Hello, and welcome back to Southern CT State University for the Fall 2011 semester. We wanted to start this semester off with a Tech Bits article dedicated to Internet connectivity on campus. There are some very specific details that you should know before you try and connect your computer to the Wireless or Residence Life network. Remember, you can find great documentation in the “how to” format in our Knowledge Base (kb.southernct.edu).
Wireless
While on campus, all non-university computers, smartphones and tablet devices should be connecting to the SouthernCT Wireless. This wireless requires you to have a working username and password and a legitimate version of antivirus software installed (PC) and updated within the last eleven days (PC).
Often, people haven’t updated their antivirus or don’t have a paid subscription, and therefore have fallen out of the 11-day grace period. If you don’t have antivirus, or if your antivirus software is an expired demo, you must uninstall that antivirus first. Once it has been uninstalled, you can download the free version of McAfee from the SCSU Share (share.southernct.edu).
SouthernCT-ResHalls should be used when connecting your game console to the wireless. Online gaming capability is the only difference between SouthernCT and SouthernCT-ResHalls.
Hubs and Internet in Residence Life
Plugging your computer into the Residential Network using an Ethernet cable is the only supported method of Internet connectivity in your room. You should not be using the wireless in your room, since signal quality is not guaranteed. Most rooms in the residential halls only have one jack. As residents, you must use a hub to connect multiple devices to the Residential Network. A hub is a device that can split the Internet connection into more than one port so you, your roommate and your game consoles can all be online at the same time.
The Office of Information Technology supports Internet connectivity to the jack and Residence Life supports configuration issues with the hubs. Remember, you need an extra network cable for the number of people in the room. For instance, if there are three people in the room, you’ll need four Internet cables. Here are the steps to setting up your hub properly:
1. Locate the jack in your room labeled “data.”
2. Locate the hub and power cable and plug it in to the electrical socket closest to the data jack.
3. Plug one side of the first Ethernet cable into the data jack.
4. Plug the other side of that Ethernet cable in to the highest jack number on the hub. Also, if there is a button on your jack, this button needs to be pressed in.
5. From here, you can plug your Ethernet cable into the hub and into your computer.
6. Once you have followed the previous steps, restart your computer.
If you have a broken or missing jack, you can contact the Help Desk during business hours. If you have a broken or missing hub, you can contact Residence Life during business hours. Please understand that you will need to have an opening in your schedule so the Help Desk can ask you some questions regarding your jack issues. Also, appointments are scheduled with a follow-up call, and you must be present for the technician to gain access to the room.
-Nicholas Valsamis
OIT Help Desk Manager
