusethe‘P/W’key.



Ifyoumakeamistake,usetheCE(bottomrightkey)tosuccessivelycorrectthelastentries.

Thatisalltheinformationthatisneeded.Youwillbeshowntheconfirmationscreenand

PostBasewillattempttomakeaconnection.

8.4Finalsteps

Afteryoutouch‘Save’thePostBasewilltesttheconnection.

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.

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

Notethatyouwillnextbeaskedtoconfirmthecountryin

whichthemeteris located‐thisisneededsothatthecorrect

telephonenumbercanbeused.



17



9ReferencedTermsandFAQ

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.

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.

ProxyServer

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.

SubnetMask

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’.

DefaultGateway

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.

DNSserver

Weusuallyrefertowebsitesbytheirweb‐addressor‘URL’,forexamplewww.fp‐usa.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.

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’.

10 Reference Information for Network Administrators

The following secon summarizes the informaon that a system administrator may need about the FP

Mailing Soluons PostBase postage machine.

The PostBase requires (preferably) an Ethernet connecon, with a minimum of 10 Mbit/sec, in order to

able to download postal funds from a FP Mailing Soluons server. Ethernet cables of class CAT5E are

recommended. For this it normally uses TCP/IP (v4 only) through an hps connecon using TLS v1.2

over port 443 (outbound). In certain cases it may also use an hp connecon over port 80 (outbound).

These two ports must therefore be enabled in any ﬁrewall. It will aempt to make a connecon.

The meter may be conﬁgured to use DHCP (defau

lt) or, alternavely, it may be conﬁgured to use a

ﬁxed IP address, in which case the IP address of the meter, subnet mask, gateway and DNS server

informaon must be manually entered.

A proxy server may also be conﬁgured, in which case the IP address and port of the proxy will be

needed. Proxy servers without authencaon are supported, however the meter can also use ‘basic’ or

‘digest’ authencaon methods (using a user name and password; the digest uses an MD5 checksum).

NTLM is not supported as an authencaon method.

The meter may also use a modem connecon over a telephone line, however this mechanism is no

longer recommended. In this case a 56,

000 baud modem line is required.

10.1 Summary of Con�igured Connection

Use this form to record the sengs you have used for your reference.

10.1.1 DHCP

10.1.2 Fixed IP Address (if DHCP not enabled)

10.1.3 Proxy Server

Meter’s IP Address _____ . _____ . _____ . _____

Subnet Mask _____ . _____ . _____ . _____

IP Address of Standard Gateway _____ . _____ . _____ . _____

IP Address of DNS Server _____ . _____ . _____ . _____

Proxy Server used YES / NO

Proxy Server IP Address _____ . _____ . _____ . _____

Port Number __________

User Name

DHCP ENABLED / DISABLED