SOU Unwired
Wireless Networking on Campus
Anyone with a “Wi-Fi” equipped notebook computer can use the campus wireless network available at one of the “hot spots” around campus. Students, Faculty, Staff and Guests can all use the network. Depending on the type of wireless card you have, and the configuration of your computer, what you can do on the wireless network will vary. The wireless network provides two levels of service.
Public access non-secure wireless network
Anyone can use this network without any special configuration. If your computer auto-discovers a wireless network and you are in range, it will find this network. When you connect to the SOU public access network you are behind a firewall which is designed to protect the SOU private network from viruses and worms that might be introduced through the public network. This is necessary because we have no way to ensure that users of the SOU public access network have installed appropriate security protection on their personal computers. This means that before connecting, you should protect your computer by installing all of the latest security patches for your operating system, as well as the latest virus protection files. When you are on the public access network you have full access to the World Wide Web. For SOU Students, Faculty, and Staff, this means you can get your E-Mail via WebAccess, your files via NetStorage, and use other web based programs like SISWeb. For more information on remote access to the SOU network see the SOU Anywhere information page. Although the public access wireless network provides no encryption, web sites that use SSL, like WebAccess, Netstorage, and SISWeb, provide their own encryption and are therefore secure even on this network.
Private secure wireless network
The secure wireless network is provided to give SOU students, faculty, and staff the same access to the SOU network that is available from an office or lab computer (on the wired network), including all of the software on the campus menu. Access to the secure wireless network is available only to SOU students, faculty, and staff using an SOU owned laptop computer that is configured to login to the campus network. All wireless computers owned by SOU are already, or can be, configured to use the secure wireless network. Students may checkout notebook computers for use in the Library that are configured to access this network. Both the public and private wireless networks support the 802.11b and the 802.11g protocols. The 802.11g protocol is newer and faster but not currently available at all of our access points. You can find a wireless access point on our map of campus “hot spots”. There are many factors that can affect the quality of the wireless signal, so your connection speed may vary, or you may not be able to connect at all, depending on how close you are to an access point.
Attachment of unauthorized equipment to the SOU campus nework
Do not install or connect your own wireless equipment on the SOU Campus Network. Doing so can compromise security, create opportunities for theft of services, and degrade network reliability. For more information refer to the campus wireless policy.
