As a part of campus-wide trials of wireless access to the University network, the Division is currently trialling Wi-Fi (or WiFi) wireless access to the University network for postgraduate students in 9C26. The trial is currently using the 802.11b standard, and will be upgraded to 802.11g soon. The trial network is now available reliably in the PG Student lab in Building 9, and is also accessible from the Conference Room in Building 9, and the offices along the eastern corridor.
When the access point is upgraded to 802.11g standard, it will move to WPA encryption for increased security. Users may need to upgrade the software on their computers and wireless cards to rejoin the network once the new system is in place, and new network passwords will be required.
Eventually, users will be required to establish a VPN (Virtual Private Network) wireless connection to the University network using their student ids and normal passwords: software and instructions will be provided nearer the time.
Registration required
People must register their wireless access card with the TSU before they can join the network. The network is "hidden", in the sense that users must know the name of the network before they can log on. There is a (common) password needed as well, and the wireless signal is encrypted so that the signal can't easily be intercepted. Requests for registration should be send to the cehelpdesk and include the name, student or staff number of the requester, the user's email address and the MAC address of the wireless card that will be used to access the network.
Wireless card MAC addresses are in the form 00:00:00:00:00:00 where the zeros can be numbers or letters. The MAC address can usually be found written on the wireless card itself, on the box it came in, or can be obtained once installed through a configuration application or system preference on the computer.
Instructions for joining the network will be sent back via email to the user once the details are registered. Users are responsible for setting up their own computers to access the network.
