FTP and Webspace for DC Metro, IL, MA, NY, PA, CA, OR and WA

FTP Information

• FTP is an acronym for File Transfer Protocol
   
  • It is most commonly used to download a file from a server using the internet or to upload a file to a server
  
  

• Our FTP server is ftp.rcn.com (207.172.16.152); Port 21

• Anonymous FTP is not permitted

Web Space

• Cable Modem and dial-up accounts come with 10 MB of web space each, linked to the email data users
   
  • We do not offer additional web space
  
  
  • Before uploading content, a generic message says the web site is active, and that no content has been added yet
     
• 10MB of web space is created automatically the first time the user connects to our FTP server: ftp.rcn.com
   
• Simply type the line below into the Address Bar in your browser and hit the Enter key
   
  • In this example, the (DU) user id is smith and the password is 123456
     
  • After updating, passwords can take up to 4 hours to update
     
  • Replace these with your own email user id and password
    
    • ftp://smith:123456@ftp.rcn.com
       
• To change the web space password, sign into Usertools to change your password or check your current web space usage
   
  • Note:  Changing your web space password also changes your rcn.com email password
     
• The URL or homepage location is:  http://users.rcn.com/username
   
  • Additional information:
     
    • CGI and Perl can be used for residential web space; however, we do not provide technical support
       
    • You can direct a domain name to your personal web space but we do not provide technical support
       
    • We do not offer shell account access, ASP or SQL
       
    • Email only accounts permit access to a single email account per product
       
    • To erase files for disconnected customers, submit a Service Now Ticket

   

Creating Web Pages

• We do not provide HTML support
   
• Two helpful sites to start learning about HTML are The Web Design Group and WebDevelopers.com
   
• A common way to upload web pages is to use an FTP program such as FTPzilla or CuteFTP
   
  • Websites can be added to search engines, such as Yahoo, Bing, or Google
     
    • Please visit their respective pages for further information
       
  
  Basics instructions: 
  

  • We do not directly assist in the use of third party FTP software, however instructions for setup and use may be found on their respective Help files

  • Sample settings for a typical connection are shown in the images below

  • If you do not have an FTP client, you may use a web browser to transfer files
    
     
    1. If the webspace has not yet been created, enter the URL "ftp://username@ftp.rcn.com" in your browser's Address or Location bar  [You will replace "username" with the customers UserID]
        
    2. The webspace can now be found at: http://users.rcn.com/username [You will replace "username" with the customers UserID]
        
    3. If you choose to use an FTP program, fill in the information as shown below. Make sure to use "Auto-Detect" as both the Host Type and Transfer Type
        
    4. Typical setup for CuteFTP and WS FTP 

Web Space Counter

• For a webspace counter, insert the following line into your web page and upload this page to your space
  
  <img src="http://cgibin.rcn.com/cgi-bin/Count.cgi?df=username&ft=0&tr=N&dd=C&md=6">
   
  • In this example, replace username with your own user id

Change Permissions on Files

• User FTP directories are set to global read and user write by default
   
  • This means that anyone on the Internet can see and download your files, but they cannot erase, modify or upload files
     
• You can change the permissions on your files by using any FTP client that supports the "SITE" or "chmod" commands

Deleting Webspace  Files

• Use the FTP client to remove or delete files


• When a user is unable to remove or delete files due to a permissions error, chat with a representative or contact us for further assistance